Combine Results

[AZ54]

Figure I'd start a new thread just to capture some combine players who stood out to me.   I haven't watched everything from day 1 yet and most of these guys I'll have to go find some film on.   

DT   Dante Stills.   Smooth athlete, maybe a bit of a tweener but could be a good depth option on day 3.  

DT.  Calijah Kancey ran a 4.67 forty.   I wish he'd done the drills to see how fluid he was but just watching him run you can tell he's a good athlete.   Stay tuned for his pro day.  

DT. Bresee.  ran well, big dude.  Looked a bit stiff running the hoops but looked more fluid in the other bag drills.   

Edge:   Nolan Smith running a 4.39 forty and a 41in vertical at 240lbs is just insane.   He's hyper active around the LOS but might be a better fit in 3-4.  

Edge:  Yaya Diaby just stood out in all drills as a very long fast fluid athlete.  He played in 3-man front so we have to translate how he'll do as a DE in our scheme but he certainly seems to have the tools to be a really good edge rusher.   He's just 6'3" and 263lbs but with nearly 34" arms has the length needed to go along with his 1.56 10yd split and 4.51 forty.   Profile says he needs development in the pass rush moves.   

Edge:   Will McDonald looked good, skills match the film.

Edge:  Adetomiwa Adebawore.    At 280lbs this rocked up man can run, bend, jump, and spin.   Impressive athlete just 6'2" but with 34" arms.    He played at Northwestern and others have mentioned him.  Gotta watch some film on him and he carries the infamous tweener label.  

Edge:  Van Ness looked like the power rusher he is.  He struggled at times in the bag and other drills.     

With so much edge talent in this draft players are going to fall into Rd 3 or even 4.  

 

[Stinger226]

A A killed it at the senior Bowl playing inside. He probably goes late second to third. Could be a surprise pick for Poles to play 3T spot. Kancey is a little smaller but powerful. Will Anderson measurables are almost exact to Mack. Interesting.

[adam]

The Bears are coming away with at least two of these top dudes. I can see them going DL with 2 of their top 4 picks (hopefully with some trade downs).

[AZ54]

7 hours ago, Stinger226 said:

A A killed it at the senior Bowl playing inside. He probably goes late second to third. Could be a surprise pick for Poles to play 3T spot. Kancey is a little smaller but powerful. Will Anderson measurables are almost exact to Mack. Interesting.

I should have just stuck with A A because it took 3 or 4 spell checks to get his name right.  

[Mongo3451]

They interviewed Poles and Flus yesterday.  Poles stated that this draft is deep in what they are looking for in DL and OL.

[Stinger226]

14 hours ago, AZ54 said:

I should have just stuck with A A because it took 3 or 4 spell checks to get his name right.  

I cheat every chance I get. My tablet auto correct s every word I type, its me 3 minutes to do a sentence.

[adam]

Some really intriguing prospects. The Bears have to trade back and gain at least a mid to low 2nd rounder, to get 4 picks in the top 64. Based on the quality of players I am seeing, they should get 4 starters from that group. 

[AZ54]

Another good day for the Bears.  The QBs stole the show and that was without Bryce Young participating.  CJ Stroud just made every throw look easy to make, and easy to catch.  Anthony Richardson might still need work but not in terms of his athletic ablity and his ability to throw.  He probably moved himself into the top 10 and maybe top 5 given that there is a blueprint for bringing along a young athletic QB (Lamar Jackson, Justin Fields).   Levis looked good throwing the ball too as well and certainly didn't hurt himself.   

You could say that a QB needy team could take any of the 4 but fortunately they are all different enough in what they offer that there will be preferences for who fits your offense best, or timeline (i.e. Richardson).   At this point I'd say first overall could be Young or Stroud.  Richardson and Levis will battle it out for 3rd/4th.  

WRs... some stood out to me and mostly I like the gauntlet drill and a couple of the routes:  deep and intermediate because you can best see their hands and quickness.  Tank Dell looked smooth and quick in everything.  Likewise with Josh Downs and Zay Flowers who solidified their draft stock.   Dell is likely moving up from where ever he was ranked, he's not even listed on Drafttek WR group.  At 175lbs 

 JSN looked quick and clean in his cuts but doesn't appear to be full speed yet.  He didn't run the forty because he's only been at full go on his hamstring injury for 2 weeks.  If he's close to full speed he's not very fast.   

