Wolverines in the Combine

As I mentioned a few days ago, seven former Wolverines will be taking part in the NFL Combine over the next few days.

Chad Henne (QB), Mike Hart (HB), Jake Long (OT), Mario Manningham (WR), Adrian Arrington (WR), Shawn Crable (LB) and Jamar Adams (S) will be showing NFL teams what they can do, and M&BS wishes each of them the best of luck.

Who will represent Michigan and the Big Ten as standouts at the combine? Let me give you my take on it..

 Jake Long, OT                 

Wow. Jake Long. He'll be a top five pick, could be top three, and should be number one. His Junior year, he won the Big Ten's Offensive Lineman of the Year award. No big deal, right? It's a conference award, players win them all the time.

The big deal is who he beat out to win it. OTs Joe Thomas (Wisconsin) and Levi Brown (Penn State) were both in the mix for the award two years ago, and both ended up behind Long in the voting. If those names look familiar, it's because they were both top-five picks in last years draft. Thomas (drafted third overall) and Brown (fifth) are both fantastic players, and both were starters in the NFL in their rookie seasons.

Long has another year of college experience, and is better than ever. A team would be downright foolish to not take him first overall. I'm looking at you, Miami.

Mario Manningham, WR

Mario Manningham is an odd case. Clearly he is a fantastic wide receiver, but he might not be first round material. Players such as DeSean Jackson, Malcolm Kelley and Limas Sweed are being projected to go ahead of Manningham in the draft, however FoxSports ranks Manningham the #1 ready NFL starter.

So what's the real story on this guy?

In my opinion, he is the most prototypical wide receiver in this year's class, however teams might look over him for a few reasons. Most notably is the fact that he's only six feet tall. Not terrible by any means, but a few more inches would do wonders to his draft stock.

A great combine could all but secure his being selected in the first round. He needs to show scouts that his size doesn't affect his strength, and that he does, in fact, have sub-4.5 speed.

Chad Henne, QB

Chad Henne is a great talent who has the misfortune of being in a class with perceived better talent. Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, Brian Brohm and Andre Woodson make up a good quarterback class for this year's draft. In the end, draft position could come down to mobility issues.

Of all quarterbacks in this years class (ALL of them), Henne has the worst 40 time, with a mid time of 5.18. That's ridiculous. Jake Long has a mid time of 5.08, and he's a 315lb offensive lineman for god's sake. Brian Brohm, Andre Woodson, and Matt Ryan all have mid times of 4.8 or lower, and while that doesn't exactly put them up there with Dennis Dixon, it shows scouts that if those quarterbacks absolutely needed to scramble on a play, they would be able to. A 40 time nearing 5.2 really makes some scouts nervous, which is why Chad will probably go in the early to middle second round.

What a team would get in Chad Henne is a phenomenal pocket passer. As we saw throughout his career at Michigan, he can pass as well as any of the former Wolverine greats, and he has the track record to prove it. We even saw what he could to out of the shotgun during the Capital One bowl, a formation that we rarely saw him in.

With a good combine, however, he could climb as high as the very late first round. Especially if a team is looking for a very solid pocket passer. His 40 time needs to improve immensely, however. As in lower than five seconds.

So that's three potential first rounder's. Analysis of the other four players in the combine coming up next.