FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams had a good day running and catching, while Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett defended himself against recent criticism of his character on Saturday at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.
Williams, who said his key focus at the combine was on the 40-yard dash, posted a 4.67 in the sprint, tying for the fourth-best time among tight ends.
Williams tweeted while leaving Indianapolis, “ Well it’s time to go home. !!!!! Going to redo my 40 at pro day. Didn’t feeel that good today. Legs were tired !!! But all in all. Good day!!”
Meanwhile, Arkansas State offensive tackle Derek Newton ran a great 40-yard dash and Arkansas lineman Ray Dominguez continued to increase his momentum heading toward the NFL Draft.
Newton’s 5.01 time in the sprint was the third-best among offensive linemen.
Dominguez, who moved from tackle to guard in workouts for the Texas vs. The Nation all-star game, drew praise for his work on Saturday.
“Dominguez continues to build on his draft stock,” wrote Wes Bunting of the National Football Post. “He isn’t a real gifted straight-line athlete, but his short-area quickness was once again solid for a big guy when asked to mirror in space. Seems to be building momentum as a mid/late round guard prospect.”
Mallett, asked about reports from anonymous scouts questioning his character, said in his group media interview, “I’m not going to talk about that right now.
“I’ve got the interviews with the teams and the teams need to know what they need to know, and I’m going to leave it at that.”
NFL.com’s Marc Sessler wrote that Mallett, who will throw in the quarterback group with Auburn’s Cam Newton today, suggested sabotage.
“Obviously someone did that for a reason, right before the combine,” Mallett said.
Mallett added that he was not troubled by the accusations and that his coaches and teammates would vouch for his character.
While Mallett was criticized by the media for his responses in the group interview, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen suggested in a tweet that Mallett was faring much better with some teams in his individual interviews.
Mallett’s agent, J.R. Carroll of Fayetteville, said the limited feedback he’s had from coaches has indicated they were pleased with his unscripted and candid answers to their questions.
“Ryan’s a little lost as to why the media was so harsh about the interview,” Carroll said. “As you can imagine, I’ve watched that interview about 20 times and I have yet to see where Ryan was being disrespectful or rude.”
Mallett conducted interviews with about a dozen teams, including the Dolphins, Titans, Redskins, Vikings, Panthers, Jaguars and Bengals.
Williams, who worked with noted speed trainer Pete Bommarito in south Florida to prepare for the combine, caught the eye of the NFL Network’s Mike Mayock.
“Faster than I expected on the run,” Mayock said of Williams’ 40-yard dash time. I thought he’d be a 4.7 guy.”
Sterling Sharpe of the NFL Network called Williams “one of those matchup nightmares. Very subtle movements that can free himself on routes.”
Later, after Williams looked sharp in a receiving drill that took him across the width of the field, Sharpe again chipped in: “That was very smooth right there. I like D.J.”
Williams tied for seventh among tight ends with Tulsa’s Charles Clay of Little Rock with a vertical jump of 33.5 inches. Williams tied for 11th in the broad jump at 9 feet, 3 inches.
Clay, who was fifth with a broad jump of 9-10, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.73 seconds, the seventh-best time for tight ends.
Mayock said of the versatile Clay, “He went to the Senior Bowl and didn’t block anybody. Later, he added, “I think there’s a place for him somewhere, but he’s got to be more physical.”
North Carolina’s Zack Pianalto of Springdale ran a 4.87 for 10th among tight ends in the 40-yard dash.
None of the state’s offensive linemen - Arkansas’ Dominguez and DeMarcus Love and Arkansas State’s Newton - finished among the top 15 performers on the bench press.
Sports, Pages 28 on 02/27/2011