Notes on a trip to the NFL Scouting Combine.Moments after I talked to the enormous Delaware quarterback Joe Flacco, I spoke with the tiny Hawaii wide receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen, who says he's 5-foot-10 and 187 pounds but has me wondering whether he's padding his resume by an inch or two.
But what Grice-Mullen lacks in size, he makes up for in intelligence. He talked about the way the offense run by former Hawaii coach June Jones prepared him for the NFL because it has such a great emphasis on the receivers' ability to read defenses.
"From Day 1 in this offense, you don't see the field unless you can read defenses," Grice-Mullen said.
That Hawaii passing game has four players here at the Combine: Grice-Mullen, fellow receivers Davone Bess and Jason Rivers and quarterback Colt Brennan. I think Grice-Mullen is the best prospect of the bunch, and I think Brennan's stock is tumbling, but Grice-Mullen has Brennan's back.
"He's been criticized since he got to Hawaii," Grice-Mullen said of Brennan, "I definitely think he will succeed because of his heart and his love for the game."
