The NFL Draft Combine players is unlike anything differently in professional sports. Every league has its own interpretation of a combine ahead of the draft, but it’s football where draft stock can shift drastically over the course of a many days. A Scout’s Take on the History of the Annual NFL Scouting Combine
Everything kicks off in Indianapolis this week. The bulk of the first many days are platoon meetings with prospects, getting introductory measurables, and medical testing — also we hit the pony show of the weekend with the timed drills that get all the attention on television.
Any NFL scout worth their swab will tell you that the factual drills in Indy do n’t really mean that much. It’s about having figures to either confirm what you see on film to make a case to either have a prospect on the board, or not. That said, major surprises in the combine can have a serious impact on what happens in April.
These are the players with the most to gain or lose in Indianapolis this week.
Drake Maye
The slugfest at the top of the draft for QB1 between Caleb Williams and Drake Maye will continue all the way up to draft night. lately it’s felt more and more like Williams is being profiled in as a plausibleNo. 1, with Maye lagging a little. That could change in Indy. What is an ideal offseason blueprint for the Ravens?
Williams has decided to go into the combine without an agent and represent himself. It’s a veritably parlous move when it comes to managing the information game in Indianapolis. On top of that, Williams has formerly verified that he does n’t plan to throw at the combine — following a trend of other top quarterbacks in recent times.
Maye is throwing still, and he’s sharing in every drill. This is big for two reasons
It gives him a chance to throw off his athleticism.
It’ll allow perhaps to assuage fears about his footwork.
North Carolina didn’t have a good obnoxious line this time. Maye was too frequently dragooned on introductory two- man rushes, and had little time in the fund. He still thrived despite this, but it meant we do n’t have a lot of great film of Maye’s mechanics. Throwing in Indy will allow him to show this element of his game off, and give a sense of whether he can do all the little effects he needs to mechanically.
There’s also an occasion then to show off his swiftness in drills like the 40 and cone. Maye is a veritably uncredited athlete who absolutely has the bus to escape pressure. There’s a big chance to surprise with this element of his game, and good throwing paired with better- than- expects measurables could push perhaps into the QB1 spot while Williams largely spins his tires.
Marvin HarrisonJr.
Marvin HarrisonJr. is a phenom. The man is inconceivable. It’s veritably rare we see a wide receiver prospect who’s this complete, this functionally perfect. We ’re talking about a player at this point in the process who’s so far beyond what we anticipate from a WR that he’s actually ahead of where legends like Larry Fitzgerald and Calvin Johnson were at this point in theirpre-draft process.
Now there’s a wrinkle.
This is n’t commodity that should hurt MH Jr, but old- academy frontal office folks will presumably discomfit at him not sharing in the process. The lack of a 40 or three- cone is n’t nearly as potentially concerning as not being in city to meet brigades or work out at all.
It’s a measured threat. There’s no earth where Marvin HarrisonJr. is n’t the first receiver off the board, but it’ll be intriguing to see if this pushes him down. Does a platoon in the top- five get concerned over this enough not to take him as beforehand as we allowed ?
It’s surely possible, and that could hurt his stock a lot. What Geno Smith contract restructure means for Seattle Seahawks?
McCarthy
nothing is flying up boards like Michigan quarterbackJ.J. McCarthy. This is a joe who was seen as a day two player as lately as a month agone , also started popping up in the 20s, also the teens — now there’s serious belief he could go as high as top- three in the draft.
There’s some phenomenal work being done by McCarthy’s agent and platoon to make hype around him, and he’s completely sharing in Indy. The downside then’s extremely clear brigades want to see him thow the entire route tree, and overall get a better sense of who he’s as a player, considering a enough limited end capsule at Michigan given the platoon was erected around defense and the run.
still, and you pair that with the known amounts about him when it comes to leadership and decision making — man, he really could be one of the first players off the board in April, If McCarthy can show that he has the capability to make every gamble asked of him.
Rome Odunze
The plausibleNo. 2 wide receiver in the 2024 class, there’s nothing Odunze could do to pass Marvin HarrisonJr. unless a platoon absolutely flubs the process. That does n’t mean Odunze does n’t have the eventuality to be an inconceivable NFL receiver.
You ca n’t educate size, and at 6 ’ 3, 213 pounds he’s a rare combination of speed and power that will be interesting for brigades. The only concern is whether he has the first step demanded to shake protective tails at the snap which is commodity he did n’t always show at Washington.
Odunze is a first round cinch. It’s only a question of how high he could go. If he’s suitable to show in dexterity drills that he has the footwork and unforeseen acceleration that brigades crave also he could fluently launch himself into the top- 10. A bad week could see him fall to the late teens or early 20s.
Joe Alt
Offensive linemen ca n’t really do a lot in Indy. It’s just the nature of the beast. There’s no mistrustfulness that Alt will thrive in a spa terrain, because he’s a long-fortified, athletic attack who should really thrive at drills that do n’t have a lot of bearing on obnoxious tackles.
This is about the interview portion and the position drills for Alt. There are some veritably fair enterprises that he’s further of a finesse attack who could deal with speed dawdlers in the NFL, but struggle against power.
Now, there’s no perfect drill to gather information about strength — but if he can show fashion and pop on the bags that indicates that he could handle all types of pass dawdlers at the coming position, also Alt will cement himself as theNo. 1 descent lineman off the boards.
If that does n’t be? also it gets more tricky. Olumuyiwa Fashanu from Penn State could vault up and pass him. Fashanu is fashion- light, but his raw tools will absolutely be coveted. Also, if you ’re a platoon looking at him also you might like that he does n’t need toun-learn any bad habits, so you can trainer him up. Giants favorites to land Jaylen Waddle in trade … if he’s available
Bo Nix
The quarterbacks of this time’s draft fall into a many categories before we get to Indianapolis.
league 1 Caleb Williams and Drake Maye
Tier 2 Jayden Daniels andJ.J. McCarthy
Tier 3 Bo Nix and Michael Penix
Williams and Maye will go in the top- five. Daniels and McCarthy should go in the top- 15. From there it gets murky. Both Nix and Penix should be 2nd round picks, but a lot of weird stuff can change in Indy.
Penix’s injury history will terrify brigades. I do n’t suppose he ’ll have a lot of upward movement. Nix on the other hand, could really do commodity. Someone is going to want to talk themselves into Nix, and draw labored comparisons to Justin Herbert( they ’re really not the same player), but evidence bias can have a weird effect if the drill is good.
still, maybe indeed the teens to a QB- indigent platoon like Seattle or someone like Pittsburgh at 20, If Nix shows out in Indy also we really could see talk about him moving into the first round.