With the NFL Combine is underway in Indianapolis, we’ll see boards moving all over the place in next week or so. As usual we’ll see a whole lot of overreaction in the national media – however teams that draft well realize the function of the event and move minimally. It can’t be said enough – the NFL Combine is a piece (a small one at that) of a player’s overall evaluation. Teams will be paying close attention to the medicals and confirming what they’ve seen on tape. Pay close attention to positional drills as they are telling of physical tools that transfer to the field. While the 40-yard dash is sexy, it has little correlation to a player’s on-field ability.
The most hyped story leading up the event is which QB’s will throw. It matters the least. If we learned one thing from last year, it was the overvaluing of how a player throws in shorts and t-shirt.
Don’t get me wrong, when I have a free minute I’ll be eyes glued to NFL Network this weekend. That said, you won’t see any drastic movement up or down my board.
RANK | PLAYER | SCHOOL | POSITION |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Leonard Williams | USC | DT/DE |
2 | Dante Fowler | Florida | OLB |
3 | Shaq Thompson | Washington | OLB |
4 | Amari Cooper | Alabama | WR |
5 | Danny Shelton | Washington | DT |
6 | Kevin White | West Virginia | WR |
7 | Randy Gregory | Nebraska | OLB |
8 | Todd Gurley | Georgia | RB |
9 | Eddie Goldman | Florida St | DT |
10 | Dorial Green-Beckham | Missouri | WR |
11 | Denzel Perryman | Miami | ILB |
12 | Malcom Brown | Texas | DT |
13 | Shane Ray | Missouri | OLB |
14 | Marcus Mariota | Oregon | QB |
15 | Marcus Peters | Washington | CB |
16 | Brandon Scherff | Iowa | OG |
17 | Ereck Flowers | Miami | OT |
18 | DeVante Parker | Louisville | WR |
19 | La’el Collins | LSU | OG |
20 | Arik Armstead | Oregon | DE |
21 | DJ Humphries | Florida | OT |
22 | Paul Dawson | TCU | OLB |
23 | Maxx Williams | Minnesota | TE |
24 | Andrus Peat | Stanford | OT |
25 | Devin Funchess | Michigan | TE |
26 | Trae Waynes | Michigan St | CB |
27 | Jordan Phillips | Oklahoma | DT |
28 | Eric Kendricks | UCLA | ILB |
29 | Duke Johnson | Miami | RB |
30 | Landon Collins | Alabama | S |
31 | Alvin Dupree | Kentucky | OLB |
32 | Owamagbe Odighizuwa | UCLA | DE |
33 | Nate Orchard | Utah | DE/OLB |
34 | T.J. Clemmings | Pitt | OT |
35 | Danielle Hunter | LSU | OLB |
36 | Melvin Gordon | Wisconsin | RB |
37 | Jaelen Strong | Arizona St | WR |
38 | Kevin Johnson | Wake Forest | CB |
39 | Preston Smith | Mississippi St | DE |
40 | Cedric Ogbuehi | Texas A&M | OT |
41 | Steven Nelson | Oregon St | CB |
42 | Vic Beasley | Clemson | OLB |
43 | Breshad Perriman | UCF | WR |
44 | Jeremiah Poutasi | Utah | OG |
45 | Jameis Winston | Florida St | QB |
46 | Cam Erving | Florida St | C |
47 | Eli Harold | Virginia | OLB |
48 | Michael Bennett | Ohio St | DT |
49 | Quinten Rollins | Miami(OH) | CB |
50 | Carl Davis | Iowa | DT |
51 | AJ Cann | South Carolina | OG |
52 | Jesse James | Penn St | TE |
53 | Jake Fisher | Oregon | OT |
54 | Grady Jarrett | Clemson | DT |
55 | Ali Marpet | Hobart | OT |
56 | Daryl Williams | Oklahoma | OT |
57 | Jay Ajayi | Boise St | RB |
58 | Cody Prewitt | Ole Miss | S |
59 | Justin Hardy | East Carolina | WR |
60 | Kwon Alexander | LSU | OLB |
61 | Lorenzo Doss | Tulane | CB |
62 | Matt Jones | Florida | RB |
63 | Laken Tomlinson | Duke | OG |
64 | Clive Walford | Miami | TE |
65 | Phillip Dorsett | Miami | WR |
66 | Ty Sambrailo | Colorado St | OT |
67 | P.J. Williams | Florida St | CB |
68 | Sammie Coates | Auburn | WR |
69 | Ellis McCarthy | UCLA | DT |
70 | Henry Anderson | Stanford | DE |
71 | Devin Smith | Ohio St | WR |
72 | Ameer Abdullah | Nebraska | RB |
73 | Dres Anderson | Utah | WR |
74 | Benardrick McKinney | Mississippi St | ILB |
75 | Mario Edwards | Florida St | DE |
76 | Nelson Agholor | USC | WR |
77 | Chris Hackett | TCU | S |
78 | Lorenzo Mauldin | Louisville | OLB |
79 | Ronald Darby | Florida St | CB |
80 | Brett Hundley | UCLA | QB |
81 | Tevin Coleman | Indiana | RB |
82 | Trey Flowers | Arkansas | DE |
83 | Ifo Ekpre-Olomu | Oregon | CB |
84 | Alex Carter | Stanford | CB |
85 | Tyler Lockett | Kansas St | WR |
86 | Jalen Collins | LSU | CB |
87 | David Johnson | Northern Iowa | RB |
88 | Jaquiski Tartt | Samford | S |
89 | Joey Mbu | Houston | DT |
90 | Eric Rowe | Utah | CB/S |
91 | JaCorey Shepherd | Kansas | CB |
92 | Xavier Cooper | Washington St | DT |
93 | Derron Smith | Fresno St | S |
94 | Hauoli Kikaha | Washington | OLB |
95 | Donovan Smith | Penn St | OT |
96 | Bryce Petty | Baylor | QB |
97 | TJ Yeldon | Alabama | RB |
98 | Rashad Greene | Florida St | WR |
99 | Markus Golden | Missouri | DE/OLB |
100 | Patrick Miller | Auburn | OT |
A couple of notes:
- This year I’m not playing character police (Manziel evaluation taught me an important lesson). I’ve learned that I’m not positioned to qualify a prospects character, hence DGB being so high on this list.
- Shaq Thompson at No. 3 is going to draw more than a few comments/emails. After watching seven games from ’13 and ’14, I think he’s a special player and don’t care what position he plays.
- Why so low on the QB’s? Neither Mariota or Winston are franchise QB’s in my book. Mariota has a lot to like but his transition to the NFL is going take some time. I see him as a solid starter but not a franchise-type. Winston, remember I didn’t factor character in, is a second rounder for me. A lot to like but there’s a lot I didn’t like. For one, was his propensity to heat up in the 2nd half after abysmal 1st half performances. The coach in me says that is the offensive braintrust adjusting and scares me a bit. No doubting his physical tools. After that it’s anybody’s guess.
- D.J. Humphries might be higher on this list than others. Let me say, I’ve had a keen eye on Humphries over the last two years and like what I see. In the right scheme, I think he has a Tyron Smith-like skill set.
- Why the drop for Hauoli Kikaha? Kikaha is carrying significant medical risk, otherwise I had a solid 2nd grade on him. Until I hear otherwise, I think he’s a low risk, high reward guy in the late 3rd, early 4th round vicinity.