The off-season really has started now. Top college prospects came together this past week and put some numbers on the board for us all to judge them by, and predict their updated draft stock by. I’m going to run through a list of winners and losers through this process, and how their stock may have been affected by how they performed in Indianapolis.
 |
| Bortles - Throwing drill |
Blake Bortles - QB
This was an easy one. Manziel and Bridgewater chose not to throw and there’s an obvious gap from Bortles to the likes of Carr and Tahj Boyd. He improved his stock by virtue of competing, making both Manziel and Bridgewater appear apprehensive. Their draftability won’t be hurt by not showing up but it does bring Bortles into the discussion for top three quarterbacks, instead of being left as “last good man”.
 |
| Clowney - 40yd dash |
Jadeveon Clowney - DE/LB
Everyone knew he was a beast, and that gave him a lot of space to fall into if he didn’t match expectations
through his workouts. He more than matched up though, and is now being looked at as the number one who just solidified his claim to the Texans jersey he’ll be seeking come May.
Khairi Fortt - LB
Coming into the combine as tipped into the second group of linebackers - some way behind Khalil Mack and Anthony Barr - Fortt has proven himself worthy of consideration amongst the top names. In my view, he could have easily moved his way into the middle of the first round, and certainly into workouts in consideration with those top prospects.
Dri Archer - RB
Run a 4.26 and you’ll be in the NFL. That’s about the sum of it, but he’s not going to end up as a footnote in the way that Trindon Holliday or B.J. Sams did. He’s much more likely to be an impact player built in the mould of Tavon Austin or Ace Sanders, running from the slot or the backfield. He was never going to be a bruising runner, and through the combine he proved the projections for himself by pushing Chris Johnson’s 40-yard record.
 |
| Lewan - On field drill |
Taylor Lewan - OL
Pre-combine he was placed behind both Jake Matthews and Greg Robinson, and now he’s in the Blake Bortles situation of being spoken about on a much more even footing than in the weeks leading up to the combine. He blew out everyones expectations during the workouts, and was impressive right through the on-field drills as well.
The Losers:
 |
| Watkins - Catching |
I say this loosely as top prospects don’t ever fall right off due to their combine performance, especially when they have so many other workouts to run with teams between now and May.
Sammy Watkins - WR
He set a very high bar for himself heading into the combine, and he didn’t match up to his own projections. This doesn’t particularly hurt his draft stock, as no other receiver blew him out of the water but it could be the planting of a seed that sees teams testing his mentality going towards draft day. On paper he looks good, but he didn’t have anything to prove at the combine and could only hurt himself.
Jonny Manziel - QB
There were arguments both ways on whether QBs benefit from throwing at the combine, but I think it is always worthwhile to have extra film for people to view. Especially with Blake Bortles stepping up to the plate, Manziel and Bridgewater looked scared in my view. Bridgewater has less to prove with regards to throwing from the pocket, so Manziel is the only one of the top three that is now presenting more questions than can be answered. That could hurt his stock, but as all three are liable to be off the board by number 10 he’s not exactly going to slide very far.
Eric Ebron - TE
Ebron is still our top tight end talent in this draft class, but as with Sammy Watkins he didn’t do anything spectacular to convince a team to drop a top ten pick on him. Not a loss, but he’s falling into being a player drafted per position, as opposed to being one of the “best available” group.
Michael Sam - OLB/DE
 |
| Sams - 40yd dash |
All eyes turned to Sam after he came out as gay in the run up to the combine. This meant he was the most scrutinised player outside of first round prospects, and ultimately a lot of analysts lost track of where he should actually have been drafted. The combine brought his ratings back to where they should have been, as he doesn’t have the same skill to be mentioned in the same segment as players like Clowney or Khalil Mack.
Concluding
The combine has a lot less to do with players prospects than it used to. That being said, it’s always a good way to get an unbiased measure of the top prospects and while it ultimately doesn’t help teams too much, it does give the rest of us a much better read of what’s to come. I’m going to properly start my draft coverage from now, so be prepared for a long list of lists like this one over the next two months.
