Zach Wiegert

[Scott in NY]

I believe that Stai bench pressed 225 lbs, 37 times at the 95 NFL combine, which was far better than the second place guy and I believe was a record at that time. By comparison, I believe Nick Gates benched 225 lbs a total 20 reps in 2016.

Stai was indeed a very strong guy back then- he was easily a 500 lb + bench press guy, and those are very rare even in the NFL. It's not rocket science why that crew was able to manhandle other teams so easily, they were all weight room guys who tested very well. Yes you have to be good technique-wise too, but there is no substitute for raw power at that position, and Stai/Wiegert/Wilks/Graham/Zatechka/etc. ALL had it. Lately 1 or 2 guys of the five "have" it and you can see the results. Hopefully Neb gets back to that with the new regime in place.

 

[Scott in NY]

No, that was OT Marcel Jones back around 2012 or so...he only benched it 12 times IIRC.

Of course there are many other large muscle groups that factor into playing on the line at this level (hips/legs/back/etc.), but to be able to bench press 225 lbs 10 times (or less?) as a lineman playing in the Big Ten is hard to even believe. Once people understand this, it is easy to see why some guys get pushed around so easily in games. I played with a safety once who was about 5'9", 195 lbs who was able to get 20 reps at 225, which at the time was considered average for a small college-type player at that position! I don't even see how a guy could go through 4/5 years at a school like Nebraska and not be stronger than that, even if they didn't worry about bench press numbers (which most guys don't anyway). I'm 47 and I could still do 10-12 reps at 225, 13 reps and my shoulder would tear in half lol. Luckily for many, there are a million other ways to be effective (lower body mass, explosiveness, speed, technique obviously) so that's why some of the guys get by the way they do, but are exposed once they go to test for the NFL combine. There aren't many (if any) defensive linemen in the NFL doing 10 reps at 225, they would eat a guy like that for lunch no matter how good technique-wise or lower body strong he was.