2018 Scouting Combine: DL and LB weigh-in review

March 2, 2018

While most of the interest in the scouting combine in Indianapolis today was transfixed on the on-field workouts of the offensive linemen and running backs, there was actually a lot of other stuff going on including the bench press for the QBs and receivers as well as the weigh-in process for the defensive linemen and LBs. Fact is that nobody much cares how much QBs and WRs can lift, but there were some interesting revelations at the weigh-in for the defensive front seven guys.

Among the defensive linemen, for example, the top prospects were pretty much able to check off all the boxes. NC State DE Bradley Chubb, a potential top 5 prospect this year, for example, measured in at 6-4.5 and 270 with the nice long arms (34 inches) that NFL types like in their 4-3 DEs. Meanwhile, Washington DT Vita Vea, who is starting to get some top 10 notice himself, was absolutely huge at 6-4, 347 with 10-inch hands, although his arms, at 32.5 inches, were a little shorter than ideal. Stanford DT Harrison Phillips also more than passed the eyeball test as he measured in at 6-3, 307, as much as ten pounds more than expected, with 34-inch arms and huge (10.5”) mitts.

A couple of other edge rushers also helped themselves with their physical dimensions at Friday’s weigh-in. In fact, a pretty good case could be made that no defensive lineman did more for his status than Kansas ER Dorance Armstrong. At 6-3.5, 257, Armstrong was bigger than expected and he impressed with an arm measurement of almost 35 inches as well as 10” hands. Florida State DE Josh Sweat also impressed as he checked in at 6-4.5 and 251 pounds and with 34.5” arms and 10” hands.

Meanwhile, its likely that neither of ERs Ade Aruni of Tulane and Old Dominion’s Bunmi Rotini still aren’t household names even in their own homes, much less scouting circles. However, both had people sitting up and taking notice at today’s weigh-in. Aruna checked in at 6-4.5 and 262 with 34” arms and 10.5” hands. At the same time, Rotini measured in at 6-3, 273 with almost 35” arms.

On the other hand, it may not have been the best day for a number of other highly rated edge rushers. LSU DE Arden Key, for example, weighed just 238 pounds, which may be too light for the position at the next level forcing him to find a niche as a 3-4 OLB; Key’s arms, at 33.5”, were also a tad shorter than NFL teams usually look for in an elite edge rusher, although he does have pretty good length at 6-4.5, plus he has good-sized hands at 10”. Boston College’s Harold Landry also appeared to be more of a tweener as he checked in at just 6-2.5 and 252 pounds, plus he has arms under 33”. Same story for Hercules Matafa of Washington whose arms measured only 31.5 inches which is very short for an edge rusher, although he also has really big hands of over 10”. Lack of prototype length also could be an issue for rising Arkansas State ER Javon Roland-Jones who measured in at under 6-2 with less than 33” arms, although like the others in this group does have big hands at over 10”.

NFL teams will also have to figure out where Florida DT Taven Bryan is going to fit at the next level. In particular, at 6-5, 291, Bryan is awfully lean for an interior DT so he may to find a role as a 3-4 DE if he can’t bulk up. Same story for Michigan DT Mo Hurst who was a little bigger than expected at 292 pounds, but he’s still a tweener at 6-1, with short arms (32”).  It was also something of a mixed bag for Texas-San Antonio DE Marcus Davenport who has excellent length at 6-5.5 and 264 pounds, but his arms were under 34” and he has just 9” hands.

At the same time, the best looking group among the LBs were edge rushing OLBs including Virginia Tech’s Tremaine Edwards, Lorenzo Carter of Georgia, Leighton VanderEsch of Boise State, South Carolina State’s Darius Leonard, and Florida State’s Jacob Pugh, all of whom looked the part. On the other hand, Shaun Hamilton of Alabama and Indiana’s Tegray Scales disappointed a little. Hamilton measured in at under 6-0 and 228 pounds with just 31” arms, while Scales had arms under 31” and hands under 9”.