The scouting combine is but one element of the evaluation process for any draft prospect, though it’s an incredibly important one. If you blow it in team interviews or on the field for drills, it can absolutely affect your stock. And we all have our favorite combine performers whose feats put them in a different stratosphere in the eyes of NFL teams.
With that in mind, here’s who showed out — and perhaps who should have stayed home — during the Thursday combine drills that featured quarterbacks, tight ends, and receivers.
Winners
Jalen Hurts, QB, Alabama/Oklahoma
Hurts transferred from Alabama to Oklahoma following Tua Tagovailoa’s ascent with the Crimson Tide, and put up a career yards per attempt average of 9.1, and 80 touchdowns to 20 interceptions in two of the most schematically rigorous NCAA offenses. Still, concerns about his defensive recognition and hesitation when his first read is covered will linger.
Hurts did as much as he could to eliminate those issues in Indianapolis, running a 4.59 40-yard dash — the second-fastest time for any quarterback behind Hawaii’s Cole McDonald — and showing off-season work in the passing drills.
Hurts looked good on the short and intermediate throws that required timing and anticipation, but I was especially impressed by his ability to throw deep balls with touch, arc, timing, and accuracy. There are those who will tell you that Hurts could succeed in a dual role like a Taysom Hill. I think Hurts has developed beyond that. He may not be an immediate starter, but Hurts has the potential to put it all together in more than a gimmicky future.
Chase Claypool. WR/TE, Notre Dame
On Monday, Claypool measured at 6-foot-4 and 238 pounds, with a 9 7/8″ hand size, 32 4/8″ arm length, and an 80-inch wingspan. Claypool’s body type has a lot of NFL people thinking of moving him to a “Y” tight end, removed from the formation in a Travis Kelce style.
“I really haven’t put a lot of thought into that because I’ve been a receiver this whole time,” Claypool said this week. “But it’s something that I think could add versatility to my game. Right now, I’m just focused on being the best receiver I can be.”
Well, it worked out on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, as Claypool ran a 4.42 40-yard dash and put together a 40.5-inch vertical jump and a 126-inch broad jump. This particular statistic puts Claypool’s evening in perspective.
If you’re in Megatron’s class, that’s a good landmark going forward.
Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR, Michigan
The combine worked out very well for Peoples-Jones, who caught 103 passes for 1,327 yards and 14 touchdowns over three years for the Wolverines in a limited passing offense. While he struggled to gain separation on the field, Peoples-Jones set himself apart with his measurements on this field.
This won’t eliminate the questions about his game tape, but it’ll have people talking more about him as more than a career backup.
Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU
Before he ran his drills on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, Justin Jefferson got a little moral support from his quarterback — a guy whose name may be familiar.
Yeah, well, it worked. Jefferson, who exploded in 2019 with 111 catches for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns in LSU’s national championship campaign last season, continued that momentum with a 4.43 40-yard dash at 6-foot-1 and 202 pounds. He also posted a 37.5-inch vertical jump and a 126-inch broad jump.
Moreover, Jefferson was aggressive and definitive when making his catches, especially in the gauntlet drill. Jefferson came into this environment with an obvious confidence that permeated his performance, and he likely made himself some money tonight, because everything you saw in the drills transfers to the tape.
Denzel Mims, WR, Baylor
At 6-foot-3 and 207 pounds, Mims established himself through four years at Baylor as one of the most aggressive deep threats and blocking receivers in the nation. He caught 186 passes for 2,925 yards and 28 touchdowns, and though the drop rate spoke to some focus issues through his collegiate career, there was no questioning his focus during the combine drills. Mims had a 38.5-inch vertical leap and a 10’11” broad jump, and both of his 40 times were in the 4.4 radius. Mims will have to develop his route tree beyond slants and go routes at the NFL level, but he did a lot to establish his athletic potential here in Indianapolis — especially after his strong Senior Bowl week.
Losers
Tee Higgins, WR, Clemson
So, this was interesting. Higgins, who caught 135 passes for 2,448 yards and 27 touchdowns in his three years with the Tigers, said during his combine media session that he was excited to run the 40-yard dash in particular.
“My goal is to hit a 4.4.,” Higgins said. “A lot of guys think I’m going to run a 4.5 or 4.6 but I’m excited to change people’s minds.”
And then… this happened.
So, resting over testing? Either something popped up in Higgins’ medical evaluation that precluded him from doing the drills, or he’ll have some ‘splainin’ to do when it comes to the reason for his change of mind. Higgins did have a scary hit from Ohio State safety Jordan Fuller in the Fiesta Bowl, and he was placed in the concussion protocol. Higgins later said that he injured his ankle, but he was good to roll against LSU in the College Football Championship, catching three passes for 52 yards and taking a run 36 yards for a touchdown in Clemson’s 42-25 loss. It’s odd that Higgins, who I believe is one of the best contested-catch receivers in this class, would have this reason for not doing the drills, and we’ll have to see if the actual cause goes any deeper.
Jake Fromm, QB, Georgia
Perhaps it’s less that Fromm was a “loser,” per se — during the throwing drills that featured short-to-intermediate accuracy and anticipation, Fromm was right on target as one would expect from one of the smarter and more thorough quarterbacks in this draft class. But Fromm wasn’t convincing when it was time to hurl the deep ball, and that’s a problem that has followed him through his collegiate career. When he wasn’t slightly overthrowing his targets on deep balls (which is more common among weaker-armed quarterbacks than you might think — look at some of Alex Smith’s career overthrows), Fromm was throwing deep balls that forced his targets to slow down to catch them. Those are generally interceptions or incompletions in the NFL.
Mitchell Wilcox, TE, USF
It is not easy to run the gauntlet drill. You are moving your head and hands to your left and your right, trying to bring in quick, timed passes while running (hopefully) in a straight line. Any variance in geometry or timing can be very bad, as USF tight end Mitch Wilcox discovered when this football beaned him right in the head.
Wilcox ran a 4.88 40-yard dash and struggled with drops, but this is what we’re sadly going to remember. Unfortunately, Wilcox might not remember it as well.
Shake it off, kid. As John Wooden once said, “Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”
Jacob Eason, QB, Washington
Nobody was surprised that Eason was great with the deep ball — that’s been his stock in trade, and in that particular realm, he’s able to hit receivers with timing and anticipation. But what also showed up on tape, and in the drills in Indianapolis, is that Eason tends to become more of a “see it and throw it” guy at the short and intermediate levels, especially when quick timing is the order of the day.
You want to see development in this area, especially for a quarterback who, per Pro Football Focus, had a 91.7 passing grade with a clean pocket, and a 37.6 grade when pressured. Eason looks the part if you like a big quarterback at 6-foot-6 and 231 pounds, but too many of the things that make him a tough evaluation on the field showed up here.
Everyone who had to run the new fade drill
One of the new drills this year challenged quarterbacks to throw fade routes to receivers. The fade is a very tough throw to make, and to catch. It requires patience and timing from both quarterback and receiver. There are plenty of college programs where you don’t ever see a fade, and that showed up as everyone tried to attempt it.
Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar previously covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018 and won the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Nelson Ross Award for “Outstanding recent achievement in pro football research and historiography.”
