Author: Unknown

Sporting News’ Pro Football War Room has hundreds of player evaluations in preparation for the 2010 NFL draft. Here is a capsule look at prospect O’Brien Schofield:

A knee injury has slowed O’Brien Schofield in his journey to the NFL.

NFL position: OLB
Height: 6-2 1/8
Weight: 238
40 time: 4.82
Current projection: Fourth-round pick

Against inside runs: Plays with strong hands and is a good anchor at the point of attack. Struggles some against double-teams because of a lack of bulk. Quickly sheds one-on-one blocks along the line. Gets bounced around some within the box.

Against outside runs: Shows good instincts, pursuit angles and speed. Quickly sheds blocks in lateral pursuit and shows a definite burst to close. Is quick and explosive when in backside pursuit.

Blitz/coverage: An explosive pass rusher from a three-point or upright stance. Lacks experience dropping into coverage but has the athletic ability, speed and quickness to be effective in that area. As a pass rusher, can win with speed around the edge, a quick inside move at the snap or a strong rip/pull move. Also uses swim and spin moves at times but needs improvement. Is a quick, explosive player on stunts.

Run/pass recognition: Reads plays quickly. Shows excellent production against both the run and the pass.

Pursuit/tackling: Is an explosive athlete with outstanding range. Can really close to the ball on the move. Is a strong, consistent tackler. One of the few defenders who could pull down Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor by himself.

Bottom line: Schofield has an ideal body for an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme. He has good size, arm length and growth potential. He reminds us of the Packers’ Clay Matthews and the Steelers’ LaMarr Woodley, only Schofield is a better pass rusher. He has second-round talent but is coming off a torn ACL injury at the Senior Bowl, so he likely will fall into the middle rounds. If he is able to regain his pre-injury form, he could prove to be quite a bargain.

For more than 600 player scouting reports from Russ Lande and his team of former NFL scouts — plus updated Mock Draft, Super 99 rankings and more — go to warroom.sportingnews.com.

A listing of all Pro Day workouts on college campuses (dates subject to change): 

My final days in Phoenix are winding down. I’m really excited about going out to Indianapolis and performing at the Combine.

Jerry Hughes is on a dual track: Get drafted, and get his degree.

Once I leave the Combine, I’ll come back here and train for a few more days and then go back to (TCU) and get all settled in. My pro day is March 12, and that will also be an opportunity for me to show scouts what I can offer.

I need six credit hours to graduate with a degree in Communications. I’m taking two online courses right now, and they’re high-level courses so it’s hard not being in the classroom. You’re not able to see the professor or to ask questions. At the same time, you’re not in school mode or in that environment.

One of the classes is a service learning class, where I’m working with the rest of the class to put together a lesson plan that we’ll teach kids. It’s about pushing the urgency of school and self-respect. The other class is more of a case study-type class. I’m reading the textbook and then writing a term paper about persuasive communication and how it works in the workforce. It’s simple guidelines and techniques people use in everyday life to make them a better person.

I feel really good about graduating. My family is excited about it; it’s something they always pushed me toward accomplishing. If you asked them, they’re more excited about me graduating from college than playing in the NFL. I’d really like to walk with my class, too. It depends on where I am and what team drafts me, but hopefully I’ll have the opportunity to walk on May 8.

As far as the Combine, I’m really more antsy than nervous. I like to say this is my one and only chance at this job opportunity, so I have to make a great first impression. This is the biggest job opportunity of my life. I’ve got one shot to go and perform well.

I’ll perform all the drills there at the Combine. Anything they want me to do, I’ll do. I have to say that working out here has really helped me. I’m working with coaches who are experts in running and lifting weights. You can work out by yourself, but as far as technique and gaining significant improvement, that’s just not going to happen by yourself.

It’s good to have other guys here who are training, too. We’re athletes and we’re competitive. It’s one big competition here. You see a guy run a fast time or lift a specific amount, you push yourself to reach that level or beat what they did.

I feel really good about the results I’ve gained here. But the only results that matter are the results that come up on those stopwatches.

—As told to Matt Hayes

About the author

Jerry Hughes, a dominant defensive end from TCU, was a first-team All-American and took home the Lott Trophy and Ted Hendricks Award. Hughes became the second two-time consensus All-American in school history. He’ll chronicle his journey to the NFL draft for Sporting News.

This story first appeared in Feb. 22’s edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today for free.

This Wednesday, I’m heading to the Combine. I’ve never been to Indianapolis, but I’m treating it like a business trip.

Focus and preparation: Keywords this week for Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski.

