2011 NFL Combine Results: Julio Jones is an Athletic Freak and Jake Locker's Very Fast

Julio Jones put on a show early Sunday at the Combine in Indy, stunning everyone with a 4.39 40 (faster than the consensus top WR in the draft, Georgia’s AJ Green, who ran a 4.48) and a 11’3″ in the broad jump. They weren’t quite Calvin Johnson results from the ’07 Combine, but they cemented Jones as a 1st round pick. I’ve had Jones going 14th to the Rams in the draft, but today’s performance could vault him higher. The Titans and Redskins could use a receiver, but the problem is neither has a QB to get them the ball.

Locker has been an easy target for critics due to a poor senior season, and the debate rages about whether he’s 1st round material or not. Everyone knows he’s a fantastic athlete – he ran a 4.52 40 this morning, which was excellent, but a far cry from the alleged 4.39 he ran last summer.

Locker’s accuracy – or lack thereof – has been the problem, and it has caused Mike Lombardi of the NFL Network (he’s a former NFL executive with half a dozen NFL teams) to drop Locker to the 3rd or 4th round. Mike Mayock of the NFL Network still has Locker in the first round. I still don’t see how Locker falls out of the first round with so many teams needing a QB. Perhaps my last projection of 12 is too high. If he isn’t taken by 15, though, I think he’ll fall to the 2nd round. Everyone after the Dolphins – except for Seattle at 25 – is set at QB, and all have needs ahead of a backup QB.