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The NFL Combine is well underway in Indianapolis as one of the most famous and exclusive job fairs in the world. As fans we tend to view the things we can see as most important such as the on-field drills and 40-yard dash times. But NFL teams care much more about access to medical reports as well as getting to engage in one-on-one interviews away from the press.
Players rotate through stations a few position groups each day. They arrive and get measured, conduct interviews, do on-field drills, then leave over the course of 4 days. The televised portion involves the athletic skill testing and positional drills. Washington has 3 players participating in the on-field drills on Thursday and Friday, none on Saturday, and one on Sunday.
NFL Network TV Schedule
Thursday: 1-8p PT. (Hunter Bryant, Jacob Eason, and Aaron Fuller)
Friday: 1-8p PT. (Trey Adams, Nick Harris, and Salvon Ahmed)
Saturday: 1-8p PT. (None)
Sunday: 11a-4p PT (Myles Bryant)
Thursday Workout Group
Hunter Bryant
Bryant is projected by most to go in the 2nd-3rd round of the NFL Draft as a tight end who will play a significant amount of time as a big wide receiver. The natural comparison is to Ole Miss’ Evan Engram who was drafted in the 1st round in 2017. Bryant measured in as about 10 pounds heavier than Engram with slightly bigger hands but shorter arms. Engram made his mark by running a 4.42 40-yard dash which was in the 98th percentile for TEs and Bryant will probably need to get at least in the 4.5 range if he wants to get early 2nd round consideration.
More important though for Bryant is his medical record. Bryant underwent several knee injuries while at Washington that cost him about half of his Husky career. He stayed healthy this most recent season which will help ease concerns on the part of NFL GMs but he will have to hope that the earlier injuries don’t cause teams to take him off their boards completely.
Measurements
Height: 6’2 2/8; 7th percentile
Weight: 248; 25th percentile
Hand: 10 3/8; 86th percentile
Arm: 32; 12th percentile
Wingspan: 76 4/8; 17th percentile
Athletic Testing
Bench Press: 23 reps, 73rd percentile
40 Yard Dash: 4.74s, 60th percentile
Vertical Jump: 32.5 in, 44th percentile
Broad Jump: 115 in, 55th percentile
3-Cone Drill: 7.08s, 65th percentile
20 Yard Shuttle: 4.46s, 30th percentile
Jacob Eason
Eason already cleared the first hurdle by avoiding by 1/8th of an inch the label of being a 6’6 quarterback. The list of QBs to weight in at 6’6 or above and find success in the NFL over the last 20 years is...Byron Leftwich? Joe Flacco? Matt Schaub? Meanwhile busts include Ryan Mallet, Brock Osweiler, Mike Glennon, Paxton Lynch, and JaMarcus Russell.
Several profiles of Eason have demonstrated that an important part of the combine process for him will be showing that he has matured since he was infamously into the party lifestyle while at Georgia. There’s not much he can do to show that he can read and react to defenses this weekend outside of some chalkboard tests in interviews but his incredible natural arm talent should shine through in Indy and could easily persuade a team to take him in the 1st round.
Measurements
Height: 6’5 7/8; 96th percentile
Weight: 231; 80th percentile
Hand: 9 1/2; 46th percentile
Arm: 32 7/8; 74th percentile
Wingspan: 79; 93rd percentile
Athletic Testing
40 Yard Dash: 4.89s, 35th percentile
Vertical Jump: 27.5 in, 13th percentile
Broad Jump: 110 in, 46th percentile
3-Cone Drill: 7.5s, 2nd percentile
Aaron Fuller
Fuller played on the outside at Washington but at his size he seems destined for the slot and will need to show enough agility and speed to be useful in that location. He has mentioned that teams want him to prove he’s capable of getting off of his man in press coverage and it’s unlikely he can really do that through anything he does in Indianapolis. Fuller is fighting for a late round selection so testing as well athletically as he can and showing he’s a high character guy is what it’s all about.
