Friday Combine Update - Part II

As promised, we’re back with another update from the Combine here in Indianapolis and some more from Coach Childress’ time with the media. Further down the page you will find some of Childress’ responses to questions asked by the media here in Indianapolis.

Here are a few thoughts on the rest of the afternoon at the Combine…

I spoke to one AFC coach this afternoon who has been to his share of Combines as a player, assistant coach and now a head coach, and one major difference he sees in recent Combines is the importance of the interview process and the emphasis on discovering a player’s character.

Cleveland Browns running back Jamal Lewis, who just signed a new three-year deal to stay in Cleveland, was at the Combine today talking with the media. He is excited that the new deal is done, and when asked what would motivate him now that he has a new contract, the answer was simple: “another championship.”

Another current NFL player, DeAngelo Hall, was also at the Indianapolis Convention Center today. There has been talk that perhaps Hall will be traded by the Falcons to another team. I didn’t participate in Hall’s discussion with the media but I’m guessing the trade issue took up a major portion of his time here.

Former Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, who is considered by many to be the top position player in the upcoming draft and certainly the top running back, addressed the media today. A large crowd gathered in front of him and asked him questions about his character, whether he thought he was the best player available and whether or not he thought it was a good idea for team’s to invest high draft picks and loads of money in a running back. McFadden’s answer was obviously “yes”, but it’s an interesting topic and it’s one I’ll address in tomorrow morning’s column.

Here are a few of the highlights from Coach Childress’ time with the media on Friday…

Can you elaborate on the Troy Williamson situation?

We are free to meet with all of our free agents’ agents here (at the Combine). And then there’s always a bunch of other agents here representing players. So we’ve talked to David Canter (Williamson’s agent). We’re allowing them to talk and be able to go out and see what’s out there. But if it’s not satisfactory to us he’s under contract to us.

On Tarvaris Jackson and the quarterback situation – Coach Childress said he likes the progress that Jackson has made and that he’s looking forward to seeing the quarterback in log more games in his third year. He also said that how Jackson performed at the end of the Vikings Week 17 contest against Denver was “wide open” and that the team would look for a similar effort and mentality from the signal-caller next fall.

On his impressions of Peterson at last year’s Combine – “He had me from the first handshake,” is how Coach Childress described his impression of Peterson at last year’s Combine, using an analogy from the movie “Jerry McGuire.” He was “a bright-eyed guy,” Coach Childress said, “who sets his bar very high and was a joy to have in the interview room.”

On the importance of the psychological exams and interview process at the Combine in addition to all of the physical testing – “I think they’re all parts. In my mind, a football player’s resume is his tape and you can’t get too caught up in the height-weight-speed; those are nice things to be able to piece in there but us being able to get one-on-one with a guy and our assistant coaches being able to get one-on-one with the guys and spend some time away from this (populated areas of the Combine) is important. We’re basically testing the kid’s veracity and the look in his eye to try and get a feel for the guy.”

Do you need to add a big-time receiver this offseason to get the passing game on track?

I don’t know if I would use the adjective “big-time receiver”, but it’s like all the positions we’re evaluating. I mean this very seriously when I say there are very few positions that we wouldn’t take a good football player. I like what I saw from Sidney (Rice) as a first year player. I like what I saw from Aundrae Allison. I like what Bobby Wade brought to the table. It remains to be seen if we can get Ferg (Robert Ferguson) back with us. So, are you going to add somebody there? You’re sure going to look to add through the draft. We’ll have to look and see if free agency suits us. But no more so than any other position.

With the release of Dwight Smith, are you looking to get younger at safety, or are you looking for a veteran to replace the open position?

We’re looking for good players that fit into what we’re doing, whatever that goes through. We’ll look meticulously through the draftable guys. We’ll spend our time looking through the free agents. We’re looking at guys that we think might be cut. You look at all those avenues. It’s the old “by any means necessary” [approach].

It’s been a busy morning and early afternoon at the NFL Scouting Combine so far today; vikings.com will try to catch you up with this posting now and we’ll be back with more later this afternoon.

Coach Childress spent a chuck of his morning and early afternoon with the media. As all head coaches do, Childress addressed the media at the main podium. He also spent roughly 30 minutes with the local beat writers that follow the Vikings.

At the podium, Coach Childress was asked about a number of topics ranging from his assessment of the team’s quarterback situation to his first impressions of Adrian Peterson at last year’s Combine. With the beat writers he was asked a range of questions from Troy Williamson’s status with the team to what direction the team was heading with regard to the safety position. In the next posting, I’ll have a few of the highlights from Coach Childress’ time at the podium and with the beat writers.

As for the Combine, Friday saw an increase in action. I would estimate that the number of media members present has nearly doubled. Also, more players will arrive in Indianapolis today and the groups of players that arrived earlier in the week will continue with their activities.

Keep in mind that there are over 330 athletes who will pass through the Combine, so instead of having all the participants here at one time the NFL splits them up into groups. There are 11 total groups and currently only Groups 1-6 have been involved in any activities so far. Groups 7-9 will spend today arriving in Indianapolis and beginning the process that Groups 1-6 are currently going through.

Group 1: place kickers, special teams, one-third of the offensive linemen

Group 4: one-half of the quarterbacks and one-half of the wideouts

Group 5: one-half of the quarterbacks and one-half of the wideouts

The first on-field workouts will begin today at 1:00 p.m. when place kickers take the RCA Dome field. So far the participants have been busy with general medical exams, video interviews, psychological testing and team interviews.

We’ll be back with another update and more from Coach Childress time addressing the media. Be sure to check back to vikings.com this afternoon and throughout the weekend.