Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

West Virginia QB Geno Smith may be a pocket passer but he is showing at the NFL Scouting Combine that he has got some wheels if he chooses to use them.

Smith busted out a 4.56 40-yard dash on his first attempt. On his second attempt, Smith locked in a 4.6o. All times are unofficial until later in the day.

Last year, Andrew Luck ran a 4.59 and RG3 ran a 4.41.

While Smith doesn’t take off and run like RG3, he certainly has enough speed to make some things happen with his legs at the next level.

Smith is entering the weekend with a number of questions about whether or not he is worth a high first-round draft pick. Showing today that he does indeed have the wheels to make plays will certainly not hurt his stock.

The big test for Smith will come a bit later today when he actually throws the football. Smith started the season hot at West Virginia but later in the season he faltered and showed some inconsistency.

We’ve seen in the past that prospects can significantly boost their stock at the Combine. Last year, not a lot of people had heard much about Dontari Poe until he ran his 40.

Look, the Combine is what it is: a track and field competition when the sport is neither track nor field. Anyone who knows what they are talking about will tell you that the biggest part of the Combine is the medical check – and to a lesser extent, the interviews – but that stuff is difficult to gauge from a fan standpoint, so we are left with the superficial numbers. 40 times, bench press reps and vertical jumps.

Al Davis loved the Combine, because he nearly always drafted on physical ability over technical and mental prowess. It worked. For a while.

So, while I by no means want to emulate Al Davis’ personnel strategies, what he relied on is the only concrete measure we currently have at our disposal. So, mid-Combine, here is how things look, through Davis’ crazy-glasses.

Offensive Line:

Donald Stephenson, T Oklahoma:

This is one athletic dude. He was the best in the offensive lineman in the 40-yard dash and broad jump, meaning he can move. He’s 6’6” 312 lbs, according to official school stats, and is projected as a mid-round tackle.

His drawbacks are described as such: “Heavy footed and lacks elite lateral ability. Will struggle with speed rushers and footwork is a work in progress. Bends too much at the waist and overextends himself. Often caught lunging and leaning. Has inconsistent get-off quickness and lacks the natural burst to maintain balance and block in space. Extends his arms, but has soft hands and doesn’t jolt rushers. Tends to leave his feet too often and whiffs on moving targets. Needs to keep his head up, butt low and stay balanced. Struggles with pre-snap awareness and needs to stay disciplined to recognize extra rushers. Will get lazy at times with his fundamentals and needs to eliminate several bad habits. Needs to develop more of a finishing attitude and overall mean streak. Still very green and has much learning to do.”

I don’t see much there that sounds un-coachable. If this guy falls to us in the 3rd or 4th round, I say we grab him. Even as a project, we could coach him up nicely behind Brandon Albert and whoever (not Barry Richardson) is starting at RT this year.

I actually love the idea of having a super athletic tackle on the roster. Although Stephenson isn’t nearly the same type of prospect, he does remind me of Bruce Campbell, a workout warrior tackle drafted by the Raiders in 2010. So far, he has done very little for them, but that’s largely because they are looking to find guys to plug holes in their leaky O-line. As a backup and specialty player, these guys can be golden for you.

With a 4.94 40-yard-dash time, Stephenson will be able to outrun defensive linemen when pulling around the edge or blocking on a sweep. That means he would be able to get guaranteed second-level blocking for you. He could also potentially be used as a goal line TE and catch passes with his huge 6’6” frame the way that Vrabel used to.

David DeCastro, G Stanford

DeCastro deserves his top-15 draft grade. In addition to being an incredibly reliable presence on Stanford’s line, this guy is a physical beast. He ranked 1st in the three-cone drill, 3rd (slower than #1 by .03 seconds) in the 20-yard shuttle and 2nd in the bench press among offensive linemen.

I personally think we should go full speed towards picking up Carl Nicks in free agency, but if the Chiefs decide to do something else with their free-agency dollars (cough Manning!) then I would not be disappointed in the least with picking up DeCastro. He has the power and ability to be a dominating blocking presence in every type of run play, whether we’re diving it up the gut or kicking it to the outside.

Tight Ends:

Ladarius Greene, TE Louisiana-Lafayette

Ladner and I have been pounding the table about this guy. He’s fast – 4.53 40-yard-dash time – and tall at 6’5” and made things happen for his college team. Overall, ProFootball Weekly described him thusly: “A developmental, small-school tight end lacking the mass needed to factor in the run game. Has upside to be groomed into a receiving threat but is far from a finished product and still has a long ways to go.”

Jermichael Finley anyone?

James Hanna, TE Oklahoma

This guy has got to be soaring up draft boards after his Combine performance.

