Kristick’s combine

OSU LINEBACKER KEATON KRISTICK, named first team All-Pac-10 this past season and who posted 211 career tackles at Oregon State, was listed among the top linebacker performers at the NFL combine in three drill tests –- the 3 cone, 20-yard shuttle and 60-yard shuttle.

Media reports are surprisingly thin on Keaton Kristick following his performance in Indianapolis, but he is listed by the official NFL site as a “top performer” in three events that test, among other things, change of direction and lateral quickness.

Among all linebackers at the combine, Kristick was second in the 60-yard shuttle with a time of 11.33.

He was fifth in the linebackers’ group in the 20-yard shuttle with a time of 4.21, and eighth in the 3-cone drill at 6.96.

The drills are explained on the official NFL site as follows:

“The 3 cone drill tests an athlete's ability to change directions at a high speed. Three cones in an L-shape. He starts from the starting line, goes 5 yards to the first cone and back. Then, he turns, runs around the second cone, runs a weave around the third cone, which is the high point of the L, changes directions, comes back around that second cone and finishes.

The short shuttle is the first of the cone drills. It is known as the 5-10-5. What it tests is the athlete's lateral quickness and explosion in short areas. The athlete starts in the three-point stance, explodes out 5 yards to his right, touches the line, goes back 10 yards to his left, left hand touches the line, pivot, and he turns 5 more yards and finishes.

The only difference between the 60-yard shuttle and the 20-yard shuttle is that instead of running five yards, 10 yards then five yards, the players run 10 yards to one side, then back 20 yards and then 10 yards to the starting point.”

NOTABLE NOTES:

Keaton’s teammate, Sean Canfield, went through his paces at the combine on Sunday. How the Beaver QB performed depends on how you ask. St. Louis Rams General Manager Billy Devaney, speaking about quarterbacks in general, says the combine is “not the greatest environment for them to show what they've got..They're throwing to receivers that they've never worked with before. They'll go to their pro days that they'll have and it's structured. It's organized. They're throwing to receivers that they know a lot about. They're throwing routes here (at the combine) that maybe they haven't thrown in college. And it's hard to get in a groove. You throw three balls and then you go to the end of the line. And you wait for your turn to come up again and you throw three balls and then you stand around. . . .It does make it hard for a quarterback."

Oregon State’s pro day is scheduled for March 12 according to the NFL Network.