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Former Sooner linebacker Curtis Lofton needed a breakout performance at the NFL Scouting Combine to enter serious discussions about emerging as a first-round selection.

Now it seems NFL franchises will have to overlook his combine performance for that to be possible

Monday, Lofton ran a 4.77 40-yard dash time, which didn't rank inside the top 10 for inside linebackers (already as a whole being termed a "slow group”).

Lofton was hoping to run somewhere in the 4.6 range.

Still, even with an average 40-time, Lofton is expected to be one of the first two inside linebackers taken, probably somewhere in the second round, thanks in part to this being a weak class for inside linebackers and in part to his productive junior season at OU.

•Big day for Sooner DBs: So far, the combine has been anticlimactic for Sooner fans, largely because Malcolm Kelly, Allen Patrick and Joe Jon Finley chose not to run over the weekend due to nagging injuries.

But today, cornerbacks Reggie Smith and Marcus Walker and safety D.J. Wolfe are expected to perform.

The combine can be viewed throughout the day on the NFL Network.

•Smith meets with Patriots: Smith told the Boston Globe on Monday that he spoke with New England Patriots officials Sunday night. Cornerback figures to be a target position for the defending AFC champ, which has the seventh overall pick.

•Pruitt's son in hospital: Greg Pruitt Jr., the son of former Sooner All-American running back Greg Pruitt, is at an Ohio hospital surgical intensive care unit in critical condition after being shot Sunday night, according to Cleveland's NBC affiliate WKYC. Pruitt, who played at North Carolina Central University, signed with the Baltimore Ravens as a rookie free agent on May 4, 2007.

By Jake Trotter