Tackling the Combine

The nation's most highly-publicized job fair -- AKA the NFL Scouting Combine -- officially began on Thursday, but the real action of the week-long event gets underway today, when players start participating in physical drills. The offensive lineman and tight end groups will be on display today.

The offensive tackles figure to take center stage in this afternoon's sessions. Remember that eight tackles were selected in the first round of last year's draft, with six of them earning starting jobs on the coveted left side in 2008. This year's crop appears just as talented, with Virginia's Eugene Monroe, Baylor's Jason Smith, Mississippi's Michael Oher and Alabama's Andre Smith all considered potential top-20 picks, while Arizona's Eben Britton and Connecticut's William Beatty could jump into the first round as well with strong showings.

One player who's already seen his stock plummeting is Andre Smith. Once viewed as a candidate for the No. 1 overall selection, the former Crimson Tide standout showed up in Indianapolis overweight and out of shape, then balked at participating in the combine drills to cast further doubt on an otherwise questionable work ethic.

Jason Smith, on the other hand, appears to be a player on the rise. A former tight end, he hoisted an impressive 33 reps of 225 lbs. in Friday's bench press, the most of the elite tackle prospects (Monroe put up 23 and Oher 21 in their workouts), and will be a lock to be taken among the top five overall picks if he excels in the agility drills.

A pretty good group of tight ends is headed by Oklahoma State's Brandon Pettigrew, a likely first-rounder. The 40-yard dash, scheduled to be run later today, will reveal whether there's a Dustin Keller among this year's contingent. I'm referring to the former Purdue tight end who entered last year's combine viewed as a third or fourth round choice, then blew everyone away by running a 4.53 in the 40 and wound up being taken by the Jets with the 30th overall selection.

One of the most intriguing prospects in this year's class is Rice tight end James Casey. He spent three years pitching in the Chicago White Sox system before coming to the Owls and will be 25 years old in September, but has terrific hands and caught 104 passes this past season. He's also a bit undersized for the position at 6'3, 246-pounds, but showed great strength in benching 28 reps yesterday.

Check back later on for further updates on today's proceedings.