Bradley Chubb would normally be content relying on game tapes to make his case to scouts.
There http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-cody-barton-jersey , he insists, they will find a big man with edge-rushing skills and enough power to stuff the run. Watch enough of footage and it just might convince those NFL executives that Chubb is the best defensive player in this year’s NFL draft.
But this is no typical week for North Carolina State’s star defensive end. He’s participating in the NFL’s annual scouting combine in Indianapolis, answering questions and dropping names.
”I try to take Khalil Mack and Von Miller and put them into one person,” Chubb said Saturday. ”I’m a high-motor, high-energy guy.”
If team executives concur, his name could be one of the first three called in April.
Naturally, Chubb describes himself as the best player in Indy this weekend and who’s going to argue with a 6-foot-4, 269-pound man.
Not the deep, diverse quarterback group, which did its on-the-field workouts Saturday and will likely spend the next few years trying to escape Chubb’s grasp.
Not the highly touted running back class, which includes Saquon Barkley and Chubb’s own cousin, Nick, who will be running away from a lineman who posted 25 sacks and 54 tackles for loss over the past three seasons.
Sure, there are questions.
Is he big enough to hold up against the NFL’s massive tackles, does he have enough moves to make an immediate impact Gary Jennings Jr. Jersey , can he make a smooth transition to the more physical pro game?
He might also be asked to explain why he spat upon the Florida State logo following North Carolina State’s upset win or why he decided to skip the Wolfpack’s bowl game.
Those who know Chubb best have no doubt he will succeed.
”He’s so happy, always smiling,” said offensive tackle Will Richardson, a college teammate who routinely squared off with Chubb in practice.
”He’s a goofball. We used to get grapes after a game and he would come over and knock them out of your hands and someone would be like `Why did you do that?’ But he always had a few extra grapes in his other hand to give to you. He’s definitely a goofball, a goofball in a good way.”
Many believe there’s nothing goofy about him being possibly the best pass-rusher in a draft heavy on interior linemen – and thin at one of the NFL’s most coveted positions.
Those challenging Chubb’s title include Marcus Davenport of UTSA, Sam Hubbard of Ohio State, Arden Key of LSU and Harold Landry of Boston College.
Each had college careers that ranged from solid to spectacular, and each knows they must answer questions about size, injuries or the competition level they’ve faced.
”Nobody in this draft class has a first step like mine,” Landry said. ”My mindset and my approach to the game, I’m a guy that’s going to do whatever it takes to be the best at my position.”
But those who played alongside Chubb understand his impact cannot be measured in stats alone.
”We got to win more games,” college teammate and combine invitee Justin Jones said. ”Having a guy like Bradley Chubb on the edge, it turns a lot of plays back to us and the rest of the team. They want to take Bradley out of the game, and we have other (defensive) linemen that can make plays.”
Chubb appears to have the size to play right away, room to grow and even bloodlines working in his favor.
His father http://www.seahawksauthorizedshops.com/authentic-phil-haynes-jersey , Aaron, played at Georgia. His older brother, Brandon, starred at Wake Forest before being signed by the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2016 and spending most of that season on the Detroit Lions‘ practice squad.
So if things fall the right way, Bradley Chubb could become the highest-drafted descendant of the family that established ”Chubbtown” – a rural area in northwestern Georgia, three miles from the Alabama border- in the mid-1800s.
And that’s an honor Chubb would treasure.
”When you’re there, you feel it,” he said. ”My last name is Chubb, and I wear it with pride.”
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TORONTO — There was a sense of relief in the Detroit Tigers’ clubhouse after their 9-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.
The victory, propelled by a grand slam from Nicholas Castellanos, a career-best four hits by Niko Goodrum and seven strong innings by starting pitcher Jordan Zimmermann, ended an 11-game losing streak.
It was the Tigers’ longest losing streak since Aug. 13-23, 2003. They have not lost 12 in a row since 1996.
“It’s good to hear the music playing out there and guys smiling,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said.
The Tigers have a chance to escape the Rogers Centre with a split in the four-game series by winning the finale on Monday afternoon.
The Tigers will start right-hander Mike Fiers (5-4, 4.04 ERA) against Blue Jays left-hander Ryan Borucki (0-1 Ugo Amadi Jersey , 3.00).
The Tigers had a team meeting before the game.
“It was just a casual talk,” Gardenhire said. “It wasn’t this rah-rah (speech). … I just let them talk and I just said to them, ‘Tell me what we need to do.’ Some guys spoke up and that’s all I wanted to hear. We’re playing hard. We’ve lost 11 in a row up to this point. These guys have been playing, man. They’ve been in every game. We’ve had a chance to win a bunch of these games.”
The Tigers (37-48) were able to put together a five-run fifth inning with a rally that started with two outs against Toronto starter J.A. Happ, who was 6-0 in his previous eight starts. They added two runs in the sixth, also with a rally that began with two out.
The losing streak was the longest by two games in the majors this season and the longest since the Los Angeles Dodgers lost 11 in a row last September.
“We’ve had our chances over the last 10 or 11 games,” Zimmermann said. “It’s just a matter of if we’re going to cash in when we’ve got guys in scoring position. We were able to do that today.”
The Blue Jays (39-44) are expected to trade Happ before the July 31 deadline. When he departed in the sixth inning, the Canada Day crowd gave him an ovation.
“I did notice, and I certainly appreciate that,” Happ said. “Maybe it was appreciation for how the season has gone so far or whatever you might take from it, that’s kind of what I took from it. That’s a nice feeling, certainly nicer than potentially getting booed, not that I would expect that at all, either.”
The Tigers face a pitcher who made his major-league debut Tuesday against the Astros in Houston in Borucki. He took the loss after allowing two runs, six hits and four walks in six innings.
Fiers pitched seven strong innings Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics Dwayne Haskins Jersey , but took the loss despite allowing only one run on five hits and one walk while striking out five.
Fiers has faced the Blue Jays six times in his career, five as a starter, and is 1-3 with a 4.11 ERA. He made two starts against Toronto last season and was 0-1 with a 5.25 ERA. In two career starts at the Rogers Centre, Fiers is 0-2 with a 5.91 ERA.
The only disappointing news for the Tigers Sunday came from a hamstring injury to center fielder Leonys Martin, who hobbled off the field after a beating out an RBI bunt single in the fifth inning. It was at first announced as a cramp, but Gardenhire said the injury was severe enough to put him on the disabled list. Another player will be brought in for the game Monday.
The day was not a complete loss for the Blue Jays. In the ninth inning, center fielder Kevin Pillar made a spectacular leaping catch to rob Castellanos of what would have been his second homer of the day.
Gardenhire said even Castellanos appreciated Pillar’s catch, although it cost him a homer.
“That was amazing,” Gardenhire said. “That’s a long run, to climb the wall like that and make that play, the timing, the whole package that just tells you how special an athlete he is.”