On the day Rashard Mendenhall announced he was leaving the University of Illinois a year early to pursue a career in the National Football League, he entered a press conference at Niles West High School wearing a baggy shirt that hung loose on his thick torso.
At a glance, you might not have guessed that Mendenhall is a superb athlete. The shirt sleeves covered his muscular arms and the collar slightly hid his massive neck. He looked almost mortal.
The date was Jan. 10 and six weeks later Mendenhall would get a chance to prove to eagle-eyed NFL scouts that he was, in fact, an athlete worthy of a high pick in the NFL draft.
That proof was provided this past weekend when Mendenhall made himself a ton of money with a fantas-tic showing at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
This is the NFL's version of a beauty pageant, a chance to round up the top draft prospects and weigh them, measure them, interview them and put them through a battery of physical tests that verify speed, strength and agility.
Not all of the prospects elect to participate. Boston College's Matt Ryan, the top-rated quarterback in the draft, opted not to throw for scouts, apparently feeling he can only hurt his draft status at this point.
Mendenhall attacked the combine as though he had something to prove and in the process he proved plenty.
No, Mendenhall wasn't as fast as Arkansas' Darren McFadden, who covered the 40-yard dash in 4.33 seconds. But scouts were nodding approvingly when Mendenhall carried his 225-pounds over the 40 yards in 4.45 seconds. Furthermore, he was impressive in interviews and has given teams plenty to think about as they set up their draft boards for the April draft.
A personnel employee for a team in the AFC had this to say to SI.com:
"I honestly think Mendenhall is one of the elite players in this draft, one of the 10 best. He's a sleeping gi-ant.
"People are just now getting more familiar with him, because he's a junior and we didn't know all that much about him. But he's big, has great feet and really runs well.
"He may be one of the top five, six or seven players in this draft and it wouldn't surprise me if some team picking in the 20s gives up a fortune to come up and get him."
I just wish the Chicago Bears had an extra top-10 first-round draft pick. The Bears desperately need to up-grade their offensive line so zeroing in on that position makes a ton of sense. But I'd take Mendenhall over Cedric Benson any day and Mendenhall would instantly make the Bears' offense stronger, simply because he'd give them a reliable running game Benson hasn't provided.
Illini senior linebacker J Leman was at the combine, too, although he was limited because of ankle sur-gery he had last month. Leman won't be running at full speed until late April.
That will hurt him in the draft, but he gave a strong performance in the lifting drills and, to no one's sur-prise, was dazzling in the interviews. Some believe he could be a middle round pick.
And although performance at the combine is important, teams do look at the production generated during a player's college career. That's when Leman stands out, because he performed week after week.
Performance, however, isn't the only factor, which is why the combine counts. One player who was more than productive in his college career is Michigan running back Mike Hart.
But at the combine, Hart was measured at 5-foot-8½ and his 40-yard times were 4.67 and 4.69 seconds. De-spite rushing for 5,000 yards while at Michigan, Hart's draft status is cloudy at best. Small and slow doesn't translate well to the pro game.
Mendenhall will get another chance to impress scouts when Illinois holds its pro timing day on March 12 at the Irwin Indoor Practice Facility. I would expect every team in the league to have a representative there with a stoop watch and a clipboard.
The way his stock rose this past weekend, teams will be wheeling and dealing to get a crack at him.
