NFL Combine Open Thread

7 former Huskies are participating in the NFL Combine this weekend to help live out their dream of playing in the NFL. WR John Ross, DB Budda Baker, DB Kevin King, DB Sidney Jones, DT Elijah Qualls, LB Joe Mathis and TE Darrell Daniels are all participating. We will continue to update throughout the weekend as the Dawgs take part. Ross and Daniels will go on Saturday, Qualls and Mathis on Sunday, and the trio of Baker, Jones, and King will do their drills on Monday.

The main event was John Ross running the 40-yard dash where he officially ran a 4.22 which now marks the best ever run at the combine. The previous record was held by RB Chris Johnson who ran a 4.24 in 2008. Ross says that he cramped before his attempt which makes it all the more impressive. He declined to run a 2nd 40-yard dash and reportedly will not participate in any other running drills throughout the day due to sore calves from the cramps. Considering he only ran once at the combine, he got his money’s worth and seemingly cemented himself as a 1st round pick in the draft.

Darrell Daniels may have gotten a little ahead of himself, tweeting this week that he would have the fastest 40-yard dash time among any of the tight ends. Ultimately, he finished with the 4th fastest time. This year’s tight end group features other physical freaks with better college production such as Ole Miss’s Evan Engram (4.42 40 time!), Alabama’s O.J Howard (4.51 40 time), and Miami’s David Njoku (37.5” vertical). It remains to be seen whether this performance will be enough to get Daniels drafted but he will certainly at least get a shot in someone’s camp as an UDFA come the summer.

Elijah Qualls was famously a jumbo sized fullback in high school so there were some expectations that he would test well at an event like the combine. Weight has been a major question for scouts who wonder whether Qualls will be forced into playing solely nose tackle if he can’t keep it under control. Weighing in at 313 leaves open the possibility that Qualls could play on the outside on running downs in a 3-4 scheme. Qualls finished among the bottom for defensive tackles in both arm length and hand size which may or may not be a concern for scouts. The bench press is where he excelled, finishing 1st among defensive tackles and 2rd among defensive linemen with 33 reps. The next best mark for defensive tackles was UCLA standout Eddie Vanderdoes with 28 reps.

JoJo Mathis is still recovering from his foot injury sustained during the season and so did not participate in any of the running or leaping drills this weekend. The one drill that he did take part in was the bench press and he tied for the 3rd best number among the linebackers. Mathis was the heaviest among any of the linebackers and we’ll see whether that is a consequence of gaining weight post-injury or if that is his desired playing weight.

Everyone knows that Budda Baker is an undersized safety prospect and that certainly was true after his measurements at the combine. Baker was tied for the shortest among the safeties at the combine and also was the lightest. He tested well athletically especially compared to his size, finishing 4th in the 40-yard dash and 13th in the vertical jump. He made up for the deficiencies in size with his agility scores. Not surprisingly, Budda finished 4th and 1st respectively among safeties in the 3 cone drill and 20 yard shuffle. The consensus seems to be that Budda is anywhere from a mid-1st to mid-2nd round prospect and that seems unlikely to change.

Sidney Jones has probably tested slightly better than expected but unless he totally failed in that regard it wouldn’t affect his draft stock. Jones is a prospect that is coveted because he is good enough athletically and superb in his technique and instincts. He did run a 40 yard time that was about 0.1 seconds better than I was expected which is good news. Most of his results were middle of the road for corners and his showing won’t help or hurt him come the draft.

Kevin King will surely show up on a lot of biggest winners lists later today or tomorrow morning. The 4.44 40-yard dash time is superb for a 6’3” corner and shows that King isn’t just a big, slow defensive back. On top of that, King had a 39.5 inch vertical which was good for 2nd among corners. And on top of all of that, he also finished 1st in the 3 cone drill and the 20 yard shuffle. He tested at an elite level for size, speed, length, and agility. The only thing that wasn’t superb was the bench press but he’s shown he knows how to tackle in space and that is the least important category for corners anyways. Expect to see a lot of buzz that King could leap into the 2nd if not the 1st round after this showing.