Conventional wisdom has Texas A&M's Jake Matthews or Auburn's Greg Robinson as the first offensive tackle off the board in the 2014 draft. If Friday's bench-press results from the NFL Scouting Combine are any kind of tiebreaker, Robinson wins going away.
Robinson measured 6-foot-5 and 332 pounds, with an arm length of 35 inches, at the combine weigh-in. Matthews was at 6-5 and 308, with an arm length of 33 3/8 inches. Generally, it is tougher to do the bench press with longer arms, but it didn't hamper Robinson, who did 32 reps of 225 pounds. Matthews did 24.
Of course, determining who goes first via the bench press method is ridiculous. But Robinson's total is impressive for a guy with arms that long. He is considered the better run blocker of the two and is seen as a potential road-grader in the running game.
Interestingly, Robinson and Matthews are relatively raw at left tackle. Matthews played just one season on the left side for the Aggies, and Robinson was a guard in high school and didn't play left tackle until his redshirt freshman season in 2012.
Perhaps the most impressive performance by a tackle was turned in by Tennessee's Antonio "Tiny" Richardson (6-6, 336, arm length of 35 inches), who did 36 reps.
The most impressive work on the day was turned in by North Carolina center Russell Bodine (6-3, 310, with an arm length of 32 1/2 inches), who did 42 reps. That's tied for the fifth-most reps by a player at any position since 2006.
The two centers considered to be the best in the draft class are Colorado State's Weston Richburg (6-3, 298, 33 3/8), who had 24 reps, and Arkansas' Travis Swanson (6-5, 312, 33 1/8), who had 20 reps.
No lineman other than Bodine had more than 36 reps. At 36 were Richardson, Bloomsburg (Pa.) tackle Matt Feiler (6-6, 330, arm length of 32 inches), Utah State center Tyler Larsen (6-4, 313, 31 1/2) and Ohio State center Corey Linsley (6-3, 296, 32).
Other notable figures: Mississippi State guard Gabe Jackson (6-3, 336, 33 3/4) with 30 reps, Michigan tackle Taylor Lewan (6-7, 309, 33 7/8) with 29, Notre Dame tackle Zack Martin (6-4, 308, 32 7/8) with 29, Baylor guard Cyril Richardson (6-5, 329, 34 5/8) with 25, UCLA guard Xavier Su'a-Filo (6-4, 307, 33 3/8) with 25, Clemson tackle Brandon Thomas (6-3, 317, 34 3/4) with 35 and Stanford guard David Yankey (6-6, 315, 34) with 22.
Ten linemen didn't lift, including Miami (Fla.) tackle Seantrel Henderson, Virginia tackle Morgan Moses and Florida State center Bryan Stork.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
