Martin impresses at combine, Bouknight has mixed results

Robert Gagliardi - Wyoming Tribune-Eagle - Thu March 02 2006

Martin impresses at combine, Bouknight has mixed results

CHEYENNE - Derrick Martin seemed confident that he would perform well at the NFL Scouting Combine.

He backed that up Tuesday with some of the fastest times during tests in Indianapolis.

Martin was a two-year starting cornerback at the University of Wyoming. He became the first UW player to skip his senior season and declare for the NFL Draft and was one of 50 college defensive backs invited to the combine.

Here is how some of his testing went:

• Martin had the fastest time in the long shuttle run at 10.69 seconds. The next fastest times were by Alabama's Charlie Peprah (younger brother of former UW linebacker Kwabena Peprah) (10.83) and Michigan State's Eric Smith (10.94).

• Martin was one of two players to break four seconds in the short shuttle. His time was 3.95 seconds; the best was by Jason Allen of Tennessee (3.81).

• Martin's time in the three-cone drill was 6.72 seconds, third-best in his group and fifth-best among all defensive backs.

• His 40-yard dash time was 4.45 seconds, which was among the top 20 times among defensive backs. He said he had to wait two hours to run after warming up, which may have slowed his time.

• Martin's vertical jump was 40 inches.

"I'm real excited about what I did," Martin said during a phone interview Wednesday. "It was more fun than I thought it was going to be.

"(Having gone) to a smaller school, it was great to meet other guys and size myself up with other players."

Also given was the Wonderlic Personnel Test, an intelligence test similar to an IQ test. Combine participants had 12 minutes to answer 50 questions. Martin said he answered 34 questions.

Martin said he wasn't sure what he scored but thought it was in the 27 to 28 range out of a possible 50. If that was the case, it was slightly above average.

A lot was made of Texas quarterback Vince Young's Wonderlic results. Reports had him scoring just a six, but those reports were false. He reportedly scored a 16.

Martin said he talked with officials from 27 of the 32 NFL teams but none of them elaborated on his draft status.

"I really didn't get any (draft) projections, but there were quite a few teams that showed a lot of interest in me and liked what I did," he said. "They liked my game films and liked my style of play."

Martin added the Oakland Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets showed more interest than most teams.

Martin and his agent, Brad Cicala, said after Martin declared for the draft that he could be a third- or fourth-round draft pick, with the chance of moving up with solid pre-draft workouts.

Former UW wide receiver Jovon Bouknight also worked out at the combine. His testing was done last Sunday.

Bouknight didn't produce a good 40-yard dash at 4.74, but his 4.03-second time in the short shuttle was third-best among 40 wide receivers and second-best in his group.

"The 40 didn't go as well as I hoped, but I think the rest of the combine went pretty good," Bouknight said during a phone interview Wednesday.

"I think the scouts liked what I did catching the ball and running routes. They knew I wasn't going to be the fastest guy in the 40, but a lot of them know I have good game speed and like what I do after the catch."

Both players will attend UW's pro timing day a week from today when NFL scouts come in and work out players.

Martin said he will look into taking some summer classes at UW to go toward his degree in elementary education, and he will continue to train near his home in Denver.

Bouknight, a Denver native, has been splitting time between Laramie and Denver working out and going to school.

Out of context

There were published reports prior to the combine that Martin said he didn't play hard all the time at UW.

When asked about the claim, Martin said it was false.

"I don't believe I said that," he said. "It got blown out of context. I went out there every play and gave it my all. I couldn't tell you where that came from."

-used courtesy of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle