NFL Combine Thursday Recap: Justin Jefferson, Denzel Mims win the night

Despite Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa watching from the sidelines, the first night of NFL Scouting Combine did not disappoint, with the quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends putting on a show in prime time.

Despite Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa watching from the sidelines, the first night of NFL Scouting Combine did not disappoint, with the quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends putting on a show in prime time.

When it is all said and done, the combine represents a small piece of the evaluation pie. However, observing prospects in person performing the same drills one after another is extremely valuable when gauging their overall athleticism and movement skills.

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And from my perch in section 113, I had a great view of the drills — both the athletic testing and the position-specific drills. Here are my thoughts after spending seven hours in the stands at Lucas Oil Stadium Thursday night:

Wide receivers

In my eyes, the most impressive workout (regardless of position) was LSU’s Justin Jefferson (6-1, 202). He turned in a 4.43 40-yard dash which was about .10 seconds better than expected. He isn’t a burner on tape, but he isn’t slow either — his speed falls somewhere in the middle, relying more on nuanced route-running to attack coverage and create separation. I also thought Jefferson had the best performance in the fieldwork, especially the gauntlet, showing outstanding athleticism, focus and finishing skills. For some receivers, catching the football just comes naturally and that might be the best way to describe Jefferson’s receiving skills. It is tough to see him falling out of the top-25 picks.

A receiver who isn’t being talked about enough is Baylor’s Denzel Mims (6-3, 207) because of the momentum he has created during the process. After an outstanding week at the Senior Bowl, he entered the combine looking to separate himself in this crowded wide receiver group and he did exactly that with his workout. NFL scouts timed him in the low 4.3s and he ran the best three-cone of the night (6.66), posting great jumps with a 38.5-inch vertical and 10-11 broad jump. He also looked very comfortable catching the ball on downfield routes. Even his bench press had scouts buzzing – 16 reps may seem ordinary, but when you factor in his 34-inch arms, that is quite an impressive number. It is tough to project these receivers because it’s a crowded group, but I expect him to be drafted in the top-50 picks.

I’ve been going into the stadium to watch live workouts for a few years and when Alabama’s Henry Ruggs (5-11, 188) stepped to the 40-yard dash line, it was the first time I saw everyone in the stadium stop what they were doing to watch a drill. And Ruggs didn’t disappoint with times ranging in the 4.22-4.27 in the 40-yard dash. Unfortunately, that was the only drill he performed, bowing out due to a right quad injury (not considered serious).

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Can we stop the tight end chatter with Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool (6-4, 238)? He was blazing on the track with times in the low 4.4’s in the 40-yard dash, also jumping well with a 40.5-inch vertical. He fought the ball a little bit in the gauntlet drill, but he tracked it well over his shoulder and had an above-average workout. With his unique skill set, the special teams coach for the team that drafts him will be begging to make him a regular on coverages, taking advantage of his speed and toughness (25 tackles in college). Claypool was expected to test well and he didn’t disappoint, cementing his status as a top-75 pick in this draft class.

An underrated underclassman, Southern Miss’ Quez Watkins (6-0, 185) had a solid workout. Not only did he burn up the track in the 40-yard dash (4.35), but he was clean and fast in the gauntlet and caught everything his way, showing quick, natural hands. If LSU’s Jefferson was the best I saw in the gauntlet, Watkins was a close second, using his 33-inch arms to easily snare throws away from his body. Although not a household name, he was absolutely one of the winners at the receiver position. Stock up.

There is a lot to like about Colorado’s Laviska Shenault (6-1, 227), but there are two main questions about his NFL transition: durability and route speed. Based on his play, he looked like a mid-4.5 athlete and that’s right around where he ran in the 40-yard dash (officially a 4.58). Despite those questions, Shenault has rare instincts when the ball is in his hands and that is not something that necessarily shows in a setting like this.

Another prospect riding the wave of a positive draft process is Memphis’ Antonio Gibson (6-0, 228) – and that momentum continued Thursday night. He ran a 4.39 in the 40-yard dash and did a really nice job catching the ball with his hands. We will see if Gibson continues that momentum tomorrow with the running back drills, which is the position many believe to be his best spot in the NFL.

Texas’ Devin Duvernay (5-11, 200) had a great time in the 40-yard dash (4.39), but I thought he looked inconsistent adjusting to throws on fades and sideline throws. He might be a tad limited with the way you get him the ball compared to other pass-catchers, but he can be dynamic once the ball is in his hands. It was the exact opposite for Wisconsin’s Quintez Cephus (6-1, 202), who ran both of his 40’s in the mid-4.7’s. He was also very wild in his routes, but you could see his basketball background with the way he attacked the football, adjusting and securing with his hands.

