Saturday was a bit of a let down after the WRs impressed on day one and the offensive line impressed on day two with almost all of the top prospects at those positions deciding to compete in the physical testing. DE Chase Young and DT Javon Kinlaw, two of the premiere players, didn’t participate. Also among the notable players that either didn’t participate at all or only participated in some events were; K’Lavon Chaisson, Yetur Gross-Matos, Terrell Lewis, Curtis Weaver, Julian Okwara, Troy Dye and Josh Uche. Some of these were due to injury and some just decided to wait until their pro days to workout. Add in the fact that Isaiah Simmons pulled out after running one forty and both Kenneth Murray and Patrick Queen pulling up lame with hamstring injuries after their second fortys and there was a lot of star power sitting on the sidelines during the workouts. There were some impressive moments but overall Saturday was a bit disappointing.
Defensive Tackle
- Derrick Brown has been considered the top DT prospects in this draft since he announced last year he was returning to Auburn and he has done nothing but solidify that spot all year long. He didn’t need to workout in Indy but he did and he looked very impressive. He’s 6’5 326 lbs. and moves like a guy who’s 250 lbs. He’s smooth, he’s powerful and he should be a top five pick. He might not be because other positions get valued more than DT but he should be a top five pick.
- Javon Kinlaw didn’t workout in Indy and he was the only guy who could have competed with Brown for the top DT spot. That chance is over, regardless of how he works out at a pro day. Kinlaw is a top 15 pick but he can’t catch Brown after Brown’s performance.
- If you are trying to figure out who the #3 DT is in this class that puts you in the same boat as every talent evaluator in the NFL. There are three viable options and if you ask all 32 NFL teams you will get a pretty even split between Oklahoma’s Neville Gallimore, TCU’s Ross Blacklock and Auburn’s Marlon Davidson.
- Gallimore is the shorter guy with the quick first step who doesn’t always use it to his advantage. Blacklock is the athletic one who doesn’t seem to possess the power to anchor but can collapse the pocket on passing downs. Davidson is the guy who looks like a DT but plays better on the end. He fits best on the end of a three-man line and not as a pure pass rushing DE.
- The only other DT of note is Texas A&M’s Justin Madubuike. He’s a bit lean and he relies quite a bit on his ability to slip through gaps and isn’t known for his power. He actually put up 31 reps on the bench press but you don’t see him using that type of power on the field. It sort of feeds into the narrative that the bench press isn’t a great measurement for a guy’s power on the football field.
Defensive Ends
- Chase Young had no reason to workout in Indy and after the showing by the DE group as a whole he only solidified his spot well above the rest of the group. He is as clean of a prospect as there is and barring a catastrophic event (I’m talking him losing a leg in a shark attack type of event), he’s a top three pick at worst.
- The one guy who had any chance of closing the gap between himself and Young was Iowa’s AJ Epenesa and that chance vanished in exactly 5.04 seconds. That was Epenesa’s forty time and while no one expected Epenesa to be fast that time was disappointing. He rebounded during the on field drills and looked fairly quick and smooth. He’s still the second best DE in the class but that has as much to do with the rest of the class either sitting out or not looking impressive at all. Epenesa cost himself any shot at going in the top 10 and he’s probably looking at going somewhere between 20-30 but it’s all going to depend on the right team wanting him. He’s a power rusher, not a speed rusher and while teams are looking for speed, a pass rusher is a pass rusher however they get there.
- The DE class overall isn’t overly impressive and with Yetur Gross-Matos and K’Lavon Chaisson not working out it got real thin. Gross-Matos and Chaisson are both still raw and Chaisson is undersized and probably fits better as a pass rushing OLB than a true DE.
- One impressive physical speciman at the combine was Florida’s Jabari Zuniga. He’s 6’3 264 lbs. and looks like he was chiseled out of granite. He ran an impressive 4.64 in the forty and had 29 reps on the bench press. All of these physical gifts are nice but it makes his play all the more frustrating because while he will flash with an impressive pass rush one minute he then disappears for a too long of a stretch. He has had some injury history that works against him and he really struggles against the run but if someone drafts him to be a pass rushing specialist he could be a double digit sack guy.
- There are two other DEs I liked at the combine and both tested out physically better than I thought they would but neither of them will get drafted because of their physical gifts. Michigan St.’s Kenny Willikes and North Dakota St.’s Derrek Tuszka are two guys who’s motors run constantly. They are the opposites of Zuniga in the fact that they don’t usually make the flashy play but they are never far from the action. Opponents never forget about these two as they are constantly fighting to make a play even if they don’t get there. Willikes is a second day (2nd or 3rd round) pick while Tuszka is more a sleeper that should be moving a up a bit after a good showing in Indy.
Linebackers
- This was supposed to be the Isaiah Simmons show and it was, it was just a very short show. Simmons ran the forty in 4.39 seconds and then dropped the mic and walked away. There was no reported injury issue he apparently just felt like that’s all he needed to do, and he was right. Simmons is a special type of talent who could play about five different positions on defense at a Pro Bowl level. He should be a top five pick like Brown, unfortunately like DT, LB isn’t valued as much either so he may not make the top five. Wherever he goes, he’s a good bet to be the Defensive Rookie of the Year next season.
- The LB group got even thinner for the on field drills after top prospect Kenneth Murray and Patrick Queen both pulled up with hamstring issues during their second forty runs (Simmons looks like even more of a genius not running a second time). Simmons, Murray and Queen are the only three legitimate LBs who should go in the first round of the draft (not counting pass rushing OLBs like K’Lavon Chaisson or Zack Baun). While neither Queen nor Murray are as fast as Simmons they both ran blazing fast fortys; Queen 4.50 and Murray 4.52.
- Having so many pass rushing OLB prospects sit out the workouts (Chaisson, Terrell Lewis, Josh Uche and Curtis Weaver) left it open for a guy like Wisconsin’s Zack Baun to show out. He ran 4.65 and looked good overall. That is going to help him on draft day, along with his versatility. Baun can rush the passer like those other guys and he offers better pure LB skills than those guys. Those other four have to be pass rushers to be useful defenders while Baun can do more in coverage and as a run stopper.
- Two LBs who came into the combine needing a good showing due to some off the field issues were LSU’s Michael Divinity and Mississippi St.’s Willie Gay Jr, and boy did they go opposite directions. Divinity was suspended for a multitude of reasons and missed most of his senior year. Gay was suspended for some academic improprieties and while he did get to play his last year he didn’t start a single game. Divinity went out and ran a 4.85 forty and showed very little physically. Gay ran a 4.46 and absolutely balled out in the testing and drills. These are two guys with similar issues, similar physical profiles and they show exactly where the value in the combine lies. Gay just earned himself a shot at getting drafted, making a team and having a future in the NFL. Divinity just punched his ticket to the XFL. Having the opportunity to evaluate players side-by-side is exactly what the combine is all about.
The final day of the combine will feature the defensive backs. Jeff Okudah is the top CB and there is no way any of the other guys pass him, the real fight will be who is the second best CB. At safety, Grant Delpit will try to impress after having a bit of a slow year while Xavier McKinnie of Alabama will show his myriad of skills and probably confuse even more teams about whether he’s a CB or a safety.
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