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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Athletic testing is in full swing at the NFL Combine (here are reports from Wednesday and Thursday if you need to catch up on the week’s news). The offensive linemen, running backs and specialists take to the Lucas Oil Stadium field for athletic testing Friday evening. Meanwhile, my thoughts below on the first batch of testing numbers, some official measurements of interest, and what I’ve learned in Indianapolis over the past 24 hours.
Fastest receiver class ever?!
By the data, yes – officially. With the NFL Combine opening its doors for the first time in two years, the receivers made sure to put on an extra-special show as testing kicked off for 2021. One absurd time after another was posted, with Baylor’s Tyquan Thornton’s 4.28-second forty ultimately the fastest.
Top-20 finishes for the WR group in the 40-yard dash
| Rank | Player | School | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyquan Thornton | Baylor | 4.28 |
| 2 | Velus Jones | Tennessee | 4.31 |
| 3 | Calvin Austin III | Memphis | 4.32 |
| 4 | Alec Pierce | Cincinnati | 4.33 |
| 5 | Danny Gray | SMU | 4.33 |
| 6 | Bo Melton | Rutgers | 4.34 |
| 7 | Christian Watson | North Dakota State | 4.36 |
| 8 | Garrett Wilson | Ohio State | 4.38 |
| 9 | Chris Olave | Ohio State | 4.39 |
| 10 | Skyy Moore | Western Michigan | 4.41 |
| 11 | Isaiah Weston | Northern Iowa | 4.42 |
| 12 | Jahan Dotson | Penn Statee | 4.43 |
| 13 | Khalil Shakir | Boise State | 4.43 |
| 14 | Kevin Austin Jr. | Notre Dame | 4.43 |
| 15 | Wan’Dale Robinson | Kentucky | 4.44 |
| 16 | George Pickens | Georgia | 4.47 |
| 17 | Braylon Sanders | Mississippi | 4.48 |
| 18 | Jalen Tolbert | South Alabama | 4.49 |
| 19 | Jalen Nailor | Michigan State | 4.5 |
| 20 | Tre Turner | Virginia Tech | 4.51 |
While the receivers destroyed the forty, they interestingly didn’t fare as well in some of the other tests. As The Athletic’s Dane Brugler noted on Twitter, only two receivers had sub-7.00 three-cone times, down from 23 in 2017.
Notre Dame’s Kevin Austin Jr. ended up showing the most agility at his position with a 6.71-second three-cone. In the day’s other events, the receivers were led, respectively, by Cincinnati’s Alec Pierce in the vertical jump (40.5), North Dakota State’s Christian Watson in the broad jump (11-foot, 4-inch), and Memphis’ Calvin Austin III in the shuttle (4.07).
A trio of under-the-radar tight end prospects – Maryland’s Chig Okonkwo, Virginia’s Jelani Woods and SMU’s Grant Calcaterra – paced the field in the tight end group’s running of the 40-yard dash.
Woods’ 24 bench reps also led his position group. Woods takes home an unofficial 9.97 RAS athletic composite score from the NFL Combine – ranking No. 4 out of 941 tight ends to enter the league since 1987. His arrow is pointing up -- Woods was already a sleeper on several analyst’s lists heading into this week as a long, fluid seam-stretcher. Now we know the speed on tape was for real.
Top-10 finishes for the WR group in the 40-yard dash
| Rank | Player | School | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chig Okonkwo | Maryland | 4.52 |
| 2 | Jelani Woods | Virginia | 4.61 |
| 3 | Grant Calcaterra | SMU | 4.62 |
| 4 | Daniel Bellinger | San Diego Statee | 4.63 |
| 5 | Greg Dulcich | UCLA | 4.7 |
| 6 | Connor Heyward | Michigan State | 4.72 |
| 7 | Cole Turner | Nevada | 4.76 |
| 8 | Peyton Hendershot | Indiana | 4.8 |
| 9 | Jake Ferguson | Wisconsin | 4.81 |
| 10 | Austin Allen | Nebraska | 4.83 |
Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder posted a receiver-like athletic profile, including 4.52 speed. Ridder’s 9.54 RAS score means that he’s a 95th-percentile size-adjusted athlete at the quarterback position heading into the NFL. Sounds about right.
Top-8 finishes for the QB group in the 40-yard dash
| Rank | Player | School | 40 Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Desmond Ridder | Cincinnati | 4.52 |
| 2 | EJ Perry | Brown | 4.65 |
| 3 | Kenny Pickett | Pittsburgh | 4.73 |
| 4 | Dustin Crum | Kent State | 4.75 |
| 5 | Brock Purdy | Iowa State | 4.84 |
| 6 | Bailey Zappe | Western Kentucky | 4.88 |
| 7 | Jack Coan | Notre Dame | 4.9 |
| 8 | Skylar Thompson | Kansas State | 4.91 |
Georgia LB Nakobe Dean announced he won’t do athletic testing at the NFL Combine, while Utah LB Devin Lloyd announced he’ll do all them.
Interesting decisions from the top-two linebackers in the class. Dean is opting to do his testing during Georgia’s pro day workout on March 16. Lloyd, who aptly described his play style as “smart and nasty” during the media scrum, will hope to add “athletic” to that descriptor on Saturday. He led all inside linebackers in the nation last season with four interceptions and eight sacks.
Oregon EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux reveals his comp for himself: “I’m Jadeveon [Clowney] 2.0.”
Thibodeaux’s remarks set off some wise-cracking on Twitter, but in terms of a raw speed-to-power edge-rushing prospect coming out of school, the comparison works. Thibodeaux was quite the orator at the podium today. A veteran NFL Draft reporter near me during the session cracked under his breath that Thibs was using the session as an audition for a post-career broadcasting gig. He’ll be good at that career -- but first, let’s see how his gridiron career play out.
Iowa iOL Tyler Linderbaum measures in at 6'2/296 with 31 1/8" arms.
Per PFF’s Austin Gayle, Austin Blythe is the only NFL interior offensive linemen who has played 800+ snaps in a single-season with sub 31.5” arms over the past five years. Much was made of the revelation of Linderbaum’s arm length on social media, and within the media itself. But this was a bigger talking point for those groups today than it was for the NFL, as I reported on Friday.
You could put everyone I’ve talked to about Tyler Linderbaum into two camps
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) March 4, 2022
Either you think he’s a prodigy, or you think he’s too small
Today’s measurements won’t cause a single evaluator to flip camps
League knew what was coming, sides were taken on this issue in advance
Your opinion of Linderbaum is going to end up falling wherever you come down on the size thing. It either really matters, or it really doesn’t. It’s hard to find other nitpicks with the profile. Last season, Linderbaum had the best single-season grade for a center in PFF history, and also the best run-blocking season. In addition, his 99.1% pass-pro efficiency grade was near the top of the class, and he committed zero penalties.
Bring your shower slippers to Indianapolis, Class of 2023!
I went to the bathroom in the Convention Center and one of the offensive linemen was at the urinal in his #NFLCombine workout attire — barefoot
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) March 4, 2022
Not the life for me (but I did upgrade his efficiency and grit grades in my google doc database as I was walked back to the media room)
I’ll be in Indianapolis all week posting news, videos, and thoughts from the NFL Combine. Follow along on Twitter!
