NFL Combine 2012: Alshon Jeffery Must Dominate to Stay in First Round

Alshon Jeffery's quest to be a first-round draft pick is not off to a good start. Actually, it couldn't be much worse. 

Tony Pauline of SI.com and Wes Bunting of the National Football Post hosted a live chat. In it, they answered a question about Jeffery and how fast his 40 time will be at the combine. 

Question:

"

What do you think Alshon Jeffrey will run?

"

Pauline:

"

The better question is will Alshon Jeffrey run....I'm hearing in the 4.6's....

"

Bunting:

"

I think Jeffery is a low 4.6 guy. He doesn't get up to speed real quickly, but builds speed as he goes and is tougher to cover the further down the field he gets. Struggles to separate though out of his breaks.

"

That is not going to get it done. If Jeffery wants to be a first-round draft pick, his 40 time will need to be a lot better. Compared to some of the other top receivers in the draft, his season was subpar. For Jeffery to be mentioned in that group, his raw combination of size and speed will need to shine. If it doesn't, we're going to see a draft-day free fall. 

Look at how Jeffery's 2011 compared to some of the other top receivers in this year's class.

	Receptions	Yards	Touchdowns
Alshon Jeffery	49	762	8
Justin Blackmon	121	1,522	16
Michael Floyd	100	1,147	9
Kendall Wright	108	1,663	14

It really isn't hard to pick out the sore thumb of that group, is it?

What has always made Jeffery stand out in a positive way is that he's a massive man with incredible speed. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be in good position to show that off, which is troubling. 

The scouts are going to look at Jeffery, compare him to those other players and see nothing that separates him. Then they're going to look back at the most recent numbers, only to see Jeffery stand out in a bad way.

This is going to send him dropping into the second round. As a matter of fact, if Jeffery can't figure out a way to control his weight and run better, a once promising NFL career will look bleak, at best. 

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