Indianapolis, IN (UHND) – The story for Notre Dame prospects at the NFL Combine this weekend was one of disappointment. Such was not the case for defensive tackle Trevor Laws, who may have cemented himself as one of the draft’s elite defensive tackles with an impressive all around performance and could be looking at being a late first or early second round pick.
Laws’s combine started off with a more than solid showing in the bench press on Sunday when he hoisted 35 reps of 225 lbs – second best among defensive linemen to Vernon Gholston’s 37 – and it continued Monday with testing well in both the 40 and vertical jump.
In the 40 yard dash, Laws turned in a best time of 5.08 – hardly blazing, but very competitive for the other defensive tackles. USC’s Sedrick Ellis, widely considered the #2 DT in the draft behind LSU’s Glen Dorsey, ran just a 5.28 according to the NFL Network. Prior to the draft, Laws had reported he was running a sub 5.0 40 on his website, but unfortunately he was just over that mark on Monday.
No other defensive tackle in at the combine recorded a better vertical jump than Laws’s 30.5”. Iowa State’s Ahtyba Rubin was second among DTs with a 28” jump.
LSU’s Glenn Dorsey, most analyst’s top defensive tackle in the draft did not participate in any of the individual workouts, but other top defensive tackles like Ellis and North Carolina’s Kentwan Balmer did and in the drills Laws ran, he tested better than both. On top of Ellis and Balmer, ESPN’s Todd McShay also ranks Aubrun’s Pat Sims ahead of Laws. Sims just edged out Laws in the 40 with a 5.06, but he also put up just 20 reps of 225 and recorded a 27” vertical.
When commenting on Laws’s strengths and weaknesses during NFL Network’s combine coverage on Monday, Mayock said he listed Laws’ height as a weakness, even though he measured in taller than Ellis, because he couldn’t find any other weaknesses in his game.
Laws’s impressive performance in Indianapolis Monday, combined with his strong showing at the Senior Bowl and his eye popping stats from his senior season have really elevated his draft stock to the point where people are mentioning Laws as a potential late first round draft pick.
In order for Laws to sneak into the first round, he’ll have to really impress some team during his interviews, but at this point the first round is definitely a possibility. Over the last three years, 10 defensive tackles have been taken in the first round of the draft so in order for the first round to become a reality, Laws will likely have to jump ahead of either Balmer or Sims on some GM’s draft board.
No matter where he ends up in the draft, it is more than apparent that Laws is drastically improved his draft status by coming back for his fifth year this past season. The same might be able to be said for his fellow fifth year classmates hoping to be drafted, but at least for Laws, it looks as though the pain of the 2007 will result in a nice pay day for him.
Zbikowski Lifts, Runs Tuesday
Safety Tom Zbikowski put up 24 repetitions of 225 lbs in the bench press on Monday – second best among defensive backs – and will run through individual drills tomorrow. A strong showing in the 40 time could help him move back up the draft boards.
