As usual my first comment while watching Day 1 of the Combine was WOW! It seems like in today’s sports world of outstanding athleticism, records are broken on a daily basis and while many athletes just confirm their physical greatness, many more come out of the woodwork with their ability. And so it went hour after hour last night. Many players confirmed their athleticism, a few fell short of expectations, while others exceeded my expectations and made me think my TOP 100 just got harder to limit to 100.
Let’s start with the young man who had talent evaluators just waiting to see what his numbers were really going to be. And most of them thinking that these recent comparisons being made between CALIJAH KANCEY and AARON DONALD were going to go up in smoke after a couple of workouts. NOT THE CASE AT ALL, regarding the latter expectation. Count me in, in case you haven’t been paying attention to my comments in recent weeks, as one of those Draftniks who dared to put CLANCY’s name in the same sentence as AARON DONALD. There I did it again. And I was at the Señor Bowl in 2013 when DONALD was a Weigh-In Winner of sorts when he measured 6′ and a fraction, and weighed 283 lbs. There were still a lot of doubters in the stands as he stood out in practices, but only a handful of talent evaluators who seriously considered him a First Round pro prospect. Now he’s a Pro Bowler, a Defensive MVP, and has been voted by his peers as the NFL’s top defensive player for multiple years. Can’t happen again? It may not be likely, but KANCEY sure boosted his stock on Thursday in Indy.
His 4.67/40 raised eyebrows. His 6’1/281 measurements allayed fears that he was too small to compete in the pro game. And if you grab the game film he was a dominant force at PITT in his Junior/final season. He explodes at the snap and get’s even lower than his height to get under blockers, and into the backfield. He may not have bulk, but he is functionally strong. And his quickness will allow him to shoot small gaps and avoid some blockers. Thank you to the ESPN research people for these numbers that I am about to repeat here, comparing KANCEY & DONALD, and their Combine numbers.
KANCEY DONALD
40-time 4.67 4.68
HGT 6’1 ” 6′ 3/4″
WGT 281 285
Hand 9 1/8″ 9 7/8″
IMO, just about all KANCEY needs to do in the next two months, is convince NFL Personnel people that he has the desire and heart to make it all happen for him on the football field. This guy might make it into Round One in April, and he might be the “next” DONALD. I will continue to think that until I see too many flaws in KANCEY, if they exist, I will continue to compare him to DONALD heading forward..
It was exciting to see Georgia’s NOLAN SMITH explode at the workouts Thursday night as well. SMITH lost most of the 2022 football season to a pectoral muscle injury in September. The COMBINE was his first actual on-field work since that injury, at least in front of talent evaluators’ eyes. And he did not disappoint. His preliminary numbers posted in Indy clearly put him back in Round One of the next Draft. He posted the fastest 40-time of the day from all the DL/ER/LB participants, at an official time of 4.39 seconds.
So just in case you haven’t come across this yet here is a list of the Top 9 fastest 40-times recorded on Thursday.
NOLAN SMITH ER/OB 6’2/238 4.39/40 1.52/split 41.5″ Vert
OWEN PAPPOE LB 6’0/225 4.39/40 1.52/split 35.5″ Vert
TRENTON SIMPSON LB 6’2/235 4.43/40 1.55/split DNP
BYRON YOUNG OB/ER 6’2/250 4.43/40 1.62/split 38″ Vert
YASIR ABDULLAH LB 6’1/237 4.47/40 1.56/split 36.5″ Vert
ROBERT BEAL DE/ER 6’4/247 4.48/40 1.82/split 30″ Vert
ADE ADEBAWORE DL/ER 6’2/282 4.49/40 1.61/split 37.5″ Vert
DEE WINTERS ILB 5’11/227 4.49/40 1.56/split 30.5″ Vert
DORIAN WILLIAMS OLB 6’1/228 4.49/40 1.54/split 33.5″ Vert
To me the most amazing of these excellent numbers was from the 282 lb. ADEBAWORE of NORTHWESTERN. With all that weight, packed on a 6’2″ frame his numbers blow away everyone else on this list. As the Combine was approaching there had been rumblings about how much ADE was going to impress this week. The heaping of praise for him to my ears was started by JIM NAGY back during Senior Bowl week. His versatility is going to be a boon to some NFL Defense next Fall. He can edge rush, he can drop into shallow coverage, he is strong and fast. Check out his entire workout sheet from yesterday.
ADEBAMORE DL/ER 6’2/282 10 1/2″ Hand 33 7’8″ Arms 4.49/40 1.61/split 37 1/2″V 10’5″BJ
And his play in pads reflects all of these traits/numbers. At the least he’s early in Round 2, with a chance that some team grabs him in the late First Round.
The second most impressive player to me, who I did not expect to excel, was YASIR ABDULLAH/LB/Louisville
His stat line was:
6’1/237 9 1/4″ Hands 32 3’8″ Arms 4.47/40 1.56/split 36 1/2″ Vert 10’9″ BJ
And this is a guy who I never “scouted” on film last season. Oops… time to head back and do some homework on him. There must be a couple of NFL Scouts out there who turned in very high grades on him and felt he could be a great early Day 3 sleeper Pick. Now we are all moving him up near the Top 100. Sorry guys.
Some miscellaneous group numbers for you to consider:
DL Group had 23 players in it. 18 of them ran their 40’s. 8 of them ran sub-5.00/40’s.
EGE Group included 35 players. 19 of them ran their 40’s. 9 of those were sub-4.60.
LB Group included 27 players. 20 of them ran their 40’s. 13 of them were sub-4.60.
Gotta head on over to my my TV and start watching the DB Groups on Day Two of the COMBINE.
Hope to post some thoughts for you on those guys later tonight if the numbers come in quickly enough.
Cheers, and enjoy your Combine viewing.
Cheers
Pigskin