In addition to having the best 40 time at 4.49, he also had the #2 20-yard shuttle time, the #3 broad jump and benched the 4th most reps out of the TE’s. Earlier the big knock against him was that he couldn’t run. Well, clearly he can. He also has a lot of other raw talents the Chiefs could employ to mold him into a deadly Hernandez-type TE.

Still, only about half of the positions have gone through the drills, but these are guys that I would love to see in Chiefs red, what say you Addicts?

Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

The NFL Scouting Combine begins today in Indianapolis. This is big, big, big for all the teams, including the Chiefs. While the fans will pay attention to a lot of the numbers like 40 times and bench press reps, the smart folks will be keeping their ears open about how players do in interviews.

Chiefs’ GM Scott Pioli has often mentioned that he thinks it is important to not get too tied up in the numbers. The interviews are important because generally, the teams already have a pretty good idea of what these players can do. They’ve had scouts watching them for a couple of years and generally, one workout isn’t going to dramatically change the team’s opinion of a guy. It may change their opinion of his draft stock but not necessarily what he can do on the field.

A perfect example is Chiefs LB Justin Houston. Houston had end of the first round, early second round talent but slid to the third round because he failed a drug test at the combine. The Chiefs met with Houston and decided that he was a good kid and that he wasn’t likely to be a problem child. While they were confident enough to draft Houston, they were also smart enough to know that the failed drug test hurt his stock. That meant they could adjust their expectations of where they could get him int he draft. The Chiefs were able to trade back in the first round of the draft last year and pick up an extra pick in the third round. They used the first to snag Houston and the second to grab Allen Baiely.

Had Houston not impressed the Chiefs in his interviews, however, he may be playing somewhere else.

Most of the players drafted will be at the combine so this is a big week for everyone involved. Here is today’s schedule:

The special teamers, offensive linemen and tight ends arrived yesterday. Today, the quarterbacks, receivers and running backs will arrive. The players will be getting poked and prodded for the first couple of days and will get into serious drills on Saturday. You can watch the combine live on NFL Network (if you have it). You can count on AA to be here providing coverage and news throughout the weekend (if our server allows it).

Which players are you most excited to watch work out?

I chose this because I can't figure out what sense the picture makes or how it relates to week in review.

Saturday night here at Arrowhead Addict, so it’s time for part two of the week in review.  We have had lots of interesting things being reported, from Todd Haley’s quirky rhetoric in press conferences at the NFL scouting combine to bags of white powdery substances falling out of phantom jackets.  For fans of this site Chiefs news is like the mail, it never stops.  Now if I can just figure out who the hell Pepe Silvia is and get his mail to him (gold star for first person to respond correctly to where that reference came from).

We were relatively light in our 3pm EST posts this week.  Lyle gave plead his case to the Addicts in regards to bringing Le’Ron McClain to Kansas City, and Adam let us all know what he would be watching at the NFL Scouting Combine this year.  I just heard John Clayton on ESPN radio driving home from work saying that Cam Newton‘s stock went up during the combine, and I know the Chiefs have no interest or hopes of getting Newton, but the reason I bring it up is that he said something a little odd.  One of the things he commented on was Cam Newton‘s smile, and how that helped raise his stock…  Yeah, I knew there was a reason I never made it to the pro’s.  I just thought it had more to do with my general lack of physical prowess and athletic ability, but I have to admit I do not have a great smile.

So, short and sweet tonight Addicts.  The drudgery of the off season continues.  I watched what I thought was a pretty horrible movie the other night called “The Blind Side” and it got me to thinking about what my favorite football movie was.  There’s a lot off good iconic ones out there (“Remember the Titans,” “Rudy” etc.) but I think I would have to go with “The Water Boy.”  It’s silly and stupid, but every time I hear, “Joe Montana was a quarterback you crazy asshole!” I laugh my ass off.  So Addicts, what would you say is your favorite football flick?

Have a good night, I’m out!

Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley took the podium today at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis to field questions from the national media.

Leading things off was a local reporter, Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star. Teicher asked Haley very simply if he would be calling the offensive plays next season.

Haley then talked for five minutes and 46 seconds about everything from Bill Muir to Jamaal Charles, to a golf swing to Matt Cassel and Jim Zorn. Though all of that, he never did say if he would be the one calling the plays.

Teicher responded: “You could have saved yourself a lot of trouble if you had just said, ‘Yes I’m calling the plays’, or ‘No I’m not calling the plays’.”

I love Haley.

CBS Sports NFL later tweeted:

CBSSportsNFL Eye on Football

Most reporters are still griping about how Todd Haley spent six minutes answering a question about his coaching staff.

Check out the entire presser at KCChiefs.com.

Again, what’s the big deal about the Combine?

