Draft prospects Groves, Campbell to visit Dolphins this week

[DolFan619]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-flspdolphins09sbapr09,0,3680760.story

Draft prospects Groves, Campbell to visit Dolphins this week

By Omar Kelly
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

April 9, 2008

The Dolphins will host Auburn linebacker/defensive end Quentin Groves and Miami defensive end Calais Campbell this week.

Neither prospect is a candidate for the No. 1 pick, but Groves and Campbell do have draft grades that warrant late first-round or early second-round considerations.

Groves, who will visit today, is Auburn's career leader in sacks with 26. He has visited the Saints, Bengals, Browns and Steelers. He also has visits set up with the 49ers, Giants, Jets and Patriots. Some teams believe his combination of size (6 feet 3, 250 pounds) and speed could make him an effective outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme.

Most draft analysts have Groves rated right behind Virginia's Chris Long and Ohio State's Vernon Gholston as the college defensive ends best suited to make the conversion to outside linebacker.

"No disrespect to those guys, but I feel if I hadn't gotten hurt my senior season I'd be right up there with Gholston and Long," said Groves, who dislocated three toes on his right foot in the Tigers' 20-17 win over Florida.

He sat out two games because of the injury and played with the dislocated toes for the final six games of the season.

"When you are a pass rusher it's all about that get-off, and I didn't have it," said Groves, who finished 2007 with 38 tackles and three sacks.

Despite his disappointing senior season, Groves' draft stock began to rise at the NFL Combine when he ran a 4.52 in the 40-yard dash and bench pressed 225 pounds 30 times.

"They might be rated higher than me now, but I'll have my chance to prove who's the best," Groves said.

Some teams have concerns about Groves' motor, and he admits he has to learn to "bring it" every down, not conserving his energy for third down when he knows he'll be rushing the quarterback.

Unlike Groves, Campbell is trying to recover from a disappointing showing at the combine, where many analysts felt he appeared stiff. Campbell bulked up to 290 pounds and believes that the added weight and muscle mass slowed him down.

His Pro Day performance on UM's campus the following week has helped him recover slightly. He's optimistic that his individual workouts and personal interviews will help him secure a first-round selection.

"I shouldn't have put on the weight. I felt like I was a bit stiff," said Campbell, who is 282 pounds. "I'm back to where I was before."

Campbell, whose first workout will be with the Dolphins, said most teams he's talked to are concerned about his drop-off in productivity from 2006, when he had 84 tackles, (20.5 for loss) and 10.5 sacks, to the 2007 season, when he had 50 tackles and six sacks.

"My technique wasn't as good as the year before because I was worried about the double teams and not concentrating on the little things," Campbell said. "I was a little bit frustrated."

[Sunstroke]

Both of these guys look like they'll definitely be pro bowl caliber excuse-makers at the next level...

Of the two...I like Groves a good bit more. I've dislocated toes before and can't imagine trying to get any kind of first-step burst while dealing with that.