It was a long week in Indianapolis, Indiana, and with the NFL and the media had left town. There is no better time to break down and see who made the most of their time and who didn’t during the NFL Combine.
You don’t want to overanalyze how every player performs. You want to rely on the film more than anything, but these numbers paint a bigger picture. We will see some guys who may have shown one thing on film, but the testing proved something else. From both the good and bad sides of it.
The Dynasty Nerds staff is already building up rookie ADP after all the happenings of this past week’s’’ NFL combine. We started this thing with quarterbacks, and now we move on to their best friend, running backs.
Running backs didn’t have the best week due to them missing out on competing in the 3-cone drill due to the event’s timing, awful, I know. That being said, though, we got to see enough of the group as a whole to make some concrete judgments. The losers in this piece may have taken the most hit on the list.
Winner: Breece Hall, Iowa State
Getting measured at 5’11” and 211 pounds, Hall knocked the socks off of everyone with his testing by the end of it all. He had an impressive 40″ vertical while adding a 126″ broad jump showcasing his athleticism. To top it off, he run a sub-4.4 40-yard dash with 4.39. His combine results and profile compare himself favorably to what Jonathan Taylor did two years ago. Hall seems to have cemented himself as the top RB in this year’s’ class. Do what you can to grab him in your rookie drafts.
Loser: Kyren Williams, Notre Dame
If we are being honest, Williams may have had the worst combine of any skill player. Williams got measured out slightly small for his running style with 5’9″ and 194 pounds. A small profile for someone who already isn’t very agile. Coming in, I was a Williams fan. However, his testing numbers of a 32″ vertical and a 116″ broad jump were not good. To top it all off, his 40-yard dash got finalized at 4.65, an absolute gross number to see on any RB you hold in high regard.
Winner: James Cook, Georgia
After his combine, Cook should have everyone’s attention but he seems to be still flying under the radar somehow. His 40-yard dash came in at 4.42 with his size of 5’11” and 199 pounds, and that combo of numbers is uber impressive. To top it off, Cook’s’ on-field work with the over-the-shoulder catches made Daniel Jeremiah come out of his seat on the broadcast. A natural pass catcher with fresh legs entering the league? Sign me up.
Loser: Ronnie Rivers, Fresno State
A name you haven’t seen mentioned much, and not ever from this point on, really, Rivers was an under-the-radar late-round steal for you in rookie drafts. Now, however, he should be untouchable in drafts. His size of 5’7″ and 195 pounds is abysmal, and his testing couldn’t have been much worse. Like Williams, Rivers ran a 4.60 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, and it is almost a death sentence with that size. One less late-round running back to be the next James Robinson, sadly.
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