I talked to my brother and other players who have gone through the process to get an idea of what to expect there. The main thing is to stay focused and prepared. You have to be mentally ready for anything that might come up when you’re being interviewed by teams.

I’ve picked up many tips on what to say, how to present myself as a professional football player. I’ll weigh in, do the physical, and most likely do the bench press. For the other workouts, I’ll wait until my pro day in a few weeks when I’m 100 percent healthy and at full speed.

From what I know, they pull you into different rooms to talk to officials from a lot of teams. I want to be there, and I want to present myself in the best way possible.

My training for the draft is pretty much a 24-hour job, and there isn’t too much free time. When I get home from working out, I just relax on the couch. Even then I’ll often be studying film or preparing for the Wonderlic test. When I have some free time, I’ll play some video games or read books to keep my mind sharp.

I also have to keep up a diet. In the morning, from 6:30 until about 12:30, it’s about shakes, to help me build up my protein and recover from my early workouts. For lunch, it’s some chicken, a salad, green beans, fresh fruit—solid carbs, not much fat. For dinner, it’s chicken or fish for most of them. It’s everything healthy, loaded with nutrients and protein.

If I didn’t have restrictions with my current training, I would still be careful with what I eat. I like turkey sandwiches, chicken tenders and mashed potatoes. That’s about as "bad for you" as it gets for me. I’m not much of a fast food kind of guy. When it comes to drinks, it’s a lot of water and Gatorade, keeping up my fluids and electrolytes.

With this diet, I’m feeling great, and I’ve never felt better. Knowing that I’m healthy, and the strongest I’ve ever been, it’s awesome.

It’s hard to beat the atmosphere of training at a facility with some many guys working hard for the same goal. It’s easy to get inspired to work even harder, doing everything you can to take care of the business at hand.

—As told to Vinnie Iyer

About the author

Rob Gronkowski, a third-team Associated Press All-American at tight end for Arizona in 2008, didn’t play in 2009 after having back surgery early in the season. He had 47 catches for 672 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2008. He’ll chronicle his journey to the NFL draft for Sporting News.

This story first appeared in the February 22 edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today for free.

Sports Radio Interviews is a streaming independent sports blog which provides analysis on breaking sports news, upcoming games, and sporting events from a sports radio perspective. SRI articles frequently appear on SportingNews.com.

There has been reaction galore since news broke of LaDainian Tomlinson’s release by the San Diego Chargers. XX 1090 in San Diego spoke with Chargers general manager A.J. Smith, who explained the thought process behind the decision; longtime teammates Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates, who spoke as highly about LT as a person as they did about him the football player; and Lorenzo Neal, the fullback who paved the way for much of LT’s success.

Following are excerpts from those interviews. For a longer transcript, go to Sports Radio Interviews.

Smith on why the team opted to release LT now rather than closer to the March 5 deadline for making such transactions:

"Well, what we decided to do is, we still have more meetings and we’ll wrap those up before the third or fourth of March, but we had discussed LT first, and with the Combine starting right now out of respect, and everybody’s leaving tomorrow or the next day, everyone is there at the same time. All the agents are there, they have a convention; everybody in the National Football League is there. It would give him an opportunity with his agents to explore the possibilities for another team and get a jump-start on the process, which is really why we did it now."

Philip Rivers on the news: “It’s always tough any time you lose a teammate.”

Smith on how the thought process regarding LT’s situation in San Diego dating back to this time last year:

"Well, we looked at the big picture a year ago. John, you’re right on that. What we wanted to do is have a three-year contract in place so that we would know exactly what the monies would be in ’09, ’10, and ’11. Because you know and the fans know, we have so much that we’re looking at to try to fix on this football team in the upcoming years, that it basically was a year-to-year situation. For this year, we decided this particular year to go in a different direction."

Listen here to Smith’s interview.

Philip Rivers on how he found out about the news and what his reaction was:

"Well, I guess I was in the weight room when he was released, and I was made aware down here about a half hour ago or a little more. It’s always tough any time you lose a teammate, whether that be a trade, free agency or in this case after an unbelievable nine-year career here with the Chargers. LT, what he’s meant to this organization and this community, is really unmatched. What he did on the field speaks for itself, and the No. 21 jerseys and the kids and people that he’s affected, unbelievable. I’m sure those No. 21 jerseys will continue to be rampant in that stadium for many, many years"

Rivers on if he was able to speak to LT today:

"The thing about this that I always hate being a player that will return next year is anytime a veteran player or a player’s career will no longer continue here, you feel horrible. We didn’t win a championship while this group was here, while this guy was here. Especially LT, what he’s done. When he got here in ’01 and where we’ve come in large part due to his play, where we are now to not win a championship. You hate for him to be leaving without one. And that is what I tried to express to him. You remember every guy. In the past five or six years, you lose guys and you hate it that you didn’t win a championship while they were here. But again, our friendship, and being a teammate of his, and having him stand right there beside me or behind me every play was a real treat and certainly an honor to play with him."

