Alshon Jeffery Combine: South Carolina Star Rising as Justin Blackmon Falls

Following the Fiesta Bowl against Stanford, you figured there was no way Justin Blackmon wasn't the top receiver in the 2012 NFL draft class.

But recent developments could see him slide, while South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery makes his way up draft boards.

You see, Jeffery is faster and stronger than Blackmon. He also has height on him. Blackmon, listed at 6'1" at Oklahoma State, reportedly measured shorter at the NFL combine on Friday. If drafted in the top 10, he'd be the shortest top-10 receiver since Ted Ginn Jr. in 2007.

There's also the fact that he's not running the 40-yard dash at the combine after a hamstring injury he said he suffered last week. It's going to be hard for teams to be thrilled with him if they can't even see his 40-yard dash time, particularly if they are concerned with his speed.

Jeffery, on the other hand, quieted all concerns on Friday about his weight. There were rumors he had ballooned to 250 pounds after playing at 230 pounds at South Carolina. All he did was show up at 216 pounds, absolutely chiseled.

Jeffery showed that he's not only in good shape, but he's motivated headed into the draft. Plenty of NFL teams will love that and it's going to be very interesting where Jeffery lands.

The 22-year-old, who measures at 6'4", saw his production drop significantly last season as a junior. After racking up over 1,500 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in 2010, Jeffery registered just 762 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior. Part of that was because of his quarterback situation and part of that was because he appeared to play slower than prior years.

But there's no question that Jeffery has great hands and range, being able to pluck balls out of the air with ease.

You add the fact that Blackmon admitted he needed help with his route-running on Friday and you could see these two receivers get drafted much closer together than previously thought.

Remember, Jeffery was being called the top receiver prospect in the 2012 draft class before last season.