NFL Combine
The Measurables
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2020 NFL scouting combine was last week in Indianapolis. I’m going to take a look at some of the players from around the South and see if they helped or hurt their draft stock.
Isaiah Simmons – Clemson: the redshirt junior linebacker turned heads running a 4.39-second 40-yard dash. He also had eye-opening numbers in the vertical (39 inches) and broad jumps (11 feet). At 6’4, 238 pounds these numbers are unreal.
He was also great on the field. He led the Tigers in tackles in their 2018 national championship season (89 total stops, nine for loss, one interception returned for a touchdown, seven pass breakups, three forced fumbles).
His play as a junior (102 tackles, 16 for loss, 8 sacks, three interceptions, nine pass breakups in 15 starts) earned him the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker.
He was also a finalist for the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Bronko Nagurski and Lott IMPACT Trophies, as well as a first-team Associated Press All-American, ACC Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference selection.
Willie Gay, Jr. – Mississippi State: this is another junior linebacker that showed great speed. His 4.46 40 (and 1.50 10-yard split), 39.5-inch vertical jump and 11-foot-4 broad jump displayed his great athleticism. He has character concerns and lack of on field production.
He was a top-50 overall recruit and led Starkville High School to a state championship before committing to his hometown team.
Gay looked to be on the upswing after a promising sophomore campaign, in which he posted 48 stops, 5.5 for loss, five sacks and two interceptions in 13 games with six starts.
He was limited to playing in five games as a reserve (28 tackles, 3.5 for loss, one interception, one pass breakup) during his junior year, though, as he was held out of eight contests due to NCAA violations pertaining to an academic tutor. It has also been reported that he got into an altercation with starting quarterback Garrett Shrader.
Tua Tagovailoa – