Editor’s Note: Now, all our premium tools for Fantasy, DFS and Betting are included in one subscription at one low price. Customers can subscribe to NBC Sports EDGE+ monthly ($9.99) or save 20% on an annual subscription ($95.88). And don’t forget to use promo code SAVE10 to get 10% off. Click here to learn more!
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The first day of prospect interviews at the NFL Combine brought a few pieces of legitimate news. Let’s hit on them with some thoughts.
Liberty QB Malik Willis announced he won’t test athletically at the NFL Combine.
But Willis said he’ll throw. Honestly, I was surprised by both developments. If Willis was going to sit out one or the other, I would have bet that he would have sat out the throwing. He was the Senior Bowl’s best thrower by margin — in individual drills, in team drills, in the pocket and out of it — and he also shattered the Senior Bowl’s record for mph ball-velocity tracking. The NFL knows he’ll have top-10 arm strength immediately at the next level. Willis has nothing more to prove in this area. His athleticism hasn’t been quantified in cold data recently. Everyone understands that Willis is very athletic… but I don’t think they realize the extent of the physical package we’re talking about here. The comparison I see most often is Jalen Hurts — as the country’s foremost comp connoisseur, let me say for the record that I hate this comp! They do not play like each other, their college situations were nothing alike (Hurts played with some of the most talent of any quarterback entering the NFL of the past 25 years, Willis some of the least, Hurts was an intermediate timing thrower, Willis was a deep-ball hunter), Hurts’ arm does not compare to Willis, and Hurts is not the legitimate super-freak of an athlete that Willis is. They have similar-ish builds, and Willis runs with Hurts-is power — that’s it. My hopes of having this false-conflation squashed were delayed by Willis today… returning to the topic of my surprise by his revelation at the podium. Because while the perception is that, athletically, Willis is Jalen Hurts after a pot or two of coffee, he’s actually the right-handed Michael Vick. It’s the only comp that fits. Willis proved in Mobile that he has a Vick-like long-range rifle. This week he had a chance to prove the other half of my thesis and further surge his stock, but decided not to. And that was curious. He ran a reported 4.37 forty during his days at Auburn at a similar size to Vick (and perhaps a few pounds heavier). But don’t lose hope on the Willis forty front. As I noted from the floor of the NFL Combine in our NBC Sports Edge wrap-up video this afternoon with Eric Froton, Willis had a sly grin on his face when he said, unprompted, that he might run at Liberty’s pro day. To me, you only say that, with that facial expression, if the decision has already been made. Especially coming from, anecdotally, the day’s winner from the media in the categories of “charm” and “authenticity.” Get your popcorn ready for March 22, friends.
What should we make of Malik Willis' decision to forgo running drills at the #NFLCombine? @thorku and @CFFroton weigh in. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/OFGuKKgZoZ
— Rotoworld Football (@rotoworld_fb) March 2, 2022
Mississippi QB Matt Corral said he’s throwing at 100% coming off his high-ankle sprain at the end of the 2021 season.
During a media session where he appeared at-ease and confident, Corral explained that he just began throwing and running without pain “about two and a half weeks ago.” And he “just thought it would be smart to sit out” and wait to throw at Mississippi’s March 24 pro day. This was a slightly disappointing development, as Corral is the only relevant quarterback prospect whose pre-draft process hasn’t started yet. Now, it appears that the on-field start of his process has been deferred to a one-off scenario later this month. But if Corral and his team of reps felt like he was still knocking off some rust, there was no need to push it and put bad throws against air on tape.
Nevada QB Carson Strong says he has untapped throwing power that he’s discovering now that he can fully drive off his right leg.
Strong has been working with QB coach Jordan Palmer during the pre-draft process. Not only can Palmer help Strong with his lower-body mechanics, but Strong has a healthy lower-body for the first time in over a year. Which brings us to our next note…
...Strong says his doctors have cleared his knee as he awaits results from the NFL Combine’s medical checks.
During the NFL Combine’s medical testing process, all 32 organizations’ doctors are given access to Strong. He’d recently underwent his testing and so did not know their individual opinions. But he said his medical team has completely cleared the knee long-term. He played without a knee brace in the regular season finale, and did so again at the Senior Bowl, an event where he was moving around better than I’d seen him at Nevada. Strong underwent knee surgery and rushed back early on his recovery timeline to start the 2021 regular season for Nevada. To do so, he had to wear a knee press to suppress swelling. The brace and the compromised knee hindered his plant leg, leading to a lot of mostly-arm throws on his 2021 tape. Strong’s knee injury is invariably painted as a huge red flag in his evaluation. In another way of looking at it, it may — just playing Devil’s advocate here — be a red herring. Because if the knee issue is a thing of the past, and we know that the knee issue directly compromised his mobility, hindered his ability to drive the ball, and arguably led to some of his issues throwing under duress, then removing that one variable is going to magically make him a better player. He’s a really interesting thought experiment. And it doesn’t feel like evaluators are going to the trouble yet.
Alabama WR Jameson Williams says he’s ahead of schedule in his recovery from a torn ACL in the National Championship against Georgia on Januar 10.
“I’m six weeks out of surgery,” he said. “I’ve been walking well. Walking without the brace for about two weeks, walking without the crutches for about three weeks. Everything’s been going well. I’ve just recently been getting in the pool, doing some running motions. Everything’s just been going good, really.” Williams was then asked point-blank if he’ll be ready for training camp in July — and really, this is why I was at his session, to hear how he would answer this question. He made zero proclamations, didn’t even toss out a soft timetable, instead offering that he’s hopeful he’ll be ready to participate, but that he won’t push it. And even though that isn’t the sexy answer, it’s the right one, and the correct stance. Hopefully his new franchise won’t have any illusions on the front-end about that time-line. You’re certainly going to see Jameson Williams on the field in 2022. We just can’t guarantee right now that it’ll be in Week 1. Statistically the nation’s most vaunted deep-threat in 2021, Williams’ injury will likely cost him the WR1 designation. But depending on how his medicals look he could be available for a sticker-price discount for something that doesn’t end up effecting his career all that much. Williams confirmed he’s recently met with the Patriots. Speaking of that…
Alabama WR John Metchie also says he recently met with the Patriots.
New England badly need receiver help. And it’s no surprise at all that they’re sniffing around the alma matter of starting QB Mac Jones. While Jameson Williams didn’t overlap with Jones at Bama — Williams was languishing behind Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba on a vaunted Ohio State receiving corps during Jones’ run to the national title — Mr. Metchie most certainly did. Not only that, but Metchie spoke at Combine podium about the similarities in offensive philosophies between Alabama and New England. Could Metchie be reunited with Jones in New England?
I’ll be in Mobile all week posting thoughts and videos live from Senior Bowl practices. Follow along on Twitter!
