Ricky Elmore, who had 21.5 sacks in the past two years, fires up his teammates vs. Iowa last season.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE
Former Arizona defensive end Ricky Elmore appeared on ESPN First Take this morning to talk about his draft preparations and how he continues to view himself as “under the radar.”
Here is the link to the video.
Elmore, who recently worked out at the NFL Combine, is considered a mid-round possibility. He could end up staying at defensive end or moving to outside linebacker.
And he talked to ESPN about working out with former Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews and other members of the football-playing Matthews family.
You can also follow Elmore online at draftelmore.com and on Twitter @rickyelmore44.
His former Arizona teammate, Brooks Reed, has vaulted up the draft boards thanks to strong postseason workouts. At the combine, he worked out with the defensive ends, but at 6-2 1/2 and 263 pounds, could end up at outside linebacker.
His time of 4.65 seconds for the 40-yard dash was among the fastest for defensive ends and linebackers, but it was his burst that has scouts buzzing.
This is from NFLDraftScout’s Rob Rang on CBSSports.com:
Reed was timed at 1.54 seconds over the first ten yards, demonstrating a degree of explosiveness typically reserved for much smaller men. Reed’s 1.54 seconds not only was the fastest of all defensive ends (North Carolina’s Robert Quinn was second at 1.61), his split was also faster than some of the more highly touted athletes of the Combine, including Nevada OLB Dontay Moch, Tennessee-Chattanooga CB Buster Skine, Kentucky WR Randall Cobb, Georgia WR AJ Green, Troy WR Jerrel Jernigan, and Texas A&M OLB Von Miller.
Each of these players weighed in at less than 250 pounds and all ran the 40-yard dash faster at 4.48 or faster, but weren’t as explosive in their initial start as Reed.
The initial start, is of course, a highly valued trait for pass rushers. Reed was a star defensive end for the Wildcats out of the 4-3 alignment. Teams operating out of the 3-4, however, will be just as impressed. That type of scheme and positional versatility makes Reed one of the more attractive pass rushers in the draft.
Reed is listed as a second-round in many mock drafts.
You can follow Reed on Twitter @brooksreed42.
Bowing to peer pressure, he opened his Twitter account after playing in the Senior Bowl in January.
“I was coming back with the all the guys and they are all on their phones with the Twitter accounts,” he told us recently. “They were like, ‘Don’t you have Twitter?’ I said, ‘No,’ and they convinced me to make one.’”