Cal Sports Report

Nohl Williams Runs 4.50 in 40 at Combine; Teddye Buchanan Excels in Bench Press

Two other former Cal players, Marcus Harris and Craig Woodson, run quick 40s at the NFL Combine on Friday
Jake Curtis|
Cal safety Craig Woodson during Thursday's session wih the media
Cal safety Craig Woodson during Thursday's session wih the media | Tanner Pearson-Imagn Images

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Linebacker Teddye Buchanan and cornerback Nohl Williams were the Cal players that received the most attention at the NFL Combine on Friday in Indianapolis.

Buchanan had the best vertical jump of all linebackers at the Combine on Thursday, and on Friday he tied for the best bench press performance of the seven linebackers who participated in that event. Buchanan pumped out 26 repetitions with 225 pounds loaded on the bar.

That tied Nick Martin of Oklahoma State for the most by a linebacker, and those two were at least four reps better than any other linebacker who tested.

Cal cornerback Williams is expected to be the first Golden Bears player taken in the upcoming NFL draft, and although he may not have helped his draft status with his performance in the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday, he probably did not hurt it either.

Williams ran 4.50 seconds in the 40-yard dash, which was far from the best time recorded by cornerbacks on Friday, but should be good enough that NFL teams won't be scared away.

Williams' time was tied for the 18th-fastest of the 24 cornerbacks who ran the 40, and was considerably slower that he fastest time by a cornerback, which was 4.28 seconds by Maxwell Hairston of Kentucky. Speed is a critical factor for corners, but 4.5 should satisfy most NFL scouts.

Cornerbacks also ran through a number of drills, and this is where Williams needs to do well.

Cal's other 2024 starting cornerback, Marcus Harris, and Cal safety Craig Woodson also participated in the events for defensive backs on Friday, and Harris had a pretty good time of 4.45 seconds in the 40.

Harris needed a big day at the Combine to improve his draft status. He might be taken in the late rounds, but might go undrafted.

Woodson depends on his intelligence and instincts to perform on a football field, and he is apt to be taken on the last day of the draft, when rounds four through seven are selected, so his Combine results had less impact on his draft status.

However, Woodson had an impressive 4.45 official time in the 40 (better than the 4.46 unoffical time in the twitter video), and that's a good mark for a safety, who are not expected to run quite as fast as cornerbacks.

His time in the 40 was tied for the fifth-best time of the 15 safeties who ran the 40. It was well behind the best time of 4.37 seconds posted by Marques Sigle of Kansas State, but Woodson's time should quell concerns about his speed and put more focus on his football intelligence.

Woodson did better than Williams in the broad jump. Woodson leaped a distance of 10 feet, 7 inches, which was the sixth-best of the 13 safeties who did broad jumping. Nick Emmanwori of South Carolina had the best broad jump among safeties, recording a jump of 11 feet, 6 inches.

Woodson leaped 36 inches in the vertical jump, which was the eighth-best vertical of the 15 safeties who participated in that event. Emmanwori was also the best safety in the verical jump, with a leap of 43 inches even. That's an impressive jump.

But from Cal's standpoint, the focus was on Williams, an All-America selection this past season when he led the nation in interceptions with seven. There is considerable debate about when he will be taken in the upcoming NFL draft, although he most likely will be selected between the second and fifth rounds.

Williams probably did not perform as well as he had hoped in the jumping events, but he certainly did not embarrass himself nor did he hurt his draft status significantly.

Williams had a leap of 33.50 inches in the vertical jump, which placed him 15th among the 22 cornerbacks who participated in that event. A jump of an inch and half higher would have moved him all the way to 11th-best, but Williams was well behind the best vertical jump by a cornerback, which was recorded by Caleb Ransaw of Tulane, who leaped 40.0 inches.

Williams had a decent result in the broad jump with a leap of 10 feet even. His jump tied for the 16th-best result of the 22 cornerbacks who participated in the broad jump, but Williams was just four inches shy of finishing in the top 10.

The best broad jump among cornerbacks was turned in by Robert Longerbeam of Rutgers, who jumped 11 feet, 2 inches..

Harris did not participate in the broad jump or the vertical jump, so we don't know how he would stack up in those events. Presumably, he will do the broad jump on Cal's Pro Day on March 20 when the NFL scouts come to Berkeley to test would-be NFL players.

Williams and Woodson may also do those evens again at Cal Pro Day.

Defensive backs are schedule to do the bench press event on Saturday.

The NFL Draf is scheduled for April 24-26.

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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