Few surprises at day one weigh-in

February 24, 2020

Few surprises at day one combine weigh-in … The 2020 combine is now fully underway after the first group of players, including the QBs, WRs and TEs, went through their measurement session earlier today. When all was said and down with today’s data (courtesy of Steelers Depot), there really weren’t many surprises. Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa did measure in at just 6-even, about an inch shorter than his program height. And while that would almsot certainly have been a deal breaker as recently as just a few years ago, Tua’s actually taller than the two QBs (Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray) taken first overall in each of the past two drafts. Of course, the bigger test for Tagovailoa will come during the medical tests when his surgically-repaired hip gets checked out. Meanwhile, a few eyebrows were raised when LSU Joe Burrow’s hands measured in at just 9 inches. NFL teams generally prefer their elite QB passer’s hands to be closer to 10 inches so as to be better able to handle the ball in poor weather conditions. However, plenty of top NFL QBs have smaller hands so again that doesn’t appear to be much of a deal breaker. At the same time, Georgia’s Jake Fromm’s hands were even a tad smaller than Burrow’s. On the other hand, Justin Herbert of Oregon and Utah State’s Jordan Love, generally considered to be the 3rd and 4th ranked QBs in the 2020 draft class, both checked off all the boxes on weigh-in day. Herbert measured in at 6-6, 236 with 10″ hands, while Love is 6-3.5, 224 with 10.5 inch hands.

Among the WRs, there wasn’t a whole lot to choose between Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy and CeeDee Lamb of Oklahoma, the two top-rated receivers in this year’s draft class as both measured in in the 6-1, 195 range with 32″ arms and 9″ hands. in fact, none of those numbers would normally get either guy noticed in a crowd, but what sets them apart is their agility, quickness and overall receiving skills. Meanwhile, several WRs did ace the proverbial eyeball test including Clemson’s Tee Higgins who measured in at 6-3.5, 216 with an impressive 34″ wingspan which should translate into a major league catch radius. Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk, one of the rising stars of this year’s receiving group, was a little shorter than average at under 6-0 feet, but he also impressed with a 33.5″ reach. Other receivers who impressed at least in shorts, include Denzel Mims of Baylor, Texas A&M’s Kendrick Rogers, Dezmon Patton of Washington State and USC’s Michael Pittman. Texas WR Collin Johnson also looked the part at 6-5.5, 222, but NFL teams had to be a little disappointed that his reach is only 32″.  Same for Colorado’s Laviska Shenault, who weighed in at 225, but like Johnson had arms under 32 inches.

It does not appear as if 2020 is necessarily going to be a great year at TE with only Notre Dame’s Cole Kmet considered to be even close to being a first round candidate. And Kmet certainly looked the part as he measured in at 6-5.5, 262 with 33-inch arms and huge 10.5″ hands. Same for Missouri’s Albert Okwuegbunam who tipped the scales in 6-5.5, 248 with 34″ arms and 10″ hands. On the other hand, Washington’s Hunter Bryant looked more like a FB or HB as he measured in at barely 6-2, 248 and less than 32″ arms, while Harrison Bryant of Florida Atlantic also had less than 32″ arms.

Tomorrow it will be the turn of the big uglies from the offensive line to get measured.