Michael Felder Talks NFL Combine
Michael Felder Talks NFL Combine
Bleacher Reports very own Michael Felder joins The Scott Garceau Show with Jeremy Conn to discuss the NFL Combine.
Scott asks Michael for his top 3/4 headlines of the year. Te'o's 40 time and the Honey Badger are both big news stories but he says he's most impressed by the Defensive Backs this year. They've really shown up and performed. One of the big names is Kenny Vaccaro (Texas) in the Free Safety position. Michael says he's not so "in love" with him. He says that he's a great athlete with great times and stats but his gameplay and technique on the field is what's lacking. Michael also points out Matt Elam (Florida) who has impressed him with his physical play and also versatility; He can play Free or Strong Safety. His sleeper in this group is Jawanza Starling (USC) he believes a team that picks him up may be able to get him a little later on and still get a good quality player.
The guys ask Felder about the Ryan Swope situation and the whole race issue. Swope says people are only surprised at his performance because he's white. He's been compared to Wes Welker, another white player. People seem surprised that he put up such a good time in his 40 yard dash because of the whole "white boys can't jump" mentality. Felder's opinion on the situation is, yes, there is a certain societal issue that white guys aren't as fast or can't jump as high. He also says that there's common reference to white athletes as "hard workers" or "last one in the gym," while the black athletes are "natural talents" and "born athletes." Felder didn't buy into this instance, saying he was surprised at his time because he's seen him play before. He honestly thought that he would have performed better in certain areas than he did.
The guys continue talk on certain players. They ask Felder to pick who would be the better choice Womack or Cooper. Felder thinks Womack has the edge in that competition but any team that gets either of these guys will be happy and probably have a player for a long time. They talk about Connor Vernon, who they agree probably has the best hands in the draft. He's also the all-time leader in receptions in the ACC. His combine stats aren't that shocking but he's probably one of those athletes that are just better on the field than in the combine.
