We now move from the athletic freaks on offense to those on the defensive side of the ball.

Defensive interior: Khalil Davis, DaVon Hamilton

No defensive lineman over 300 pounds had a better 10-yard split than Khalil Davis’s 1.66. He also had a fantastic 4.75 40 at 6-2, 308 pounds and his 32 reps on the bench press were second-most among defensive linemen.

The best bench performance went to DaVon Hamilton. But lest ye think the 6-4, 320-pounder is all upper body strength, he had an impressive 29.5-inch vertical jump which was best among 300+ defensive linemen.

Edge defender: Jabari Zuniga, James Smith-Williams

Jabari Zuniga’s 1.61 10-yard split was tops among defensive linemen at the combine. And his 4.64 40-yard dash time was second. Zuniga also had the longest broad jump (10’7”) and was tied for 5th among all defensive linemen with 29 bench press reps.

As you might have guessed, James Smith-Williams was the guy who beat Zuniga in the 40-yard dash. Smith-Williams came in with a 4.60 40 and his 10-yard split was just a hair behind at 1.62. His 28 bench press reps was only one behind Zuniga as well.

Linebackers: Isaiah Simmons, Willie Gay Jr, Davion Taylor

Simmons was the talk of the scouting combine with a scorching 4.39 40-yard dash. That’s better than former Raiders linebackers Jon Alston (4.40) and Thomas Howard (4.42), who are both top four over the past 15 years. Simmons also had the third-highest vertical jump (39.0) and 2nd longest broad jump (11’0”).

If you were wondering who bested Simmons in the vertical and broad jumps, it was Willie Gay Jr. Gay had the best broad jump (11’4”) and second-best vertical jump (39.5) among linebackers at the combine. He also had the second-fastest 40 (4.46) and was top five with 21 bench press reps.

Davion Taylor was very good at a great many events. The Colorado product was third behind Simmons and Gay as the only three LB at the combine with a sub-4.5 40-yard dash (4.49, one of only four LB to have a sub-7.00 3-cone (6.96), was 4th in the broad jump (10’7”), tied with Gay for 5th in bench press reps (21), and 6th in the 20-yard shuttle (4.26),

Cornerbacks: Javelin K Guidry, CJ Henderson

Javelin missile should be his nickname because he blew away the field with a 4.29 40-yard dash. Easily the best among cornerbacks and second-best at this combine at any position. Then he went and finished third in the bench press with 21 reps. Yes, that’s the same as two of the above linebackers.

CJ Henderson had the second-fastest time for cornerbacks (4.39), but he showed more than just straight-line speed. He also had the fifth-highest vertical jump (37.5) and his 20 bench press reps were the fifth-most among corners.

Safeties: L’jarius Sneed, Jeremy Chinn

While Al Davis may just look at the cornerback position to see whose speed would translate best to the cornerback position – as with the likes of Tyvon Branch (4.31) and Michael Huff (4.34), he wouldn’t really need to do that with Sneed who ran a 4.37 40 which was second-best among all DBs at this combine. He also had the second-highest vertical jump (41.0), and 5th longest broad jump (10’11”) among safeties.

Tops in the broad jump was Jeremy Chinn (11’6”). He was also tied with Sneed for the second-highest vertical jump (41.0), was third in the 40-yard dash (4.45), and fourth with 20 bench press reps.

See the Combine Freak Team: Offense

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