Oh, What A Difference A Workout Can Make

Dorin Dickerson is learning this fact after his monster workout at the combine.

He had all kinds of praise heaped upon him by a writer for the Jacksonville Jaguars after an apparent monster workout:

The most dramatic thing so far has been the performance of tight end Dorin Dickerson, who ran a blazing 4.4 on Saturday, which highlighted a workout that included an eye-popping 42-inch vertical jump, a 10-5 broad jump, 24 reps on the bench and solid pass-catching. Dickerson immediately became one of the most intriguing prospects in this draft. He’s a guy with the size of a smallish tight end, the speed of a wide receiver and the athletic ability of a cornerback. The crazy part is he didn’t find a position he could play in college until his senior season. He has literally gone from a forgotten player to a second-round prospect in the NFL draft. Dickerson is this year’s workout wonder.

Here's another look at Dickerson's workout, which apparently was quite the spectacle:

Dorin had the best time of all tight ends in the 40 yard dash (4.40), in the 225 pound bench press (24 reps), 1st by far in the vertical jump (43"), second in the broad jump (10'5"), and 3rd in the 3-Cone Drill (9.6 seconds) and the 20-Yard Shuttle (30 seconds).

ProFootballTalk.com calls him the 'Toast of the Tight Ends.'

In listing him as someone who's stock is rising, SportsIllustrated.com says something most Pitt fans who watched Dickerson this year saw with their own eyes:

Yet Dickerson has established himself as a receiving threat that's too fast for linebackers to cover yet big enough to outmatch defensive backs.

So, who's interested in him? Looks like the Chiefs for one. Possibly the Cardinals (subscription needed). And according to this article, potentially nine teams. Here, Dickerson also compares himself to a few NFL pros:

He's flexible: Pittsburgh tight end Dorin Dickerson started his collegiate career as a linebacker, but he switched to tight end before the start of his junior year. And now he has a couple of NFL tight ends that he admires--San Francisco's Vernon Davis and Indianapolis' Dallas Clark.

"Smaller-type tight ends. That’s what I classify myself as, a smaller receiving-type tight end," said the 6-foot-1, 224-pound player.

Kind of cool to see him possibly rising up the draft boards after struggling to find a position. The fairly ironic part is that it's not even set in stone that he would play tight end in the NFL.