Listen here to Rivers’ interview.

Gates on his initial reaction to the news of LT’s release:

"Yeah, it’s just a sad day for the Chargers, the city of San Diego. You’re talking about a guy in LaDanian that I think knowing him and I played my whole career with him, so obviously he has a warm part in my heart. Obviously this is a situation with the business, and that’s something that will happen to just about every player in the National Football League."

Antonio Gates was hopeful the Chargers could find a way to keep L.T.

Gates on if he thought it was ever a possibility that LT would finish his career in San Diego:

"Personally, I just thought they would find a way to keep him. I didn’t know the real inside of what was going on, you know, negotiation reasons, what they wanted to do as far as extending him, did they want him to take less money. But when you talk about a guy like LaDanian, you talk about a guy who means so much to the organization. But we all know that one person is not above an organization and obviously that was the circumstance. It’s just one of those situations where you hate to see it happen, but you knew it was coming, you had a feeling it was coming. And this past season, since I’ve been playing with him, this was the only season I felt different about how he felt about being in San Diego. So I just had a feeling at one point this would happen. But it came a lot sooner than I thought."

Gates on LT as a teammate away from game days:

You know what, the thing about LT is you look at him as a player as a phenomenal football player – Hall of Famer, MVP guy. But the person that he was was more impressive than than the football player that he was. I think that’s something being in that locker room I can share, my teammates can share about him. Because he not only carried himself first class on the football field, but off the football field he was a first class act as well. That’s something you can learn when you think of leaders, when you think of guys that lead teams to victories and are class acts off the football field, LaDanian Tomlinson is definitely a guy that stands for that."

Listen here to Gates’ interview.

Neal on being shocked about the news, even if he knew the day was eventually coming:

Yeah, without a doubt. It’s a tough day, and it’s a sad day I think for San Diego and it’s a sad day for the National Football League. You knew it was coming but like I said, it’s not the crash that killed you, it’s the sudden stop. We knew it was coming, it’s just tough."

Neal on their special relationship:

"You know, me and LT, we have a great relationship. Like I always say if you listen to all the different times I’ve had to comment about LaDanian Tomlinson – LT will always be a better person than he is a football player. Football’s what he does, it’s not who he is, and that doesn’t determine the size of the man’s heart…"

Neal on how much left he thinks LT might have in the tank:

"He can definitely can still be a dominant player in the National Football League. I think LT, you’ll see him this year, he’s going to play with a passion, he’s going to play with a big heart, and I think he’s going to be successful. But it’s just tough man, it’s tough. When you’re put in that position – you know, LaDanian he goes from a team that’s committed to running the ball. Let’s not get it twisted. If you look at San Diego and their philosophy, it’s now to be a finesse team. And it showed up in the play. They are no longer a physical smash-mouth team. That’s the way that Norv Turner has changed this offense. He’s the head coach, they’ve got a dynamic quarterback in Philip Rivers and a lot of great talented receivers in Malcolm (Floyd) and those other receivers that they have. And Antonio Gates. So this is what they are. They’re a vertical team. They can spread people out and go deep, and they’re a passing team now. So it’s tough. I think LaDanian wants to be in a position where he feels he’s appreciated…You wish the best for LaDanian because he’s an incredible athlete and he’s an incredible person."

Neal on if he too believes that LT might have a big year this coming season given how he might be extra motivated to prove he’s not done just yet:

"You know what? I kind of tend to see it that way too. I think that any great player, I think when you push any great man or great person and push him into a corner. Think about a cat – they’re always running, they don’t like it. But if you get a cat and you push him in that corner, and that cat’s got a fight. Oh my, be careful. Wrap up your hands because you’re going to come out with some scars and some cuts. I think LaDanian now, he’s pushed in a corner. Everyone’s looking at him. LaDanian, is he done? This is a man that lives for that type of moment. And I think that you will see LaDanian come back from in the corner from the beginning, from the opening day, and I think that this guy – given the right opportunity, going to the right office that suits him and believes in his passion – I think LaDanain Tomlinson will finish in the top 5 to 6 in rushing this next year, if that right opportunity presents itself, and barring injuries."

Listen here to Neal’s interview.