STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Saquon Barkley said he fell a little short of his combine workout goals -- which clearly were pretty lofty -- because by the end of Friday he had quite a few eye-popping workout numbers.
"I wanted to get in the 4.3's, wanted to get at least a 42-(inch) in the vert, but I can't complain," Barkley said Friday in an interview with NFL Network. "One of my goals was when we caught the ball to make sure none of the balls touched the ground and I was able to do that and tried to look smooth through the drills and finish."
The potential top-5 pick posted an official 40-yard dash time of 4.40 seconds, marks that were especially impressive considering he did so at 233 pounds. His times put him ahead of some of the NFL's top backs, including Ezekiel Elliott (4.47), Leonard Fournette (4.51), Alvin Kamara (4.56) and last year's eighth overall pick, Christian McCaffrey (4.48).
In a workout that produced freakish numbers for Barkley he also posted a 41-inch vertical -- three inches higher than his best at Penn State -- and put up 29 reps on the 225-pound bench press. Just how impressive were those figures? Well, per NFL Research the only player with 25-plus reps on the bench and a vertical of 40-plus inches during last year's combine was defensive end Myles Garrett who was drafted No. 1 overall.
Barkley's work on the bench included one more rep than Cleveland offensive tackle Joe Thomas, a vertical that was 2.5 inches higher than the one Julio Jones produced at the combine and a faster 10-yard split in the 40-yard dash than DeSean Jackson. Barkley told NFL Network he interviewed with the Giants, Jets, Colts, Buccaneers, 49ers and Broncos. He didn't list the Browns, but then said he had met with them, too.
"A lot of teams are just trying to get to know my football side," he said of the team interviews that take place in the evenings. "I gotta give credit to my teammates and coaches because I didn't really get in any trouble in school and didn't have any baggage coming along with me so it was a lot of football talk. .. I got to go on the board and talk about six-man protections and talk about what I saw on this film play and so on."
Barkley said he feels comfortable with pass protection, something that was a big part of his development after he, like most young backs, struggled with it during his freshman season at Penn State.
GESICKI STILL ASKED ABOUT EARLY STRUGGLES
NFL teams are going to want to know what happened to tight end Mike Gesicki during his drop-plagued sophomore season, something the tight end who measured in at 6-5, 252 pounds talked about at length as he overcame the early setbacks to become one of college football's top tight ends this past season.
Still, that was a talking point during Gesicki's media session on Friday.
"I’m here today because of that year," he said Friday. "Just had a few uncharacteristic drops, wasn’t really playing to my full potential. I’m so thankful for that time period because my first two years at Penn State, I don’t know if I was thinking things were going to come easier but my first two years, I had 24 catches; my last two years, I had 105. Going through that adversity and those kind of struggles, it made me work harder.
"There were times I’d go over to the building at 11 o’clock at night and our coaches would find out the next day and be like, ‘Hey, man, what are you doing in the building? Aren’t you supposed to be asleep?’ " he continued. "I pride myself on my work ethic so I’m going to outwork anybody and everybody in order to get to where I need to go and to achieve what I want to achieve. Without that, I wouldn’t be here. So, I’m thankful for that."
Gesicki will test on Saturday, along with the wide receivers and the quarterbacks. He'll likely impress as his feats in the weight room at Penn State earned him the reputation of being a physical freak, at least by strength coach Dwight Galt's estimations. What testing numbers is he shooting for?
"Everybody’s been asking, ‘Hey, what are you going to run? What are you going to jump? What are you going to bench?’ " Gesicki said. "I feel like if I tell everybody, it’s not going to be as cool when I do it. I try to keep it a secret. All these teams, ‘Oh, what are you going to run?’ Everybody thinks I’m slow. I don’t want to tell what I’m actually going to run. I’m keeping it all a secret."
HAMILTON SAVING SOME FOR PRO DAY
DaeSean Hamilton went from the East-West Shrine Game to the Senior Bowl where we was a late add and because of all the showcase events he said he will not run the 40-yard dash in Indianapolis or do the bench press. So, look for him to do that at pro day on March 20.
Hamilton said he spoke with the wide receiver coaches from many NFL teams but that he didn't have any formal meetings.
"I guess because I was at East-West game and Senior Bowl, so they’ve seen enough of me,” Hamilton said Friday.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Defensive linemen and linebackers meet with the media on Saturday, meaning Jason Cabinda will be the next former Nittany Lion to meet with the media. He'll then test on Sunday.
The defensive backs meet with the media on Sunday and then test on Monday, which is where Penn State's largest contingent will be. Troy Apke, Marcus Allen, Grant Haley, Christian Campbell will all be among that final wave. Gesicki and Hamilton will workout on Saturday, which will all air live on the NFL Network. Barkley will be in studio with NFL Network on Saturday at 7 p.m.