Hughes, Mebane, Bishop at the NFL combine

While CB Daymeion Hughes was praised highly at the Senior Bowl for his elite cover skills until a hamstring injury forced him to sit out, suspicions about his speed were confirmed at the NFL Combine as he logged a 4.65 in the forty (the top 10 fastest DB’s all ran in the 4.3’s and 4.4’s). My guess is he is still affected by his injury and he’ll run a faster time before the draft. However, with top-end speed valued in the NFL, some say it may be a stretch for him to be picked in the first round as earlier predicted.

SI.com: “Combine winners and losers: The Losers”
Daymeion Hughes/CB/Cal: Speed was the biggest question mark about his game and Hughes ran terribly slow. Timing in the 4.7s, this one time potential first-round choice will now slide into the second round.

There hasn’t been much about DL Brandon Mebane, except he shows up in the bench with 24 reps. I’ll post more data as it comes in. Unfortunately, LB Desmond Bishop also received some negative attention for his performance in the forty:

SI.com: “For the Defense: Sliders”
Desmond Bishop/MLB/California: Bishop did nothing to dispel the belief that he is just a two-down linebacker. After running a pair of slow 40s which averaged almost 4.8-seconds, Bishop looked stiff and struggled to move in anything other than a straight line.

However, it appears that this 4.8 average came from a a decent time in the forty being averaged out by a bad time. In addition, Bishop was a monster on the bench and beat out all other linebackers (and most defensive lineman for that matter), making 33 reps. Hopefully, the scouts and teams will be able to see his upside and why Bishop led the Pac-10 in tackles.