Fox - Poole (tfy)

[Wp28]

On the flip side of the coin was Will Poole, who watched his stock drastically drop today. After poor performances in the vertical jump and running, Poole did not even look that good during the drilling segment. Panther coach John Fox came to specifically watch Poole as did New Orleans coach Jim Hasslett. In fact Fox, whose team needs a starting corner, spoke at length with Trojan coach Pete Carroll who came out to watch his players run yet Poole was given the thumbs down.

There were rumors floating Poole was sick and had a bad hamstring but all scouts did was point to the slow times on their sheets that represented Poole's forty times with no mention of any ailments.

Keary Colbert improved his stock today running well then having a terrific pass catching workout afterwards.

 

[Durden]

40 be damned. If he is there at 31 we should draft him. Strap on the pads and that kid is a player.

 

[y2b]

Here's more...

Illness hurts Poole's stock

By Billy Witz
Staff Writer


USC cornerback Will Poole spent most of last week in bed, sweating off a high fever and fighting off infections in both ears that came with a nasty case of strep throat.

If he was sick then, consider how he felt Wednesday.

Poole, after losing 14 pounds in just more than a week, may have seen his stock drop, too, after he and other draft eligible Trojans performed a battery of physical tests before about 75 NFL coaches, general managers, personnel directors and scouts.

Poole, rated the No. 4 cornerback prospect by Scouts Inc. and a possible first-round pick, hardly looked like one. His vertical jump was a mere 28 inches, nine below his best. And his 40-yard dash times of 4.8 and 4.71 seconds put him neck and neck with defensive end Kenechi Udeze, who turned in a 4.7.

"I didn't know how much losing the weight was going to affect me," Poole said. "Under the circumstances I did OK. I'm not trying to make excuses, but I was really sick. It's unfortunate it happened two weeks before."

And that it came before so many NFL eyes.

Among them were coaches like Carolina's John Fox, Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis, Kansas City's Dick Vermeil, Cleveland's Butch Davis and Oakland's Norv Turner. The Cromwell Field track and Howard Jones practice field where the outdoor testing took place also attracted scores of agents, USC players, coaches, students and fans.

They watched 11 Trojans work out, though the most notable one -- receiver Mike Williams -- was absent, preferring instead to hold a private workout next week near his home in Tampa. One scout estimated Williams' presence would have drawn another 25 NFL personnel.

Tennessee general manager Floyd Reese, whose team has the 27th pick in the first round, said Poole's stock may not have been hurt too much because his value lies in his physical play and competitiveness, not his speed.

"If you were looking at a pure speed guy, you'd be much more concerned," Reese said. "Could his workout have been better? Sure, but people knew what his forte was."

Nevertheless, Poole's agent, Miami-based Drew Rosenhaus, spent about 20 minutes consoling Poole afterward. He encouraged Poole to regain his strength in the next three weeks and said he would arrange another workout for NFL scouts before the April 24-25 draft.

"We'll give them an accurate record before the draft," Rosenhaus said. "Teams will focus on his ability. You can't measure heart."

What makes another test necessary is that Poole chose not to work out at the NFL Combine last month, suffered a heel injury in Senior Bowl workouts and played only one season at USC, which could make some NFL teams skittish.

"That's one of the risks you take by not working out at the combine," Reese said. "People don't want to run there because it's a slow track -- like we don't know it. Then you come out to the most important day (of the draft process) and have a bad day, you're stuck with it."

Poole says he has no regrets.

"The way I look at it is if this was the season, I would have played so why not work out," Poole said of his decision to work out Wednesday. "If you can play ball, you can play ball. I hope they get some game film and will let the film speak for itself."

Billy Witz, (818) 713-3621 [email protected]

 

[Reznor]

sounds like a tough gamer, I've always been bigger on actual game performance than workout warriors anyway. Hopefully for his own sake, he's able to do better at another workout just before the draft.

 

[Piper]

We are at least looking at corners. Thank the maker.

 

[Durden]

Chances are we were there to see that DE.