2011 Scouting Combine Report: Cornerbacks

Rounding out my NFL Scouting Combine reports is a description of the top performers for the up-and-coming cornerbacks available in the draft. I focused all the Combine reports on what I feel are the Patriots’ top 5 needs, and corner comes in at #5 on my list. You can check out the previous reports on offensive linemen here, runningback here, defensive line here, and linebacker here. For a pretty good explanation of the various workout and positional drills, click here. Here are the top performers among the corners for the various drills:

40-Yard Dash

1. Demarcus Van Dyke, Miami – 4.28 sec (Van Dyke’s time set a new recent best for corners and was also the fastest time recorded at this year’s Combine)
2. Patrick Peterson, LSU – 4.34 sec
3. Chimdi Chekwa, Ohio State, and Chris Culliver, South Carolina – 4.40 sec
4. Prince Amukamara, Nebraska, and Joe Lefeged, Rutgers – 4.43 sec
5. Ras-I Dowling, Virginia, Curtis Marsh, Utah State, Byron Maxwell, Clemson, Jimmy Smith, Colorado, and Shareece Wright, USC – 4.46 sec

Bench Press

1. Da’Norris Searcy, North Carolina – 27 (Searcy’s 27 reps ties a recent best fro corners set in 2007 by Chris Houston)
2. Marcus Gilchrist, Clemson – 26 reps
3. Jalil Brown, Colorado, Shiloh Keo, Idaho, Byron Maxwell, Clemson, David Sims, Iowa State, and Jimmy Smith, Colorado – 24 reps
4. Quinton Carter, Oklahoma – 23 reps
5. Buster Skrine, Tennessee-Chattanooga – 20 reps

Vertical Jump

1. Curtis Brown, Texas – 39.5″
2. Chris Culliver, South Carolina, and Marcus Gilchrist, Clemson – 38.5″
3. Prince Amukamara, Nebraska, Patrick Patterson, LSU, and Richard Sherman, Stanford – 38.0″
4. Curtis Marsh, Utah State, David Sims, Iowa State, and Aaron Williams, Texas – 37.5″
5. Buster Skrine, Tennessee-Chattanooga – 37.0″

Broad Jump

1. Cortez Allen, Citadel – 10’9″
2. Prince Amukamara, Nebraska, and Curtis Brown, Texas – 10’8″
3. Chris Conte, California, and Aaron Williams, Texas – 10’7″
4. Chimdi Chekwa, Ohio State, Patrick Patterson, LSU, and Josh Thomas, Buffalo – 10’6″
5. Richard Sherman, Stanford – 10’5″

3-Cone Drill

1. Buster Skrine, Tennessee-Chattanooga – 6.44 sec (Skrine’s time is a new recent best for cornerbacks)
2. Chykie Brown, Texas – 6.50 sec
3. Shiloh Keo, Idaho – 6.55 sec
4. Patrick Patterson, LSU – 6.58 sec
5. Curtis Brown, Texas – 6.59 sec

20-Yard Shuttle

1. Shiloh Keo, Idaho, and Buster Skrine, Tennessee-Chattanooga – 3.90 sec
2. Chykie Brown, Texas, and Curtis Brown, Texas – 4.00 sec
3. Cortez Allen, Citadel – 4.01 sec
4. Rashad Carmichael, Virginia Tech, Quinton Carter, Oklahoma, Jimmy Smith, Colorado – 4.06 sec
5. Brandon Burton, Utah, Curtis Marsh, Utah State, Patrick Patterson, LSU, and Aaron Williams, Texas – 4.07 sec

60-Yard Shuttle

1. Buster Skrine, Tennessee-Chattanooga – 10.75 sec (Skrine’s time is a new Combine record)
2. Cortez Allen, Citadel – 10.87 sec
3. Curtis Brown, Texas – 11.00 sec
4. Patrick Patterson, LSU – 11.01 sec
5. Davon House, New Mexico State – 11.07 sec

Patriots-related Cornerback News/Notes

• Mike Reiss from ESPN Boston put together a list of “10 Possible Patriots,” and includes a corner in his list: The U’s Brandon Harris. Read what Reiss has to say about Harris here.
• Keeping with Brandon Harris, you can read some analysis on him here. He is projected as a mid- to late-first round pick, so he may not make it to the second round, which would be a more logical place for the Pats to draft a corner.
• As you can see above, LSU’s Patrick Patterson and Nebraska’s Prince Amukamara did nothing to hurt their draft statuses. They were both top performers in several drills and were already considered potential top 10 picks, so the likelihood of one of those two slipping to the Patriots at 17 is slim-to-none.