NFL Draft 2012: Combine Darlings Who Will Be Drafted Too Soon

Every year at the NFL scouting combine, some players put on a phenomenal showing that causes their draft stock to be significantly inflated, and occasionally, such as in the cases on Mike Mamula and Vernon Gholston, those players go on to flop in the National Football League.

This year appears to be no different, as there were a few players who came from nowhere to post fantastic workout results at the 2012 combine in Indianapolis that drew oohs and aahs from the assembled scouts and coaches.

However, at least a couple of these workout warriors have red flags to go right along with their great combines, and before NFL teams trip over themselves in their zeal to rush out and use a first-round pick on these combine standouts, it would be wise to first examine their body of work as a whole.

At 6'4" and a hefty 346 pounds, Memphis defensive tackle Dontari Poe is a mountain of a young man, and Poe demonstrated his strength by bench-pressing 225 pounds a combine-high 44 times.

However, what really made scouts' jaws drop was when Poe lined up to run the 40-yard dash, in which he clocked in unofficially at 4.87 seconds, a ridiculous time for a man his size.

Not all scouts are convinced that Poe's stellar showing in Indy will translate to success in the National Football League, however, as the Trenton Times recently reported that at least one team executive didn't like what he saw on Poe's game tape.

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“He’ll be overdrafted,” one personnel man said. “He did all of that at the Combine, so some team will take him way higher than he should go. I mean watch him play, just watch. He didn’t do anything. And he wasn’t playing at a very high level, either.

“All I know is he had one sack last year and it came against Austin Peay. You probably didn’t even know Austin Peay had a football team.”

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Defensive players such as Poe weren't the only ones turning in monstrous performances in February, and one of the most beastly offensive workouts was turned in by 6'4" 215-pound wide receiver Stephen Hill of Georgia Tech, who ran the 40-yard dash in a blistering 4.36 seconds and posted an impressive 39.5" vertical leap.

Hill's big showing at the combine has thrust the Yellow Jackets wideout into first-round consideration on many draft boards, but Greg Cosell of NFL Films recently tweeted that there was reason for some concern after viewing Hill on tape.

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Film gave little sense of how WR Hill will transition. No routes, straight line running. Tall high cut strider with limited lateral movement

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"— Greg Cosell (@gregcosell) March 31, 2012"

However, his colleague, Mike Mayock, seems to be sold on Hill, as the Akron Beacon Journal reported that the draft guru positively glowed about Hill's performance at Lucas Oil Stadium.

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“Stephen Hill killed it,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. “I had a bunch of scouts tell me before the combine this kid might blow the roof off of it, and he did.

“His burst, his quickness and even more important to me, when he got on the field and caught the football, he didn’t double-catch balls. He made hands catches out in front of him. … Trust me, he’s kind of pushed himself right up in the forefront of this wide receiver [class].”

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It's hard to say which side of the Hill debate is right, as Georgia Tech's triple-option offense leaves precious few opportunities for wide receivers to shine, but at the very least, this difference of opinion demonstrates that choosing Hill in the first round of April's draft is a selection that carries with it some risk.