Jalin Hyatt ran well but seems to fight the ball.  I prefer receivers who have easy hands and make the ball stick on first touch. 

Andre Iosivas looked good all around.  I think he moved up after running a 4.43 forty and a 6.85 3-cone.  Beyond that he catches the ball well.  

Rashee Rice also impressed with good hands and moves well around the field.  

Michael Wilson (lengthy injury list) performed well and he gets a lot of good PR.  It's hard to guess where he'll go but I wouldn't be surprised if he's a day 3 selection just because of the competition.  

The one WR who surprised me was Ronnie Bell out of Mich mostly because I haven't seen his name anywhere.  He wasn't necessarily elite in anything just seemed to always perform well.  He had a knee injury in 2021 and his draft profile says he might need scheme help to uncover in the NFL.   Some guys need more than a year to get fully healthy and up to speed after those injuries so he might be worth a shot. 

A couple guys I was watching for weeks: 

Xavier Hutchinson I think helped himself.  He has no lack of making contested or difficult catches.  His concerns were speed and getting separation and I think he answered those with a 4.53 forty and  6.91 3-cone.  He looked good in drills too.  

Jayden Reed ran a 4.45 and I thought he might be a bit faster but he did show quickness in his route running and good hands.  

Overall if we want to improve our WR depth on day 3 we should be able to get that done.  We're talking about stepping up from ESB and Pettis.  A 2nd Rd pick should be able to contribute on game days (Downs/Flowers) and possibly some of the guys in Rd 3.   

[AZ54]

TEs... I watched their drills and it looks like there is some good depth in this group.   If I were drafting an inline TE early I'd take Darnell Washington ahead of Mayer.  He's just a beast in blocking and his one-handed catch in the redzone drill was spectacular.  I know it's just a blocking sled in one drill but all except 2 TEs had to work hard moving it.  Mayer and Washington showed the best power and walked it backwards with control but Washington just took it 8 yards backwards like it was a toy.   In these drills you know when someone or something is different and Washington is that.  That shows up in game film where he is destroying DEs and he's more than good enough on routes to be effective there too.    

LaPorta as a 3rd Rd pick looked good all-around.  

Dalton Kincaid didn't participate due to injury but just from the chatter he's going to be a first round pick.  

[Stinger226]

I agree on Kincaid, he had a 93% catch rate on catch able balls last yr.  Stud

[killakrzydav]

I watched a lot of Utah last year and Kincaid is amazing. I’d love him as Best with luck 33

[AZ54]

Last day.   Lots of good options among the Oline.  Drills can't tell you much more than how well they move but standouts IMO and in no particular order:

Skoronski... on the wave drill he covers more ground than anybody in a balanced manner with his feet under him.  We know he can block, arm length issues or not, he looks like a 10yr starter somewhere on the line.  

Broderick Jones... looks like a beast and maybe not as fluid as Paris Johnson Jr. he's pretty good.

Paris Johnson Jr. ... as OTs go he's got the easy movement and agility you want on the edge.  

Matthew Bergeron ... looked good and I haven't even watched or heard anything on him until today.  

Cody Mauch, Darnell Wright, and Steve Avila were all as advertised.  

Anton Harrison likely is on our list.   Never heard of Sidy Sow but he looked good out there but his draft profile pretty much says he can't block so maybe he's a late round prospect worth trying to develop.  

Emil Ekiyor moved well although a bit slow

John Michael Schmitz... he looks really strong but also a bit slow pulling and stiff movement wise..  not sure he's a good fit for our scheme.  

Olu Oluwatimi also looked a bit stiff in motion.  

Jaelyn Duncan was high on my list but he just looks awkward in motion.  Not saying he comes off the list entirely but if blocking in space is the expectation he might struggle a bit in the NFL.  

Dawand Jones is just a big mountain but will struggle a bit if asked to get on the move.  Love the guy but not sure he fits what we want to do.  

[AZ54]

RBs... there is some good depth at this position.  If we can trade down and have extra picks in Rd 2 and 3 we have to consider the value of not signing any FA RB and just drafting one.  Use that money on a vet elsewhere to help this roster.  If for no other reason than we cannot fix the DT/DE issue in the draft.   At best we'd get one contributing/starting DE and DT.  

