Illinois Stock Up Showcase: Combine Testing Beasts

It's a necessary evil to run up and coming prospects through the combine testing to legitimize what your eyes are telling you in person about an individual you want to invest in. These players had the opportunity to go through each test twice (40, Shuttle, L Drill, Broad Jump). Let take a look at who tested out the best and backed it up on the field.    Mr. [player_tooltip player_id='1573863' first='Lawrence' last='Benson'] is fast fast! I saw him run his first 40 with not a great start or stance to just record a 4.65. His demeanor is soft spoken, however, the wind screams when he runs. The second time he ran was out of a much better stance and he flirted with breaking 4.5. I wanted to see if this speed could be controlled during RB drills with cutting and everyone and he did well. Lawrence also competed in 1 on 1's and I honestly think the QB's couldn't gage how fast he could accelerate. Needless to say he caught my attention and I feel his name will come up in the future as he matures and adds more tools in the box.     Sheko put up the second best time in the shuttle. Running a 4.32 at his best is nothing to glare at. That's pro WR numbers for some and he's a junior in high school. You could see his lateral movement come into play when releasing off the line or breaking outside to catch a ball nearing the sideline. This kid is quick and it showed up often. His other testing numbers fell in respective spots toward the top.     [player_tooltip player_id='1570791' first='Nathan' last='Cichy'] is a combine beast no doubt. Cichy scored the top numbers for the Broad Jump and L Cone drill. His shuttle time wasn't bad either. He jumped to the 10 foot mark twice. One recording was 9.9 so that's pretty much the same thing. Then walked his way over to drop a 7.1 on the L is crazy. Nathan is cat quick and can jump which is the perfect equation to show how explosive you are. Using these tangibles and adding it to his game for wideout will turn heads. I believe we need to order popcorn early while his senior season is loading.     Jackie was the tallest athlete to report. You could pretty much guess his position out the gate. I could not help to be impressed by him running the fasted 5-10-5 shuttle at 4.18. He also carried himself as a quarterback and he competed well. His release was attractive coming from high to low with such long arms. Being that tall and dropping back on a rhythm is no easy task and I think he fared well versus the other QBs. Not just fun to watch, but his approach to leading WR's prior to snap, then executing did not go undetected. Two more years of high school ball will favor his progression into being a D1 talent eventually.     My guy Cruz came in weighing the most out of all those who walked into the Dome that day. 305+ pounds and I believe he carried that truth with pride. Don't sleep on his agility and the power was evident by looking at his lower half meat slabs. The positive energy was infectious. Watching the charters as they wrote down a sub 5.4 in the shuttle, then seeing him jump 7 foot in the broad jump certified everything else I needed to know about this young man. HE'S A DUDE!

It's a necessary evil to run up and coming prospects through the combine testing to legitimize what your eyes are telling you in person about an individual you want to invest in. These players had the opportunity to go through each test twice (40, Shuttle, L Drill, Broad Jump). Let take a look at who tested out the best and backed it up on the field.