Ayers struggles at the Combine
He also only benched 17 reps, which is low for a guy with his size. We all know that combine speed doesn't always equal football speed, but this could hurt his draft stock pretty significantly unless he can rebound at UCLA's pro day.
about 1 year ago
bucknellbruin
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The speed doesn't surprise me
the lack of bench-press strength is shocking. For his sake, I sure hope he significantly improves on that before the draft. If he doesn’t, he easily slips into the second round (if not worse).
that's a weak 40 time for a 1st round LB
especially considering Von Miller, Akeem’s main competition for the top OLB spot, is the same size and ran a 4.46. 4.46 is crazy fast, but Akeem should’ve been able to pull off a 4.6. IIRC, he ran that as a senior in high school.
Hopefully this was just an off day and he can shave a couple tenths off his time at our pro day.
by bucknellbruin on Mar 1, 2011 11:10 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Problem with high school 40 times
is that they’re usually hand-timed by high school coaches, which usually means a 0.15 to 0.25 second difference between those times and the semi-automated times at the combine.
true
but a .4 second difference between him and Miller is pretty shocking to me. I know the 40 time doesn’t mean much, but it still means something. Straight ahead speed isn’t as important to a linebacker as lateral speed, but we all know how much pro scouts drool over the 40.
by bucknellbruin on Mar 1, 2011 10:15 PM PST up reply actions
It's overrated
But it’s a measurement of how you prepared at the very least. Obviously he can do better. IIRC Kyle Bosworth ran something like a 4.62 (top of my head) at the combine last year. Akeem is way faster than that.
+1
Like I said, the 40-yard dash isn’t necessarily indicative of a player’s ability. It can be a flashy stat for fans to throw back and forth, but what is more telling is Akeem Ayers’ lack of strength on that particular day. I’m hoping that maybe he was just sick or something, but 17 reps is not enough for a guy projected by some NFL teams as a DE.
lack of prep work.
All this shows is that his training efforts are not up to par, all that can be easily improved but why wasn’t it?
Or
it shows his shoulder is still injured. And he can’t lift more than 17 times.
"Every day was a good day at UCLA." -Coach John Wooden
I can't believe I forgot about that
He played through an injured shoulder for most of the season. It may have turned into a nagging injury and he’s not fully recovered. Great point.
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