NFL Combine Thread

Advertisement
Wonder if the Pat's will draft a QB this year. Hoping for the Buffalo QB Tyree Jackson. Year or two sitting behind Brady and learning from McDaniels.
 
His film and acumen likely can make up for it.
He is undersized at his position but actually has thump in hits and run fits and has pretty good instinct. He should be a mid rounder from 4th to 6th round.

He's a very good football player, but size alone is going to take him off boards or alter where they see him fitting in. I think he can overcome the lack of size as a pro, but I think we need to re-evaluate his ceiling considering the size limitations.
 
What does a bench press matter for a RB? Just overall upper body strength. Check the box, but doesn't mean much. Keep it moving.
For the same reason they make offensive linemen jump at the Combine. They want to see who is a physical beast who might be a diamond in the rough with good coaching. It doesn't matter, though, he ran a bad 40.
 
Athleticism doesn't matter an iota for running backs. Could be nice to find a diamond in the rough...sure...say Aaron Jones from UTEP a few years back, but then you also have Phil Lindsey, Dalvin Cook, Elijah McGuire, etc that are productive and are all below average to terrible testing athletes.
 
Advertisement
Athleticism doesn't matter an iota for running backs. Could be nice to find a diamond in the rough...sure...say Aaron Jones from UTEP a few years back, but then you also have Phil Lindsey, Dalvin Cook, Elijah McGuire, etc that are productive and are all below average to terrible testing athletes.
I have to disagree. If a 6'1" 225 lb running back puts up 34 reps on the bench and runs a 4.5 flat, every scout is taking notice. Just the size alone makes teams salivate over backs like that, look at Kalen Ballage last year in the 4th round to Miami. Guy had the measurable and didn't even start at Arizona State. And Ballage put up just 15 reps, not 34. No one has the total package unless you're talking about a Saquon type, top 10 pick. Phillip Lindsay was already 24 years old before he played a down in the league and is just 5'8" 190 lbs. That's why he went undrafted. But his sub-4.4 speed got him an invite to Broncos camp.
 
I have to disagree. If a 6'1" 225 lb running back puts up 34 reps on the bench and runs a 4.5 flat, every scout is taking notice. Just the size alone makes teams salivate over backs like that, look at Kalen Ballage last year in the 4th round to Miami. Guy had the measurable and didn't even start at Arizona State. And Ballage put up just 15 reps, not 34. No one has the total package unless you're talking about a Saquon type, top 10 pick. Phillip Lindsay was already 24 years old before he played a down in the league and is just 5'8" 190 lbs. That's why he went undrafted. But his sub-4.4 speed got him an invite to Broncos camp.

Phil Lindsey tested in the 36th percentile athletically.
 
Athleticism doesn't matter an iota for running backs. Could be nice to find a diamond in the rough...sure...say Aaron Jones from UTEP a few years back, but then you also have Phil Lindsey, Dalvin Cook, Elijah McGuire, etc that are productive and are all below average to terrible testing athletes.

I have to disagree - I think your examples undermine your point

Dalvin Cook - 210 - 4.49
Aaron Jones - 208 - 4.56
Elijah McGuire - 214 - 4.53
Philip Lindsay - 184 - 4.39

Cook & McGuire tested as average athletes, and Lindsay & Jones were excellent.

There are below average athletes at RB for sure, but almost all good RB's are also good athletes.
 
I have to disagree - I think your examples undermine your point

Dalvin Cook - 210 - 4.49
Aaron Jones - 208 - 4.56
Elijah McGuire - 214 - 4.53
Philip Lindsay - 184 - 4.39

Cook & McGuire tested as average athletes, and Lindsay & Jones were excellent.

There are below average athletes at RB for sure, but almost all good RB's are also good athletes.

Yeah, brother. Gonna need you to know what you're talking about.

Dalvin tested in the 6th percentile athletically. McGuire 19th percentile. Lindsey 34th percentile. Aaron Jones 88th percentile.

 
Phil Lindsey tested in the 36th percentile athletically.
36th percentile overall, but his pro day 40 time of 4.39 would have been second best of all running backs.

It's like anything else in life, it's better to be great at one thing than good at many. Lindsay has elite speed and shiftiness and he can catch better than most NFL backs.
 
36th percentile overall, but his pro day 40 time of 4.39 would have been second best of all running backs.

It's like anything else in life, it's better to be great at one thing than good at many. Lindsay has elite speed and shiftiness and he can catch better than most NFL backs.

Just another example of 40 time not really mattering for RBs.

Look at the results from previous athletic testing (link provided in previous post)...starters and contributors are all over the map, all rounds, all athletic profiles.
 
Advertisement
Phil Lindsey tested in the 36th percentile athletically.

His percentile is skewed because he's only 184 lbs.

40- -
Yeah, brother. Gonna need you to know what you're talking about.

Dalvin tested in the 6th percentile athletically. McGuire 19th percentile. Lindsey 34th percentile. Aaron Jones 88th percentile.


I'm not disputing these numbers, but the problems I see are:

1. They can be flawed, often by one metric. Phillip Lindsay is a good example

40 - 4.39
Vertical - 35.5"
Broad - 10'4"
3 Cone - 7.12

All are excellent numbers, but his overall percentile is totally skewed because he's only 184 lbs. That's just so far below average RB weight, and pulls his numbers down.


2. It matters where you look


I agree with you that there's are below average athlete's playing RB.

But there's no question the large majority of RB's are also good athletes - so I don't agree that athleticism doesn't matter "one iota".
 
Gerald Willis
Height: 6-1 6/8
Weight: 302
Hand: 8 4/8
Arm: 33
Wingspan: 76 4/8

Joe Jackson
Height: 6-4 2/8
Weight: 275
Hand: 10
Arm: 34 1/8
Wingspan: 80

Willis just earned some money coming in +6.1 in height.
 
Back
Top