INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis could have taken the NFL’s money and run away from Ohio State last year.
But he stayed true to his word, playing four years with the Buckeyes – and endured the consequences. His team didn’t return to the national championship game, didn’t even win a Big Ten title and his draft stock slid, possibly costing him money.
Hey, at least he was part of a school-record fifth straight victory over hated rival Michigan.
So Laurinaitis has come to Indianapolis for the league’s annual scouting combine on a mission.
“I’ve never been one to shy away from competition,” he said Saturday. “I almost take it as a challenge. I see it as an opportunity, and I don’t think it’s unfair at all. I take it in stride.”
What NFL teams will find on tape, Laurinaitis insists, is the same active linebacker scouts fell in love before the 2008 draft – a relentless tackling machine.
The difference now is Laurinaitis must contend with more people who want to make him wait longer on draft day.
Laurinaitis opted to stay in school last year, poses the biggest challenge.
The two play similar styles and are built almost exactly the same. Laurinaitis measured in at just under 6-foot-2, 244 pounds, while Maualuga was listed at 6-1, 249.
At this point, Laurinaitis is still ranked by some as the best inside linebacker in the draft.
Maualuga is No. 2 and hopes to close the gap with an impressive workout Monday.
“I want to get discovered,” he said. “This is an once-in-a-liftime opportunity to compete. You only get all 32 teams in one place at one time, and that makes it a chance to compete.”
Would these two have been better served coming out last year?
Nobody will know for sure, and it’s not a question Laurinaitis, the son of a pro wrestler, will even ponder.
“I have no regrets about coming back,” he said Saturday. “When you lose two national championships and you’re that close, as a competitor, you want to come back. I felt I owed it to Ohio State because only two schools recruited me out of high school.”
—
HOPEFUL RAVENS: Ozzie Newsome remains optimistic Baltimore can keep its trademark linebackers together another season.
The question is how optimistic.
Newsome, the Ravens general manager, told reporters Saturday he believed he could get all three deals done, then paused and uttered “at this point.”
around a stout defense, Ray Lewis, Bart Scott and Terrell Suggs are the core of the team. Suggs has already been tagged with the franchise designation, virtually assuring he’ll be back next season.
But the fate of Lewis and Scott are in doubt. Lewis has already said he would consider reuniting with former defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, now the New York Jets coach, or heading to Dallas.
Newsome is making every possible sales pitch to keep Lewis from leaving.
“He has a very good relationship with coach (John) Harbaugh, you know of his relationship with (owner) Steve (Bisciotti), and he and I have a very good relationship,” Newsome said. “So those things are in place, but economics always plays a big part of it.”
—
GOING DEFENSE: New Seattle coach Jim Mora has the fourth pick in this year’s NFL draft – if he decides to use it.
And with all the problems the Seahawks had on defense last year, Mora could possibly trade down and start building depth. It’s a possibility he will consider.
“It’s a little too early for us to think about that,” Mora said. “We’re really at the front end of the evaluation process, but I would say that we’re not going to close the door to anything. We’re certainly open to anything.”
2008 season.
But Seattle finished 4-12 and ranked last in pass defense and 30th in total defense, giving the defensive-minded Mora plenty to consider at the combine and in preparation for the April 25-26 draft.
—
EAGER TO BEGIN: It’s hard to say who’s more eager for the new season to begin, Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer or his coach, Marvin Lewis.
Palmer hurt his elbow in the third game of the season and played in only one more game, but last month he was told he won’t need surgery on the torn ligament and tendon and that he should be ready for preseason workouts.
That’s also good news for the Bengals coach, who watched his team win their final three games to finish 4-11-1.
“We’ve got a great opportunity ahead of us,” Marvin Lewis said. “That’s the exciting part. We get Carson back. He’s obviously chomping at the bit. He just wears me out every day, because he wants to win very, very badly, and we’ve got to get some more people around him.”
The Bengals have the sixth pick in the draft.
—
BOWLING BALL: Tyrell Sutton looks at San Diego’s Darren Sproles for inspiration.
Sutton rushed for more than 3,300 yards at Northwestern but is just 5-foot-8 and 211 pounds – “a little bowling ball, I guess,” he says. He’s still two inches taller than Sproles, who earlier this week received the franchise tag by the Chargers.
“We are coming back,” Sutton said of the smaller running backs. “We may be little, but we definitely play big.”
Sproles had 328 all-purpose yards and a game-winning 22-yard TD run to beat the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC playoffs. Sutton finished his college career at Northwestern with 114 yards in an overtime loss to Missouri in the Alamo Bowl.
And if he can’t make it in the NFL as a running back?
“I grew up a defensive player until I got to high school,” Sutton said. “It’s been a long time since I actually got to deliver a full blow instead of try to take one on at running back.”
—
Associated Press Sports Writer Steve Herman in Indianapolis also contributed to this report.
Add A Comment