Buster Skrine has spent the majority of his career flying under the radar playing CB at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. While his play was good enough to get him named to the All-Southern Conference first team two years in a row, outside of the SoCon Skrine remained a relative unknown.
Skrine began to turn heads at the Texas vs. the Nation game, and is poised to grab the spotlight with a strong combine performance this week. Recently I got the privilege to talk with Skrine about his combine preparation.
Skrine felt good about his performance at the Texas vs. the Nation game, where he was named a starter for the Texas team after a strong week of practice. “It went well. I feel like I got better each practice” Skrine said.
He also felt that the week in Texas was a great opportunity to show that he can play with the top talent in the country. “There were some people questioning me…a small school corner. ‘Can he play with the high competition?’ And I came out and played well. I started out the week second string and ended up being named a starter. I made some plays and opened some eyes” Skrine said of the week.
Skrine also used the week of practice as a learning experience, saying “I [used that week] to just improve my game over all. You can never be perfect. I believe that there is always room for improvement. I always try to improve every area of my game”.
Skrine is best known for his blazing speed. While at Chattanooga, he set a school record running a 4.22 second 40 yard dash. While he couldn’t give a specific time that he is expecting to run at the combine, he did tell me that “It’s going to be a fast time. I can tell you that…it’s going to be a very fast time”. Skrine has been working out with Martin Rooney for the last two months at Parisi Speed School in New Jersey.
But Skrine isn’t just working on getting faster: “We have two sessions a day. We work on all the events for the combine, and position drills. I’ll be ready for the combine this weekend”. Skrine said he is planning on participating in all drills while in Indianapolis.
Skrine credits Chattanooga head coach Russ Huessman for helping him to become a more rounded player, and not just relying on his exceptional speed. “He taught me a lot of technique. You can be really fast, but if you don’t use good technique, it won’t matter. The better your technique, the more plays you’ll make” Skrine said. Skrine said that he will bring more than just speed to whichever team drafts him in April. “I always give 110%, I take constructive criticism, and I bring a positive attitude to [his future team].”
Optimum Scouting looks forward to watching Skrine perform at the combine and wishes him all the best as he looks to become the first Chattanooga player drafted since 2001.
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