This is something that we’ll ask Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli and head coach Todd Haley this week. But until we get the official word, we’ve received clues about why this is still quite the event, despite potential evaluation holes that could surround the week-long testing.

One of those clues was on my flight to Indianapolis last night. Check that, a bunch of the clues were located on my flight to Indy last night.

Many members of the Chiefs medical staff, consisting of PhD specialists from around the area, were aboard Southwest Airlines flight 683 from Kansas City to Indianapolis Wednesday night. That may be THE BIGGEST clue as to why this even is so important to NFL franchises.

Sure, there are scouts, head coaches, general managers and a bundle of media in attendance to talk to and measure players, but the real value in the weekend likely resides with the docs. The Chiefs medical staff will take prospects through a number of medical tests this week; medical tests that the team is unlikely to perform while the players are still playing for their respective colleges.

Yesterday, falling victim to the cold weather and sheer boredom, I flipped on the TV. After watching another boring Big Ten “shootout” between Michigan State and Wisconsin, I turned my attention to the NFL combine. Folks, a snoozefest! Are we Chiefs fans so desperate for our football fix that we have turned to watching time trials for QBs and offensive lineman? So caught up in the game that we are willing to listen to grown men rant and rave about young men running around in spandex onesies?

Despite the placid nature of this event, I thought this might be an opportune time to review the team physician’s role in this livestock auction. After all, more important than any speed or strength drill, more important than any psychological profile or Wonderlic test, is the client’s bill of health. When all these scouts and GMs visit Bill “the Butcher” Polian’s meat market (Lucas Oil Stadium), they’re looking to find Grade A beef with no defects.

Initially, every player has an extensive history and physical exam. During this process, prior injuries are highlighted as potential sources of chronic problems. Next, a family history is reviewed looking for inherited problems such as sickle cell trait, Marfan’s Syndrome and Idiopathic Hypertrophic Subaortic Stenosis. IHSS, Marfan’s and sickle cell trait are markers for sudden cardiac death in a young athlete. During the physical exam, special attention is also given to the spine, shoulder, elbow, hip, knee and ankle joints. Along with all the poking and prodding, range of motion is recorded for all teams to review.

A careful history of concussions and/or head trauma is then recorded. The player is asked if they’ve had any prior stingers. If the answer is yes, that question is followed up by two more: “how often did they occur?” and “how long did they last?” This may be due to narrowing of the cervical vertebral canal, and will lead to obtaining a CT Scan or Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) of the cervical spine. When other areas of question appear they may be targeted for a MRI or a CT scan. With all the current discussion surrounding concussions and head trauma in current players, like Dan Morgan, and former NFL players, like Ted Johnson, this is an aspect of the medical examination that has been pushed to the forefront.

The cardiac exam has also gained increasing importance in recent years, following the untimely deaths of several athletes. Besides the history and physical, often an EKG (electorcardiogram) and an ECHO (Ultrasound of the heart) are performed. This helps in discovering congenital heart defects, cardiac enlargement as well as IHSS.

In the end the NFL and more specifically its teams make a huge investment in these players. This allows them to pool their resources in order to maximize potential and limit potential hazards and sources of liability. The failure rate for these million-dollar babies is high enough without any medical red flags. Teams simply must be satisfied that the high-priced meat they’re buying comes with no defects. As we all know, even the finest meat and other ingredients can go awry if you have the wrong cooks — see Carl Peterson, Herm Edwards and Gunther Cunningham — in the kitchen. Clearing players medically gives the coaching staff and front office a higher chance at successfully drafting and developing these prospects.

Fire away questions regarding this process. All questions will be answered in my next column.

• My big winner today, from a Chiefs’ perspective, is offensive tackle Jason Smith. He ripped off 33 bench reps which is impressive considering he’s not Andre Smith massive at around “only” 309 pounds. On the other hand, he’s not Andre Smith dumb either. Jason Smith used to play tight end, so we know he’s athletic. I would say he’s on the Chiefs radar at this point.

• Some people probably would scoff at the idea of picking another first-round tackle, but I’m confident Branden Albert could play right tackle if we needed him to. The other thing is, if we go after Matt Leinart, and I think we definitely could, our right tackle would basically be our left tackle. Our right tackle would protect Leinart’s blindside because he’s a southpaw. Don’t dismiss Leinart either. I could easily see Todd Haley wanting him, and also Leinart wanting out with Kurt Warner likely returning.

• The thing we need to remember about Matt Cassel and Leinart is that if we pass on bringing them in, then they probably weren’t worth it in the first place. Haley and Scott Pioli know these two quarterbacks better than anybody in the league.

