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hawaiiansteeler
05-11-2016, 04:50 PM
Travis Feeney gives Steelers first-round athleticism at sixth-round price

May 9, 2016
Jeremy Fowler
ESPN Staff Writer

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Linebacker Travis Feeney’s eye-popping performance at the NFL combine made his fall to the sixth round curious.

Feeney thinks he knows why it happened.

Multiple shoulder surgeries at Washington scared off some teams.

"That's what I'm thinking why. You never know," Feeney told ESPN. "Kind of just unpredictable.

"I'm glad I did [fall]. I'm in the right place."

Feeney followed up an eight-sack, All-Pac-12 second team performance his senior year with a monster combine, running a 4.5-second 40-yard dash and posting a 40-inch vertical leap. Feeney did this at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds. For context, those are better numbers than top-10 pick Leonard Floyd, also an edge rusher of a similar build. The 6-foot-6, 244-pound Floyd jumped 39.5 inches and ran a 4.6. The only linebacker to outrun Feeney was Ohio State's Darron Lee. Before the draft, CBS Sports' Rob Rang called Feeney a fourth- or fifth-round pick, possibly higher with his explosiveness.

Pittsburgh got him at No. 220 overall.

"We're excited," general manager Kevin Colbert said.

Travis Feeney fell all the way to No. 220 in this year's draft, where the Steelers gladly scooped up the athletic linebacker. Christopher Mast/Icon Sportswire
Someone close to Feeney said several teams started calling around the fourth round of the late-April draft, including the Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seahawks, but the calls stopped at intrigue. Feeney's camp assured teams the shoulder was not a long-term issue.

The original surgery at Washington didn't fully correct the shoulder injury, the person said, forcing Feeney to eventually get second opinions on it. The Steelers' medical opinion on Feeney's shoulder is uncertain.

Feeney, who returned to Indianapolis in April for a medical recheck, said his left shoulder feels stable and he's focused on strengthening the muscles around it this offseason. He's eyeing a role on special teams, which is where all late-round rookies should begin.

Couple the athletic explosion with Feeney's playing style and the Steelers feel they got a potential gem. Colbert said he would have drafted Feeney earlier, but the Steelers didn't have a fifth-round pick and he didn't know why Feeney dropped.

"He flies around," Colbert said. "He puts his body in some reckless places and does so without concern."

Feeney will need to add weight to play outside linebacker in the NFL, and he played multiple positions at Washington, going from safety to traditional linebacker to pass-rusher, thus affecting his sack numbers. But Feeney believes the versatility helps him pick up defensive concepts.

And to think, a sports hernia injury affected his combine prep. Perhaps those numbers -- including a 10-foot, 10-inch broad jump -- would have improved. Feeney had hernia surgery shortly after the combine and missed his pro day as a result.

to read rest of article:

http://espn.go.com/blog/pittsburgh-steelers/post/_/id/18760/how-steelers-freak-athlete-travis-feeney-fell-to-the-sixth-round

Rotorhead
05-11-2016, 05:45 PM
Wow, sounds like we have a good sleeper pick. I like that he played safety some in college, helps when he has to cover at OLB. He certainly is quick enough, I am hoping the injury is the reason he dropped and he will be fully healthy soon.

ALLD
05-11-2016, 06:32 PM
Don't beat him up in camp and let his body heal.

Steeldude
05-11-2016, 06:49 PM
With pads on he looks rather slow. The video on his 15 sacks mostly show them to be coverage sacks. I can't see him beating out Harrison, Moats, Dupree, Chickillo or the he-only-has-a-job-because-of-his-draft-status Jones. Once again Jones is still killing the Steelers just by soaking up a roster spot that could be used for a player who could contribute.

Born2Steel
05-11-2016, 07:09 PM
With pads on he looks rather slow. The video on his 15 sacks mostly show them to be coverage sacks. I can't see him beating out Harrison, Moats, Dupree, Chickillo or the he-only-has-a-job-because-of-his-draft-status Jones. Once again Jones is still killing the Steelers just by soaking up a roster spot that could be used for a player who could contribute.

At 230lbs he won't be going after those jobs. He's a small ILB/big safety, but probably a ST player for now, if he makes the 53.

Psycho Ward 86
05-12-2016, 09:11 AM
Could be one of those rare players that still manages to be pretty good at their small size. Remember that James Farrior said that he sometimes played at as low as 218lb. Shazier plays in the low 230lb. range as does Levonte David. Telvin Smith is one of the most underrated LB's in the league and he came into the league at 218lb.

And Feeney has a tall frame so he'll have room to grow

LloydWoodson
05-17-2016, 01:51 PM
Could be one of those rare players that still manages to be pretty good at their small size. Remember that James Farrior said that he sometimes played at as low as 218lb. Shazier plays in the low 230lb. range as does Levonte David. Telvin Smith is one of the most underrated LB's in the league and he came into the league at 218lb.

And Feeney has a tall frame so he'll have room to grow

Agreed. Timmons is also a player that cane into the NFL skinny and bulked up a lot. It isn't a problem if you have the frame for it. It will slow down Feeney some bulking up but he has speed to burn.

Born2Steel
05-17-2016, 05:16 PM
Yes. But he won't play OLB at that weight.

Mojouw
05-18-2016, 11:24 AM
Yes. But he won't play OLB at that weight.

He won't play a traditional 3-4 OLB at that weight, but he likely wasn't drafted to do that. He was drafted to cover folks on 3rd downs from a nickel OLB position.

Hopefully that works out.