Measurements
Height: 5’10 6/8; 16th percentile
Weight: 188; 19th percentile
Hand: 8 7/8; 12th percentile
Arm: 29 6/8; 4th percentile
Wingspan: 73 2/8; 15th percentile
Athletic Testing
40 Yard Dash: 4.64s, 10th percentile
Vertical Jump: 34 in, 33rd percentile
Broad Jump: 118 in, 35th percentile
3-Cone Drill: 7.14s, 17th percentile
Friday Workout Group
Trey Adams
There was a point where Adams was viewed as a potential top-ten overall pick but now he’s likely fighting for the chance to be a 2nd round selection. Medicals are at the top of the list for Adams with his torn ACL and back injury which cost him 1.5 years of his Husky career. Adams has elite size and should test especially well in the agility drills for someone at 6’8. Making sure that the medical flags are clean and remaining on as many draft boards as possible is the best case scenario for his draft stock. This is a very good offensive tackle class but the NFL is absolutely starved for offensive lineman which helped his teammate Kaleb McGary sneak into the 1st round a year ago.
Measurements
Height: 6’8; 95th percentile
Weight: 318; 65th percentile
Hand: 9 7/8; 32nd percentile
Arm: 34 3/8; 61st percentile
Wingspan: 81 1/2; 71st percentile
Athletic Testing
40 Yard Dash: 5.60s, 3rd percentile
Vertical Jump: 24.5 in, 13th percentile
Broad Jump: 92 in, 6th percentile
Nick Harris
Harris accomplished goal number one already which was getting over the 300 pound mark after scouts were concerned that he fell short of that number at the senior bowl. He needs to show though that he can play at that weight without losing any of his quickness and agility. A 80th percentile or better in the shuttle with solid marks in the bench press would help his case. Luckily for Harris there shouldn’t be many medical concerns despite a missed game here or there over the last few seasons.
Measurements
Height: 6’0 7/8; 2nd percentile
Weight: 302; 46th percentile
Hand: 9 6/8; 46th percentile
Arm: 32 1/8; 24th percentile
Wingspan: 77 1/2; 65th percentile
Athletic Testing
Bench Press: 20 reps, 13th percentile
40 Yard Dash: 5.10s, 83rd percentile
Vertical Jump: 29.5 in, 72nd percentile
Broad Jump: 103 in, 62nd percentile
Salvon Ahmed
It’s all about speed for Ahmed as he’ll hope to be one of the fastest players at the combine and definitely the fastest Husky since John Ross broke the combine record for the 40-yard dash a few years ago. From everything but a height perspective Ahmed measured in as fairly small especially in the hand and arm department. That likely explains some of why he wasn’t used more as a pass catcher in UW’s system.
Speaking of pass catching, Ahmed was officially asked by teams to go through the wide receiver drills at the combine. I don’t think there’s any organization who wants to make him a full-time receiver although maybe there is. More than likely there are teams that see him as a potential kick returner/3rd down back which would require him to be a reliable pass catcher. There’s not a lot on tape to go on to see how good his hands are so having him go through the receiver drills should make it clear fairly quickly whether he meets minimum standards in that regard.
Measurements
Height: 5’10 7/8; 47th percentile
Weight: 197; 11th percentile
Hand: 8 6/8; 13th percentile
Arm: 29 2/8; 4th percentile
Wingspan: 71 5/8; 7th percentile
Athletic Testing
40 Yard Dash: 4.62s, 28th percentile
Vertical Jump: 34.5 in, 51st percentile
Broad Jump: 120 in, 63rd percentile
Sunday Workout Group
Myles Bryant
Bryant has his work cut out for him as he essentially weighed in as the smallest safety in the last 20 years of the combine. My guess is that he’d move back to nickel corner in the NFL which upgrades him to 5th-10th percentile in the measurement rankings but not much better than that. It will be interesting to see where Bryant tests athletically as it always has seemed that he was more of an instinctual player than a workout warrior which may not serve him well at an event like this.
Measurements
Height: 5’7 7/8; 1st percentile
Weight: 183; 1st percentile
Hand: 9 1/8; 33rd percentile
Arm: 29 1/2; 1st percentile
Wingspan: 69 1/2; 1st percentile
Athletic Testing
40 Yard Dash: 4.62s; 27th percentile
Vertical Jump: 31.5 in; 8th percentile
Broad Jump: 115 in; 16th percentile
3-Cone Drill: 6.81s; 79th percentile
20 Yard Shuttel: 4.02s, 90th percentile