If nothing else, WVU’s four participants in the NFL combine started their weekend by saying some interesting things. Owen Schmitt is, of course, a fascinating story and Johnny Dingle will fill your notebook. Then some of the quieter and more soft-spoken Mountaineers got to talking and Steve Slaton and Darius Reynaud had some provocative things to say.

(By the way, this is borderline maddening because players — and those two in particular — wouldn’t say anything like that to the media covering them on a daily basis. I’d step away from the laptop and do something constructive to cool off right now, like go and get a haircut, but I’ve already pulled most of my hair out.)

Then the players got to, uh, combining and it would seem a few guys did pretty well for themselves.

 Reynaud had nice numbers and probably elevated his stock and solidified his standing as one of the more highly regarded “small” receivers — and there’s a place now in the NFL for slot receivers, especially ones who can play special teams, like Reynaud. Good day for him.

Schmitt ran a really good 40-yard dash — he was only 0.03 seconds slower than Michigan’s Mike Hart! — and proved strong enough to hold up his immense reputation. He still probably — maybe? — trails LSU’s Jacob Hester in the fullback pecking order, but teams love the guy. He’s getting drafted.

Dingle runs today with the rest of the defensive linemen. He’s been busy interviewing with teams and is probably going to have to enter the idea of playing outside linebacker. He’s been slowed by a tight hamstring and if he doesn’t knock it out today, he’ll have to do so later in individual workouts. His length and motor are appealing and his tape does not lie.

As for Slaton, I’m not sure what to think. His numbers were very OK… but what good is very OK in a very deep draft for running backs? His 40-time probably alleviated some concerns he’d lost a step, but he was talking about doing 4.3. And he did so few reps compared to the rest of the field that you can’t say he got too big this past season and the added strength drained his speed. So what happened to his stats? It’s something he’s going to have to deal with in this process. He just doesn’t rate very well with many of the other performers — see for yourself by clicking through the events. This, it seems, is a rather large concern, particularly to the naysayers, because there is great attention paid to his strengths and weaknesses.