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Burris, Peake Flew Under the Combine Radar

Round 4 CB & Round 7 WR Parlayed College Careers with Decent Workouts to Become Jets

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When NFL teams get to day three of the draft, all of the "complete packages" have been distributed. They're looking for "diamonds in the rough," players who showed some good traits on their highlight videos and hung up some good numbers on the field and at the Combine or their pro days.

Such might be the case for CB Juston Burris, selected by the Jets in Round 4 last year, and WR Charone Peake, taken in Round 7.

Burris had good but not great stats in four seasons at North Carolina State. Still, he improved every year and displayed good ball skills and competitiveness as a senior. His 6'0" height and 31½" arms gave him good length. And Lance Zeirlein noted for NFL.com last year that Burris is "a competitor who doesn't back down from physical challenges."

Maybe that's because of his strength, which showed at the '16 Combine. Burris' 4.53 seconds in the 40 didn't finish in the top 15 among cornerbacks, his 36.5" vertical was 10th at his position, and his 11.65 in the 60 shuttle was 11th.

Throwback Images of the Green & White Working Out at the Combine

But Burris added to his predraft résumé with 19 reps on the 225-pound bench, tied for second among corners.

That may have helped convince the Jets to pluck him 118th overall, and later to GM Mike Maccagnan saying, "We're excited about where we got him in the draft. He's a good prospect. He fits what we do in terms of style of play." And the "good prospect" label held true as Burris got more play time in the second half of the season.

Later on day three, the Green & White added to their youth movement at WR by picking Peake at No. 241. What attracted them to the Clemson WR?

One was size (6'2", 34" arms), another was persevering through an early knee injury in 2013 to post his best career numbers as a senior with 50 catches for 716 yards and five TDs in '15 as he teamed up with Deshaun Watson (who, we don't have to tell Jets draftniks, is one of the top QBs in this year's draft).

And another was deceptive speed, particularly on deep routes. At last year's Combine, Peake's best performance was his 4.45-second 40, not blazing but tied for fifth among all WRs.

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But the stopwatches get friendlier away from Lucas Oil. At his pro day a few weeks later, he came in at 4.38.

As for his best-ever 40 time at Clemson, Peake said after the draft, "It was during a summer workout in the indoor facility. We timed everybody and I just happened to end up running a 4.19 that day."

And so it also happened that Peake became a Jet and made some good receptions in a backup role (not to mention his 42-yard offensive fumble-return TD late against the Seahawks) as a rookie. And now he's part of what is hoped to be a solid WR foundation for new OC John Morton and the Jets heading into 2017.

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