NFL Draft 2014: Top Prospects Who Impressed Most at Combine
After the NFL Scouting Combine, projecting the top selections of the first round of May's draft became even more difficult.
Aside from the St. Louis Rams drafting at No. 2, each team holding a selection in the first five is completely desperate to identify its quarterback of the future. The problem is, that while there are four legitimate first-round talents at the position (Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr), they are not among the best prospects in this class when position is not taken into account.
That notion was driven home at the combine.
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It wasn't because of anything the quarterbacks did or did not do in Indianapolis, because most of them didn't do much of anything. It is what other players did.
There are some physically gifted players in this class, and two of the athletic freaks I've highlighted below could be enough to get the quarterback-needy teams among the top five going for a different position.
Jadeveon Clowney, DE
Coming out of South Carolina, no one was questioning Jadeveon Clowney's athleticism. The young man's athletic freakishness stands out plenty on tape.
For these reasons, it was going to be very hard for him to impress at the scouting combine. To do that, the 6'5", 266-pound young man was going to have to do something that seemed impossible. Something like just barely get edged out in the 40-yard dash by a running back like De'Anthony Thomas who is famous for his speed.
Well:
That, of course, is Clowney's run superimposed with Thomas'.
Now, Thomas didn't post as blazing a 40 time as most expected, but still, Clowney should not be moving that fast. The 10-yard split is a virtual dead heat.
His combine 40 time is faster than every starting quarterback in the NFL except for Robert Griffin III.
In everything except the bench press, Clowney impressed. Have a look at the results:
| 6'5" 1/4" | 266 lbs | 34 1/2" | 10" | 21 reps | 4.53 (official) | 10'4" | 37.5" |
The bench press is not all that alarming. Clowney has long arms, which makes the drill harder, and strength endurance is not a big key for a defensive end.
All of this reportedly has the Texans thinking about Clowney with the No. 1 overall selection. Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman hits us with the news:
As Freeman points out, teams are going to offer up a bunch of smokescreens this time of year, but if this is a smokescreen, it is still a reflection of the impression Clowney made.
For smokescreen purposes, the Texans would leak that information about Clowney because they want a piece of the action from teams drooling over his once-in-a-generation talent and are looking to trade up.
Greg Robinson, OT
Moving right along to another monster in the trenches, we have Auburn's Greg Robinson.
Over the last year, Robinson's draft stock has been on a rapid rise. After his showing at the combine, he all but guaranteed himself of being the first offensive lineman off the board, and perhaps even a spot in the first five selections.
At 6'5", 332 pounds and with 35" arms, Robinson has the perfect body for tackle. He also has the athleticism of a tight end.
Robinson ran the 40 in 4.92 seconds and had a 10-yard split of 1.68. He also posted a time of 7.80 in the three-cone drill and a 4.86 in the short shuttle.
This gives him the speed and mobility to get to the second level and make the kind of blocks that can turn moderate gains into highlights.
The thing about that ability is, it is all a bonus.
Robinson is a stalwart at the point of attack. Despite those long arms, he still did 32 reps on the bench press. Oh, and just for good measure, Robinson did all of that while suffering from a cold and pink eye.
Here are his full results:
| 6'5" | 332 lbs | 35" | 10" | 4.92 | 32 reps | 113" | 28.5" | 7.80 | 4.86 |
Aside from Clowney, and even then there isn't a lot of separation, there isn't a more physically dominant athlete in this class.
Taylor Lewan, OT
Taylor Lewan isn't in contention for a top-five selection like our first two prospects on this list, but he won't be far behind that.
The Michigan product entered the combine facing the fate of being the third offensive tackle off the board behind Robinson and Texas A&M's Jake Matthews. That likely hasn't changed.
NFL Network's Mike Mayock, as The Detroit News' Josh Katzenstein noted, doesn't think it's changed, despite Lewan's impressive combine.
Mayock was quoted by Katzenstein saying, "When linemen have big days like that, I get excited and I love it, but it doesn’t change my rankings really. It shows me he’s athletic, which I already thought he was."
Mayock notes that he has Lewan as a top-10 talent overall, and the draft guru had plenty of reasons to be excited. Have a look at results:
| 6'7" | 309 lbs | 33 7/8" | 9 1/4" | 4.87 | 29 reps | 117" | 30.5" | 7.39 | 4.49 |
Look at the 40 time! It's hard to believe that's real. The Twitter account for the NFL summed it up well:
Lewan's athleticism was on full display. This helped him move past a less-than-ideal end to the season and a few off-the-field issues.
Lewan will be relegated to the third offensive lineman off the board due to his lack of elite size. Still, he has plenty of strength and more than enough athleticism to be a force in the pass and run game, and he proved that at the combine.
All combine results courtesy of NFL.com's results tracker.
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