Observations of the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine
March 1, 2016Hammy = Baseball season: While We’re Waiting…
March 2, 2016With a nation-best 14 players at the NFL Combine, Ohio State was the talk in and around Indianapolis and Lucas Oil Stadium this past weekend. Whether it was with their speed, size, or muscle, the Buckeyes were (mostly) impressive all weekend.
Linebacker Darron Lee, with the fastest 40-yard dash time among linebackers, earned himself plenty of money and is all but guaranteed to get drafted in the first round following his performance at the Combine over the weekend. In fact, Lee was faster than any of Ohio State’s three wide receivers in Indy.
Unfortunately for Cardale Jones, who had a lot to prove in Indianapolis, the quarterback pulled his hamstring while running the 40-yard dash to start off his combine and did not participate the rest of the weekend.
Vonn Bell did not take part in any of the running drills due to a tender hamstring. Even though he didn’t participate, his measurements were very good for a safety his size.
Eli Apple also had a very good weekend and tremendously helped his draft value heading into the Buckeyes’ Pro Day. Along with Apple, Joey Bosa was drawing comparisons to JJ Watt, due to the fact that they had almost the exact same results from their respective combines.
Jalin Marshall, who most experts questioned why he decided to forego his senior season when he would’ve been Ohio State’s top wideout in 2016, disappointed at the Combine. Not only was he slower than expected, but his measurements didn’t give him any positive outlook as well.
Measurements and results were as follows:
CB Eli Apple (6-foot-1, 199 pounds)
- 40: 4.40 seconds
- Arm: 31 3/8 inches
- Hand: 9 3/8 inches
- Bench: 13 reps
S Vonn Bell (5-foot-11, 199 pounds)
- Arm: 32 3/8
- Hand: 9 1/2
- Bench: 16
DL Joey Bosa (6-foot-6, 275 pounds)
- 40: 4.86
- Arm: 33 3/8
- Hand: 10 1/4
- Bench: 24
- Vertical: 32
- Broad: 120
- 3-cone: 6.89
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.21
OL Taylor Decker (6-foot-7, 310 pounds)
- 40: 5.23
- Arm: 33 3/4
- Hand: 10
- Bench: 20
- Broad: 101
- 3-cone: 7.70
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.76
RB Ezekiel Elliott (6-foot, 225 pounds)
- 40: 4.47
- Arm: 31 1/4
- Hand: 10 1/4
- Vertical: 32 1/2
- Broad: 118
QB Cardale Jones (6-foot-5, 253 pounds)
- 40: 4.81
- Arm: 33 3/4
- Hand: 9 3/4
- Vertical: 36
LB Darron Lee (6-foot-1, 232 pounds)
- 40: 4.43
- Arm: 33 1/4
- Hand: 9 3/4
- Bench: 17
- Vertical: 35 1/2
- Broad: 133
- 3-cone: 7.12
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.20
WR Jalin Marshall (5-foot-10, 200 pounds)
- 40: 4.60
- Arm: 31 1/2
- Hand 9 5/8
- Bench: 16
- Vertical: 37 1/2
- Broad: 125
- 3-cone: 6.80
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.13
WR Braxton Miller (6-foot-1, 201 pounds)
- 40: 4.50
- Arm: 31 3/4
- Hand: 9 1/8
- Bench: 17
- Vertical: 35
- Broad: 123
- 3-cone: 6.65
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.07
- 60-yard shuttle: 10.84
LB Joshua Perry (6-foot-4, 254 pounds)
- 40: 4.68
- Arm: 33 7/8
- Hand: 10 1/4
- Bench: 20
- Vertical: 33 1/2
- Broad: 124
S Tyvis Powell (6-foot-3, 211 pounds)
- 40: 4.46
- Arm: 32 3/4
- Hand: 9 1/2
- Bench: 15
- Vertical: 34 1/2
- Broad: 120
- 3-cone: 7.03
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.25
- 60-yard shuttle: 11.63
WR Michael Thomas (6-foot-3, 212 pounds)
- 40: 4.57
- Arm: 32 1/8
- Hand: 10 1/2
- Bench: 18
- Vertical: 35
- Broad: 126
- 3-cone: 6.80
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.13
- 60-yard shuttle: 11.70
TE Nick Vannett (6-foot-6, 257 pounds)
- Arm: 34 1/4
- Hand: 10
- Bench: 17
- Vertical: 30 1/2
- Broad: 111
- 3-cone: 7.05
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.20
- 60-yard shuttle: 11.50
DL Adolphus Washington (6-foot-3, 301 pounds)
- 40: 5.17
- Arm: 34 1/2
- Hand: 9 7/8
- Bench: 21
- Vertical: 27
- Broad: 99
- 3-cone: 8.06
- 20-yard shuttle: 4.79
Luckily for the Buckeyes who were disappointed with their results at the Combine, each of them will get a second chance to prove themselves at Ohio State’s Pro Day on March 11. For players like Braxton Miller (who did not run well in the 40-yard dash) and Cardale Jones, March 11 will be a huge day in terms of their draft value.
Even with some of the disappointments, there were far more positives than negatives for the Buckeyes at the Combine and they were rewarded by winning the Olympic Medals Count:
2016 #NFLCombine Olympics Medal Count: Final Results@OhioStAthletics wins with a total of 12 medals! pic.twitter.com/RaSFSoraEd
— NFL (@NFL) February 29, 2016
To earn a medal, a player had to finish in the top-3 of a category for his position. For example, Darron Lee’s 4.43 40-yard dash was the fastest among linebackers, so he was given a gold medal for that specific result.
2 Comments
I would like to caution us from jumping to conclusions based on those results. Just because ND State may have better football players than TSUN, it could mean, but doesn’t 100% guarantee that ND State is a better school overall.
Oh man I can’t wait to watch Buckeye fan’s heads explode when Apple gets drafted in the first round.