Temple pro day confirms suspicions

NJ.com takes a look at Rock Ya-Sin.

In between filling out March Madness brackets and pouring over scouting reports on Belmont, something else important happened on the campus of Temple University on Monday.

Temple Pro Day.

It confirmed a couple of notable suspicions: One, Ryquell Armstead is really that fast and, two, Michael Dogbe got screwed out of an NFL combine invitation.

Screenshot 2019-03-20 at 8.58.44 AM

Credit: Owlsports.com

Some people (not I) thought Armstead’s 4.45 in the 40-yard dash at the combine might have been a fluke but Armstead was able to duplicate the same exact time on Monday, causing him to have a long talk with Philadelphia Eagles’ running back coach Duce Staley. The Eagles apparently are interested in Armstead and the interest is mutual. Frankly, after pouring over the available free agent backs and the other draft choices and the current roster of the Eagles, I think Armstead would do very well here. I don’t see Josh Adams, the current starter, bringing more explosiveness to the table than Armstead.

It’s already been proven by a neutral clock that Armstead would smoke Adams in a foot race. I think the Eagles should take a chance on Armstead, particularly if he’s available in the 4-5 round area.

With Dogbe, he put up 34 reps on the bench press and came in at 6-3 and 284 pounds. Only one other player at the NFL combine had that many reps at that weight. I see Dogbe as a No. 2 pick, potentially a one.

Rock Ya-Sin, considered by many one of the top five DBs in the draft, could also go as high as the second round and did nothing to diminish those prospects.

Other Owls of note were safety Rodney Williams, who had a 4.46 40 and another safety, Delvon Randall.  It’s nice to know that Nick Sharga is still pursuing his dream and hopefully the New England Patriots were taking notice. He would be the perfect player in that system.

If Temple pro day proved anything, it is that as many as four Owls could be drafted and more added with free agency.

That probably will do a lot more for the school’s image than the end of a basketball season in March Madness.

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10 thoughts on “Temple pro day confirms suspicions

  1. striking the number of Temple players on pro rosters over the last four years.

    compares very favorably the East P5 schools like Pitt, Maryland, Rutgers, BC, Va Tech, and even PSU.

    Really makes you wonder why Temple didn’t win more regular season and bowls games over the last fours years.., ?

    Two takeaways, MR really did find the diamonds in our backyard, and Collins and crew underwhelmed with the talent they inherited.

    • Anyone following this blog would say that the blame for not winning more games rests with the coaches. Collins was a disaster and thank goodness he’s gone. The man didn’t even recognize the wealth of talent he had and totally misused it. How he got a better job after what can only be described as two years of coaching malpractice is one of the great mysteries of the world. Just shows you that those in charge of hiring coaches at GT clearly did not know what they were doing. All anyone had to do to know that Collins is a loser is watch the Army game from 2017 and the Nova game from last season. On the basis of the Nova game alone he should not have gotten a better paying job or any head coaching job at all. Hell, St. Joe’s Prep would not have hired him after that debacle because a smaller and slower team beat a far superior team solely because of some of the worst coaching ever to grace a D-1 football field. Carey is lucky he’s following that loser and I can be pretty confident that Carey would not have lost either Army or Nova.

      • Collins bullshitted his way into the Temple job and bullshitted his way into the Georgia tech job. He did some nice things at temple but both games against nova were unforgivable …

  2. From what I can find, Northern Illinois has had only 5 players drafted by the NFL since 2012. Given his winning record, it would seem he did well with the players he had there even if it is the MAC (and let’s not be too dismissive of that conference given our lack of success against their top teams). If that level of recruiting at TU can be maintained under Carey that has been here for the past decade, I have to think he’ll do well with the level of talent. But can he recruit?

  3. I hope so. But all of the HC’s since AG had P5 experience that probably was very impressive to young recriuts. Can Carey close the deal on key prospects? Time will tell. But I hope the next staff opening can get a former TU player that played in the NFL if such a guy is available when the situation presents itself.

  4. A while back, happened across Nitro’s dad who told me the Pats had been talking with him as well.

  5. The 2020 recruiting class will be the most important class in the last five years. Carey must bring in 3-5 freshmen with the size, strength and speed to earn a letter and possibly start. Or, hit the JUCO and transfers super hard.

    I don’t see anyone capable of earning a letter in this 2019 class. This entire class will probably redshirt.

    Remember, Collins redshirted his entire first year class, that is not good.

    The lack of total team dept is a minor concern this year and a Major concern next year. The most glaring is the RB position….,

    What is the significance of freshmen being four year starters at Temple? It means there is a 90% chance you’ll be playing on Sunday.

  6. Where is the beef? TUFB has changed right before our very eyes. We are no longer a power, smash mouth team. Witness the dwindling number of 300 lb lineman in the last five seasons according to our published rosters:

    2015: 15, with 9 starters
    2016: 14, with 6 starters
    2017: 11, with 6 starters
    2018: 8, with 4 starters
    2019: 5, with only 1 projected starter

    Every starter on the 2015 OL was over 3 bills. they lined up and moved folks off the ball. Plus the 2015 team had Hershey Walton clogging the middle on the DL.

    The 2019 OL will be more finesses and technique, and not much power. Will be interesting to see if Carey and crew play the cards they are dealt…,

    i.e., the 2019 team is not a body blow team like the 2015 team..,

    • With first-team All-American center Matt Hennessey leading the way (my prediction) and last year’s sensational true freshman from Episcopal Academy helping, this will be the best offensive line in Temple history. Just got to build depth, that’s all.

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