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Quarterbacks

The two quarterbacks battling for the QB3 designation were impressive Thursday night, effortlessly zipping the ball around the field. Both Oregon’s Justin Herbert (6-6, 236) and Utah State’s Jordan Love (6-4, 224) stayed calm with their feet and balanced in their set-up to unleash short, intermediate and deep throws, particularly impressing on the smoke and corner routes. Nothing happened Thursday night that will change your opinion of either quarterback from 24 hours ago – both were outstanding. And with Tagovailoa’s injury uncertainty, do not be surprised if either Herbert or Love is the second quarterback drafted.

With Washington’s Jacob Eason (6-6, 231 pounds) and Georgia’s Jake Fromm (6-2, 219) throwing back-to-back during drills, there was a noticeable difference (as expected) in ball speed from both passers with Eason’s power arm wowing everyone in attendance. But with that said, Fromm was consistently more accurate, with better timing and rhythm on short-to-intermediate throws while Eason was scatter-shot with his fastballs.

Eason started to settle in on the deep throws, doing a real nice job on the go’s and corner routes. He has the arm to drive the football with ease, but he also showed touch on those passes, dropping the ball in the bucket. Talking to scouts this week, opinions are all over the place on Eason and Fromm, making them really tough to project. Fromm isn’t for everybody, but for a play-caller with roots in the west coast system that emphasizes timing, the former Georgia product will be a great fit in the second round.

I received a few surprise reactions when FIU’s James Morgan (6-4, 229) made my top-10 pre-combine quarterback rankings, but he is my favorite late-round flier at the position. And my opinion of him only improved after seeing him throw live at Lucas Oil. Morgan has a live arm and the ball pops off his hand with velocity, displaying the accuracy and tempo that gave his targets a chance to catch the football during fieldwork. If I had room on my depth chart, Morgan would be a Day 3 target as an intriguing developmental passer.

One final note: Joe Burrow didn’t participate in any drills, but it was really interesting to watch him interact with the rest of the players who were performing in the drills. After the tight ends and receivers were done, he was one of the first in line fist-bumping and supporting the rest of the players. Burrow isn’t a rah-rah type of guy, but just like at Ohio State and LSU, players seem to naturally gravitate towards him. He has a presence to him that teammates respect — just another reason he is a no-brainer at No. 1 for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Tight ends

This class of tight ends received an unexpected boost when Notre Dame’s Cole Kmet (6-6, 262) decided to throw his name in the ring, immediately becoming one of the best in the class. And he lived up to the hype during his combine workout, performing well in the agility and positional drills. His “official” 40-yard dash time was 4.70, but the scouts I chatted with had 4.67 and 4.68 times on their stopwatches. He also jumped well compared to tight end averages with a 37-inch vertical (34.5-inch average) and 10-3 broad jump (9-11 average). However, Kmet also posted the second-worst three-cone drill (7.44) at the position, which isn’t a death sentence (Eric Ebron ran a 7.49 in 2014 and still went top-10 overall), but it obviously doesn’t help his quest of being drafted in the top-40 picks.

Dayton’s Adam Trautman (6-5, 255) didn’t blow anybody away with his 40-yard dash (4.80), but on tape, it was the route-running athleticism that really impressed me. And that was reflected in his 6.78 three-cone time, which was not only the best time among this year’s tight ends, but he became only the sixth tight end in the history of the combine to run a sub 6.8 three-cone. I also thought Trautman was the most consistent tight end during the blocking drills. He did a great job setting his feet, striking with his hands and then driving without losing his balance. Trautman is one of the few tight ends in this class worthy of the top-75 conversation.

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You have probably heard me mention the traditional 90-10 rule when it comes to scouting: 90% of combine numbers should be on-par with expectations while the other 10% represents surprising results. Missouri’s Albert Okwuegbunam (6-6, 258) looked like a wide receiver during drills due to his speed and his 4.49 40-yard dash falls under that unexpected 10%. On tape, he shows that straight-line speed to threaten the seam vertically, but he also tends to labor in-and-out of his cuts and the lack of urgency as a route-runner negates that speed. Okwuegbunam has NFL starting potential, but he needs to play more loose and aggressive vs. coverage to reach his full potential. Regardless, the buzz among scouts is he won’t get out of the top-100 picks.

A player who doesn’t receive a ton of love, Virginia Tech’s Dalton Keene (6-4, 253) put together a strong workout. He finished first among tight ends in the short shuttle (4.19) and broad jump (10-5) and top-five in the 40-yard dash (4.71) and three-cone drill (7.07). Keene is unseasoned as a route runner and he didn’t light up the stat sheet (21 catches in 2019), but his athletic profile won’t go unnoticed by evaluators.

As I was walking out of Lucas Oil, I bumped into a scout buddy and asked him who he thought had the best night. He answered pretty quickly: Cincinnati’s Josiah Deguara (6-2, 242), who will also work out again tomorrow, going through running back drills as teams want to see his versatility as a fullback option. While Deguara had a great night, it was the opposite for the Vanderbilt’s Jared Pinkney (6-4, 257), who finished dead-last among the tight ends in the 40-yard dash (4.96) and didn’t perform any other drills.

(Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)

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