• Tomorrow is Sanchez Sunday. It’s his day. Why do I prefer Mark Sanchez to Matt Stafford? I prefer him because the way he carries himself. I think he has determination, guts, swagger and toughness that Stafford will never have. He’s a leader — is Stafford? Everyone makes a big deal about him only starting 16 games, but during his four years at USC (he redshirted), he’s been buried beneath three pro quarterbacks. Besides, as Todd McShay pointed out on a recent SportsCenter, Dirty’s 2008 redzone stats blew away Stafford’s. Here’s hoping the kid has his coming out party today. He could be our quarterback of the future.

• Stafford hurt himself by not  throwing. He backed down from the biggest challenge of his football career to date. It looks bad. Period. He better throw like Elway on his pro day, that’s all I’m sayin’.

That’s it for today. Back tomorrow with more…

After discussions and debate throughout the day, Crabtree and his advisors have decided to hold off on any surgery until after his March 26 Pro Day, those close to the player said Saturday.

One reason the surgery is being delayed is because Crabtree is not feeling any pain in his foot. He still wants to run the 40-yard dash for NFL coaches and scouts next month.

But Crabtree also is aware that, if the injury is aggravated in any way during his training process, then surgery would have to be performed right away and a screw will have to be inserted into his foot. Once surgery is performed, Crabtree would be expected to be sidelined about 10 weeks.

If he is able to hold off on the surgery until after his Pro Day, Crabtree then would miss his new team’s rookie minicamps and not return to action until mid June. But those close to him expect that he will not have any issues being ready for training camp.

But for the time being, Crabtree will hold off on any surgery until after he runs two 40-yard dashes for NFL scouts and coaches. It is for Crabtree, at least for the time being, the most pressing business.

Maybe the Chiefs are back in the Crabtree derby? If they were ever in it in the first place?

Anyway, this could either be a very wise or very foolish move by Crabtree. If he runs well, he solidifies his top-five status. If he runs poorly, then he could drop, costing him millions of dollars. We’ll see how it works out.

On Larry Johnson:

There’s no situation. He’s under contract…

There’s no situation. He’s a Chief and we’re moving forward.

On draft prospects who choose not to work out at the NFL combine (ahem, Matt Stafford):

I don’t know if it irks me, but it certainly makes me wonder why would they turn down a stage like this to perform?

If you’re good, just go out and show it.

I love it. In one fell swoop the guy boosts L.J.’s value, or at least re-opens the door for him to return (argh), and takes a shot at Stafford. I agree on Stafford, by the way. Mark Sanchez was chomping at the bit to get out there and show what he can do. What does it say about Stafford that he’s scared to throw at the combine?

I’m just not sure about this kid. I think we’ve gone from Matty Ice to Natty Ice in one year’s time. And as you know, Natty Ice ain’t all that great when you’re thinking with a sober mind.

UPDATE 10:59 PM CT: ESPN’s combine blog has a nice post on Darrius, projecting him to run a 4.4 40 and bragging about the way he performed at the podium.

As some of you guys know, my biggest passions besides sports and sportswriting are film and screenwriting. I never studied journalism; I studied theater in college and went to film school. That’s why I found it very interesting that receiver Darrius Heyward-Bay — a fringe first-rounder who I like an awful lot, and also a Double D guy — wants to be a filmmaker. From NFL.com:

While he at one time was interested in broadcasting, he quipped “I’m going to let that go, I’m more into film and becoming a director. So I won’t be doing what you guys are doing.”

He said he did independent study in both high school and college with film and that he has had an interest in it from a young age.

“I’ve been really inspired by black-and-white and also theater,” Heyward-Bey said.

I love these NFL combine interviews and press conferences. I think the process can be very telling.

For instance, I think it says a lot about Heyward-Bay that he’s such a passionate guy, and also that he has aspirations beyond the football field. Additionally, you can see that he’s somewhat intelligent and handles the press well. It isn’t exactly the 40-yard dash or the Wonderlic, but I think the way players carry themselves shouldn’t be ignored either. That was a big part of why I liked Matt Ryan so much last year.

Heyward-Bay is 6-foot-2 and has sprinter’s speed. I think he’s definitely a possibility if we don’t sign a free agent receiver or draft Michael Crabtree if he’s sitting there at No. 34.

Besides, if we draft Heyward-Bey, maybe he’ll hook us up with some more Hard Knocks-type footage. That would be very cool. What else is cool is discovering that these kids are not only not dumb jocks (for the most part), but pretty fascinating people underneath their facemasks.

And of course, I wouldn’t leave you hanging without a couple of clips of Heyward-Bay after the jump…

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McFadden was also rumored to have a slight leg injury and many people wondered why he was running. Today he showed he is a competitor, just like Adrian Peterson did last year at the combine. There is no way he slips like Purple Jesus did last year. The only way would be if his off-the-field problems scare teams away, but I think a 4.2 40 will make all of those people forget about those problems.