Dick Harmon: Ziggy turns some heads with his showing at NFL combine

Interestingly enough, three players from outside the United States made plenty of ripples this weekend at the combine, and one of them was Ziggy.

Florida State's Bjoern Werner, working with Ansah, was very impressive in drills. Some, as the best defensive end prospect in the draft, list the native of Germany. He didn't pick up football until age 12 and made his early impact in sports on the soccer field.

The other guy is SMU defensive end Margus Hunt, who ran a sizzling 4.6 and is 6-foot-8. Hunt is from Estonia.

NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock described Ansah as a blank canvas that some NFL team can mold into what they want, but his inexperience is a negative factor and risk.

"This is an interesting defensive end/outside linebacker class because a lot of them you are betting on the upside, and Ansah is certainly one of them," said Mayock.

"There are a lot of questions about the guy, but you can't question his movement skills, his size and his motor. When people try and compare him to (the N.Y. Giants' Jason Pierre-Paul), I would take a step back. Even when he was raw, he was further along. Ziggy Ansah has that kind of ability but he's even more raw than (Pierre-Paul), so when do you pull the trigger?"

Detroit Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said comparisons with Pierre-Paul and Ansah are fair.

"Ansah is a guy who has been playing football for two years who is a freak athletically," said Mayhew. "I just think he has tremendous upside. What this guy will be able to do in three or four years … you get a guy like that and the sky's the limit."

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