Feb. 21--INDIANAPOLIS -- Duke guard Laken Tomlinson, a Lane Tech alumnus, continues to turn heads with his effort in the pre-draft process. After holding his own at the Senior Bowl in January, Tomlinson arrived at the NFL scouting combine intent on selling teams on his physicality, fundamentals and intelligence.
"One of the things I want to market to all the teams is that I'm one hell of a player," Tomlinson said. "Letting them know that choosing me will be one of the best investments they can make. I want to come in and be an immediate starter and I want to make an immediate impact on a team."
Tomlinson was impressive at the Senior Bowl, particularly in one-on-one drills against Shelton, seemingly solidifying himself as a Day 2 pick for this spring's draft and now drawing projections as an early second-round pick.
Tomlinson said he models his game after Lions offensive lineman Larry Warford, a third-round pick out of Kentucky two years ago.
"I've watched a lot of his technique and he has really good feet," Tomlinson said. "I've had heard some comparisons to him. ... So I thought let me go check him and out and see how he plays. I see the resemblance in my own technique. So I've continued to watch more tape on him. He has really nimble feet and I try to emulate that in my game."
dwiederer@tribpub.com
