INDIANAPOLIS -- The choice between Nick Fairley or Marcell Dareus could come down to performance.The former Auburn and Alabama defensive tackles, respectively, are being considered as high first-round NFL draft picks. It had widely been reported that Fairley was the favorite to be the NFL draft's No. 1 pick.Some of those opinions (Meaning mine and mine only) began to shift in favor Dareus after the duo showed off their physical attributes in testing at the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.Fairley, measured at 6-foot-3 and 291 pounds, turned into a runaway locomotive with a strong 40-yard dash time of 4.82, and a standing broad jump of 9 feet, 5 inches. He chose to skip drills such as the bench press and vertical jump. Fairley remarked Sunday on a shoulder injury he suffered Nov. 13 in a 49-31 win against Georgia.Fairley called it a shoulder separation of his AC joint, but noted it was not serious enough to keep the Lombardi Award winner from playing every game."Well, mainly (I wanted to) just come out here at the combine and show them with the drills that I am a great athlete and then with the interviews that we have that I am a great person off the field, too," Fairley said. "I want to show them the one-hit wonder is not in me."Dareus, at 6-3, 319 pounds, also ran well, earning a time of 4.92 and, despite being almost 30 pounds heavier, outraced Fairley at the 10-yard split interval. (They're fat hole stuffers, not sprinters. The 40 yard dash is impressive, but it's not as fast as Fairley and not relevant)Dareus suffered from a high-ankle sprain most of the season, and opted Monday to skip the vertical jump and the bench press."It doesn't matter how hurt you are, you've got to go out there and do the best you can and produce until you don't have any more," Dareus said before his workouts. "It really didn't affect me too much. I still had to work hard. I did rehab the best way I can to go out there and perform."Regardless of where they are picked, both players are considered to have promising futures in the NFL.When asked to name the players they model their games after, both mentioned two of the NFL's all-time greats.Fairley said he looks at the late Reggie White, a 2006 member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He particularly mentioned White's time with the Green Bay Packers, though his reputation as "The Minister of Defense" developed with the Philadelphia Eagles."I think he played the game the way it should be played," Fairley said. "That's why I try to play my game like him."Dareus said he patterns himself after former NFL all-Pro Warren Sapp, who finished his career with 96.5 career sacks -- second most for a defensive tackle. Sapp is an analyst for NFL Network.Dareus had not met Sapp prior to the combine and smiled when told of the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer's high opinion of Dareus.Sapp said before the combine Fairley might have more upside, but that Dareus was the safer pick."Watching Warren Sapp really made me play football," Dareus said. "I really got real good at it when they won the Super Bowl, I was like in middle school. I started excelling at it. I really look up to him as a person and as a player."Generally, reports indicated Dareus helped himself with his workout and could leapfrog Fairley in the draft. Dareus said Alabama prepared him to play in various defensive schemes and at various positions. (What reports? I'd like to see more than a half-assed quote from Sapp)"I'm good at what I do," Dareus said. "My coaches prepared us well."
Ankle sprain, means no Bench Press. "It doesn't matter how hurt you are you've got to go out there and do the best you can...."
Pretty sure I read Fairley skipped the bench as well
I fractured my spleen so the broad jump is definitely out for me.
In court? I'd pay money to see a tape of that, counselor.
Scott Moore has the tape.
Cam Newton ruptured your spleen? Or was he just in the room when Cecil did it?
This really doesn't have anything to do with this thread, but I want to make sure Token sees it again.
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