It really is on to Indy; buzz building … OK, so it is still three weeks away but the next key date on the draft calendar is the last day in February when the first group of players arrive in Indianapolis for the start of the annual scouting combine. The actual testing this year runs from March 1st thru the 7th with the first group of players, including the QBs and WRs, on the field for their physical testing and positional drills on March 4th.
In the meantime, NFL personnel departments around the league generally take a break over the next week or so to allow their scouts, many of whom have been on the road for weeks, a few days to rest, recharge and reconnect with their families. Then teams will be reassembling in their respective war rooms to put together their preliminary draft boards and identify which players they want to focus on at the combine and pro days which start right after.
Needless to say, we’ll likely see a lot more movement on those boards after the combine, and to a lesser extent the pro days; however, there are some rumblings of some possible shifts at this time. There are some whispers around the league, for example, that there could be growing concerns about Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeaux and LSU CB Derek Stingley as possible top 5 candidates. Nobody really questions their athletic ability which is pretty much off the charts for both players. However, there are red flags about some of their intangibles and work ethic. Thibodeaux, for example, for all is physical talent seldom dominated on a consistent basis; plus he’s kind of a renaissance guy with interests outside football. At the same time, Stingley had a great freshman year in 2019 when he did look like a future All-Pro, but didn’t do much the following two campaigns, although injuries did play a part there.
In fact, there is reportedly more than one team out there which actually has Cincinnati’s Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner as the #1 CB on their board. Time will tell. Meanwhile, there also seems to be a growing buzz that NC State G/T Ikem Ekwonu should be in the top grouping on the board along with the likes of Alabama OT Evan Neal, Michigan DE Aidan Hutchinson and Notre Dame S Kyle Hamilton. As we said, time will tell.
Several reports from last week’s Senior Bowl indicated that the guy who maybe got the biggest boost out of Mobile was Florida State DE Jermaine Johnson whose stock may be climbing closer to the top ten. Same for Georgia DE Trayvon Walker who likely has also moved into the top 10-15 range. He never put up huge numbers at UGA, in part because they moved him around a lot, but he has the kind of length, athleticism and motor that teams are always looking for in an edge rusher. At the same time, a couple of other names to watch as potential rising first rounder are Washington CB Kyler Gordon and Georgia ILB Quay Walker.
And while most mock drafts these days have Jacksonville taking a DE with the #1 pick overall; however, the buzz out of the Jags’ organization is that they would really prefer to find some help for rookie QB Trevor Lawrence, the top pick last year. In fact, given their druthers, it appears the Jaguars would really like to add a big-time receiver to the arsenal. However, given that it doesn’t appear that there will be any WRs worth the top pick, the Jags have let it be known that the top pick is available for trade. And if they stay at #1 nobody should be surprised if the Jags settle on an offensive lineman, either Neal or Ekwonu.
