I’m writing this article from a hotel on my phone, which is the first time I’ve done this since Jay Glazer initially reported that Frank Clark might be dealt in 2019. Basically, it isn’t going to be a long piece but the info could be important.
We’d had mixed feedback from local Missouri reporters on what times players ran at the Tigers’ pro-day. Tony Pauline passed on to me information on Darius Robinson’s agility testing via his league sources. He ran a 4.76 short shuttle and a 7.88 three cone.
These are not great times, possibly enough to put the Seahawks off in round one. There’s no denying that Robinson was highly disruptive in 2023 and had a sensational Senior Bowl. When you’re beating Tyler Guyton off the edge you’re no slouch. However, the knock on Robinson has always been a lack of twitch and these times paired with a 4.95 forty confirm that.
The early talk had been of a shuttle in the 4.5’s and that would’ve been comparable to Arik Armstead. Instead, Robinson’s lack of twitch will likely keep him on the board until the late first or early second. He is talented, can create chaos and he’s a tremendous leader. Tony suggested a range of #25-40. It might be more towards the latter half of that range after his pro-day testing results.
The other player to mention is Byron Murphy. There are no reported numbers for his shuttle time but I found footage of his run online and timed it myself. I timed it twice and on both occasions got a 4.43 on the stopwatch — which would be an excellent mark for a 297lbs defensive tackle.
Murphy already tested brilliantly at the combine — running a 4.87 with a 1.69 10-yard split. He’s explosive too, recording a 33 inch vertical and a 9-3 broad.
I’m not convinced the Seahawks would ‘stick and pick’ Murphy at #16 but it would be intriguing to see the Seahawks try to build a great defensive line, after watching the 49ers and Rams dominate in this area for years.
One final note, Albert Breer mentioned the Seahawks were one of three teams to have a ‘lengthy meeting’ with J.J. McCarthy at his pro-day. The other two teams were Washington and New England.
I think it speaks to a couple of things. Firstly, the Seahawks acknowledging the pressing need to be across the young quarterbacks in the draft because they need to find a long term answer sooner rather than later. Secondly, the need to be ready for a quarterback falling into range.
I know the latest talk today is about McCarthy to the Commanders at #2. However, I can’t help but feel sanity will return to the league soon. He isn’t, for me, a top-25 talent in this draft let alone top-two. The talk of teams trading multiple firsts for him or McCarthy going second overall is fairly remarkable. It might be that in a month the intangible qualities are getting less attention than the actual tape. And that meeting in Ann Arbour could end up being fairly useful.