If for some reason that didn't work out in the draft it seems likely  there will be a decent FA RB still available after the draft as a fall back option.  

Bijan Robinson is just fast and smooth.  You couldn't even tell he was stepping over the bags in one drill he ran so fast.  His ability to cut at speed without looking like he is changing direction makes him hard ot tackle.  We aren't going there in the first round but all I'm asking for is that this guy needs to be outside our division. 

Jahmyr Gibbs looked as advertised. 

Achane is fast but he's a smaller guy so don't think he can handle a heavy workload.   You'd have to pair him behind Herbert. 

Tyjae Spears looked good in all drills. 

I really liked what Chase Brown did.   He's just good all-around and has the deep speed needed to hit the occasional home run.   I wouldn't mind drafting him and his brother.  Chase seems like a good fit to replace Montgomery.  

If he's there late on day 3 I have no issue drafting Deuce Vaughn.  He's just electric in the open field.  He's 5'5" so nobody wants him blocking in the backfield and many teams likely don't want him at all.  His agility on jump cuts is insane and his hands looked really good (if you don't overthrow him).   Unlike a lot of smaller guys he does have some legit deep speed.  He didn't run the forty today but there are plenty of highlights of him being chased 50, 60, 70 yards downfield.  Question is can he return kicks?   Hopefully we'll see that at his pro day.  

 

[adam]

RAS scores are a pretty neat way to summarize a player's athleticism. Here are the top 10 players for this year, all positions:

 

I had Gonzalez, Campbell, and Mingo already on the radar. Campbell with Sanborn would be a pretty impressive duo at LB. With sub packages 85% of the time, they usually only have 2 LBs on the field. 

 

[AZ54]

Zach Kuntz tested well but he occasionally looks a bit uncoordinated when he's running.  He needs to get with a professional trainer and work on balancing his strength and flexibility.  There is a lot of potential for him but he plays soft like he's afraid to get hit and if that's on his ODU tape imagine what NFL players will do to his mindset.  For someone with 10 1/4" hands he bobbles too many catches.  Late Day 3 or UDFA only and see if he can develop.     

[adam]

For those wanting to see RAS scores, I uploaded Excel spreadsheets for this year's draft and All-Time.

RAS.xlsx RAS_ALLTIME.xlsx

[adam]

Here were the top WRs, with a RAS over 9:

Bryce Ford-Wheaton	WR	2023	West Virginia	9.96	9.96
Jonathan Mingo	WR	2023	Ole Miss	9.93	9.93
Andrei Iosivas	WR	2023	Princeton	9.92	9.92
Matt Landers	WR	2023	Arkansas	9.91	9.91
Rashee Rice	WR	2023	SMU	9.65	9.65
Cedric Tillman	WR	2023	Tennessee	9.56	9.56
Jalin Hyatt	WR	2023	Tennessee	9.46	9.46
Jaxon Smith-Njigba	WR	2023	Ohio State	9.39	9.39
Michael Wilson	WR	2023	Stanford	9.34	9.34
A.T. Perry	WR	2023	Wake Forest	9.24	9.24
Justin Shorter	WR	2023	Florida	9.23	9.23
Marvin Mims Jr.	WR	2023	Oklahoma	9.13	9.13

My guess is Poles gets one of the guys in bold. My March 6th prediction.
 

[adam]

DTs:

Jalen Redmond	DT	2023	Oklahoma	9.63	9.63
Gervon Dexter	DT	2023	Florida	9.21	9.21
Bryan Bresee	DT	2023	Clemson	9.07	9.07
Colby Wooden	DT	2023	Auburn	9.01	9.01
Zacch Pickens	DT	2023	South Carolina	8.97	8.97
Keeanu Benton	DT	2023	Wisconsin	8.65	8.65
Moro Ojomo	DT	2023	Texas	8.56	8.56
Dante Stills	DT	2023	West Virginia	8.44	8.44

If they don't go Carter, they will probably target one of the guys in bold.

[adam]

LBs:

Jack Campbell	LB	2023	Iowa	9.98	9.98
Trenton Simpson	LB	2023	Clemson	9.86	9.86
Yasir Abdullah	LB	2023	Louisville	9.47	9.47
Owen Pappoe	LB	2023	Auburn	9.24	9.24
Anfernee Orji	LB	2023	Vanderbilt	9.05	9.05
Noah Sewell	LB	2023	Oregon	9.04	9.04

Campbell is off the charts AND produced on the field.
 

