5 local players made impact at NFL Combine

Northern Illinois wide receiver Da'Ron Brown ran a 4.54 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, which wasn't impressive among an extremely deep and talented group of pass catchers, four of whom ran 4.35 or faster.

Despite mediocre speed, the 6-foot, 205-pound Brown still caught 68 passes for 1,065 yards last season and earned a reputation as a sure-handed receiver. His 40-time probably won't affect his status as a late-round pick, though.

"If you're a good football player, your tape shows it," he said. "The best football player sometimes doesn't run the fastest 40. But you can't overlook them because they're football players."

In his first three years at NIU, Brown had the opportunity to practice against safety Jimmie Ward, who was drafted in the first round by the 49ers last year.

"Competing against Jimmie Ward, you might want to be ready every time you step up," Brown said. "Iron sharpens iron. So (it's) just (a matter of) having that competitive edge and mentality against him."

Brown wasn't a receiver until he arrived at NIU. He played quarterback at Chicago's Morgan Park. But it wasn't a quarterback or a wide receiver that Brown followed as a young player.

"When I first started playing football, I was a linebacker," he said. "So I grew up watching (Brian) Urlacher."

Saluki standout:

Southern Illinois' 6-foot-2, 251-pound MyCole Pruitt is undersized for tight end, but he tested better than any tight ends in Indianapolis.

Pruitt had the fastest 40-time (4.58 seconds), the highest vertical (38 inches) and was fourth with a 9-foot-8 broad jump. He was a three-year starter at SIU, where he lined up as a traditional tight end and also worked from the slot and out of the backfield.

"I just want teams to know that I can make an impact," Pruitt said. "I feel like I can be moved around anywhere on the field and still make a big impact."

Playing through pain:

Tinley Park's Tevin Coleman, an Oak Forest High School product, rushed for 2,036 yards and averaged 7.5 yards a carry for a bad Indiana team that won just four games last season. And he did it despite a painful midseason toe injury that required postseason surgery and prevented him from running at the Scouting Combine.

"What can you do?" Coleman said. "You have to keep on fighting. I had to lead my team."

The 5-foot-11, 206-pound Coleman is ranked just below Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon and Georgia's Todd Gurley, two likely first-round picks.

The only Combine event Coleman was able to participate in was the bench press, where he repped 225 pounds 22 times. He expects to run at his pro day on April 16 and be 100 percent in a few weeks.

Taking an attitude:

Boston College's Andy Gallik, a product of Brother Rice High School, is ranked as the No. 4 center in the draft by ESPN's Mel Kiper.

The 6-foot-2, 306-pound ran one of the slower 40 times at 5.50, but he repped 225 pounds 29 times on the bench press and he has the attitude NFL coaches want.

Gallik "has the play demeanor that offensive line coaches love," according to NFL.com, which also called him "nasty."

Gallik doesn't dispute that: "I may get too nasty sometimes, but I definitely like playing with a mean streak."

Asked for an example, Gallik said: "Too nasty is playing through an echo of a whistle. (It's) when the whistle is blown and you're still blocking, and then you're still blocking a little longer."

Gallik says that attitude comes with the territory.

"Growing up on the South Side," he said, "there's a little nasty in all of us."

Brains and brawn:

Laken Tomlinson moved to Chicago from Jamaica when he was 10 and started playing football about a year before enrolling at Lane Tech.

"When I first got to Chicago, I didn't know much about sports," he said. "But being introduced to American culture, eating a lot of American food, I gained a lot of weight. My mom urged me to go out and do a sport. Then one my uncles recommended for me was American football."

That suggestion, a hearty appetite and a love of contact eventually helped Tomlinson become one of the top guards in this year's draft.

The 6-foot-3, 323-pounder redshirted as a freshman at Duke, started every game the next four years (52 straight) and was a major reason the Blue Devils won nine games in back-to-back seasons - a first in school history.

He's on schedule to graduate in spring with a double major - psychology and evolutionary anthropology - and talks of one day becoming a neurosurgeon. To some, Tomlinson might be too smart to play football.

"I don't see how that could be a problem," he said. "As long as I can apply myself to football, and just football, then I don't see the problem."