Post workout thoughts on combine WRs … One of the questions heading into the combine was whether Tennessee WR Jalin Hyatt rightly belonged to be grouped with the top 4-5 receivers for this year’s draft or whether he was still more a leading second-tier type. And we likely won’t know the final answer to that question, maybe even until the draft itself. If nothing else, Hyatt certainly made a strong case for the former with his combine workout earlier today as he ran a fast 4.40 40 while adding very athletic leaps of 40-inches in the vertical and 11.5′ in the LJ. Same for Boston College’s Zay Flowers who still isn’t very big – he measured in at 5-9, 192 with short 29″ arms – but he ran a 4.42 40 and dominated the drills with several NFL people commenting on how smooth and natural he was. Meanwhile, TCU’s Quenton Johnson did not run the 40, but did have an athletic 40.5-inch vertical and an 11-plus-foot LJ after measuring in at a robust 6-2.5, 208 with 33″ arms.
On the other hand, some of the other top-rated receivers weren’t able to check off as many boxes. As expected, for example, Southern Cal’s Jordan Addison isn’t all that big at just 5-11, 173 with barely 31″ arms, but I expect NFL teams were expecting way more than a 4.49 40, a 34″ vertical and a 10-foot LJ (although it was confirmed after the workout that he had to leave early after experiencing tightness in his back.) Meanwhile, if LSU’s Kayshon Boutte was hoping for a bounce at the combine after a monumentally disappointing season, he didn’t get it as he was timed in 4.50 seconds for the 40 and could only manage a less than athletic 29″ vertical. Both Josh Downs (4.48) of North Carolina and SMU’s Rashee Rice (4.51) were also probably hoping to run faster, although Downs did have a 38.5″ vertical, while Rice had a 41″ vertical and an 11-foot LJ.
We also tend to be a little reluctant to get too excited by fast times at the combine, but the two WRs that we think may have helped themslves the most were Charlie Jones from just down the road at Purdue and Cincinnati’s Tre Tucker. Both have in fact have been moving up boards around the league for awhile and just put a punctuation mark on it at the combine. Jones, another smallish receiver at 5-11, 175, for example, had a 4.44 40 clocking with a quick 1.51 split, while also chipping in a 36.5″ vertical. Tucker, for his part, gad a 4.41 40 and a 37.5″ vertical, although his size may be limiting as he is under 5-9 with sub-29″ arms. On the other hand, teams looking for a bigger body at the position might want to check out a couple of sleeper types in Matt Landers of Arkansas and Bryce Ford-Wheaton of west Virginia. Both measured in at 6-4 and both ran just under 4.4 seconds, and had impressive verticals; Landers, in particular, also caught the ball well in positional drills.