[adam]

TEs:

Zack Kuntz	TE	2023	Old Dominion	10	10
Luke Musgrave	TE	2023	Oregon State	9.95	9.95
Darnell Washington	TE	2023	Georgia	9.85	9.85
Luke Schoonmaker	TE	2023	Michigan	9.75	9.75
Tucker Kraft	TE	2023	South Dakota State	9.58	9.58
Sam LaPorta	TE	2023	Iowa	9.26	9.26
Will Mallory	TE	2023	Miami	9.19	9.19

 

I am thinking LaPorta here.

[adam]

OL:

Jon Gaines II	OG	2023	UCLA	9.95	9.95
Sidy Sow	OG	2023	Eastern Michigan	9.93	9.93
Blake Freeland	OT	2023	Brigham Young	9.82	9.82
Braeden Daniels	OG	2023	Utah	9.65	9.65
Earl Bostick Jr.	OT	2023	Kansas	9.58	9.58
Anthony Bradford	OG	2023	Louisiana State	9.56	9.56
Jaelyn Duncan	OT	2023	Maryland	9.46	9.46
Darnell Wright	OT	2023	Tennessee	9.45	9.45
Broderick Jones	OT	2023	Georgia	9.44	9.44
Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu	OG	2023	Oregon	9.34	9.34
Nick Saldiveri	OT	2023	Old Dominion	9.1	9.1

[adam]

DE:

Adetomiwa Adebawore	DE	2023	Northwestern	9.85	9.85
YaYa Diaby	DE	2023	Louisville	9.85	9.85
DJ Johnson	DE	2023	Oregon	9.35	9.35
Isaiah Foskey	DE	2023	Notre Dame	9.32	9.32
Derick Hall	DE	2023	Auburn	9.23	9.23
Lukas Van Ness	DE	2023	Iowa	9.22	9.22
Nolan Smith	DE	2023	Georgia	9.21	9.21
Byron Young	DE	2023	Tennessee	9	9

[adam]

Using only RAS scores for drafting, with 2 trade downs (IND and TEN), picked up several additional picks and future first rounders (2x 2024, 1x 2025) and this:

 

 

Limited options on OL at the pick numbers. That would be an insane draft, to get 2x WRs, 2x Edge, DL, LB, TE, and HB, all top 10 RAS guys for their skill positions. These were also guys that produced, so not just RAS scores.

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, adam said:

LBs:

Jack Campbell	LB	2023	Iowa	9.98	9.98
Trenton Simpson	LB	2023	Clemson	9.86	9.86
Yasir Abdullah	LB	2023	Louisville	9.47	9.47
Owen Pappoe	LB	2023	Auburn	9.24	9.24
Anfernee Orji	LB	2023	Vanderbilt	9.05	9.05
Noah Sewell	LB	2023	Oregon	9.04	9.04

Campbell is off the charts AND produced on the field.
 

Watched a bit of Campbell film (against the Cyclones and Kentucky).   He is struggling to get off blocks, or around them, and often reads plays late.  It's as if he's the opposite of what you see with Sanborn.   

Links if you care to watch:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMkX16NXlDg.     

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GefOq9EKi0o

 

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, adam said:

DE:

Adetomiwa Adebawore	DE	2023	Northwestern	9.85	9.85
YaYa Diaby	DE	2023	Louisville	9.85	9.85
DJ Johnson	DE	2023	Oregon	9.35	9.35
Isaiah Foskey	DE	2023	Notre Dame	9.32	9.32
Derick Hall	DE	2023	Auburn	9.23	9.23
Lukas Van Ness	DE	2023	Iowa	9.22	9.22
Nolan Smith	DE	2023	Georgia	9.21	9.21
Byron Young	DE	2023	Tennessee	9	9

Foskey and Van Ness are both pretty linear athletes.  Van Ness with really good power but seems like that's about all he'll bring to the table.  They'll both be players that can set the edge and pick up some ocassional pressures/sacks especially if they get support with pressure up the middle.   That's what you see on tape from both and I'm not quite as high on either after the combine.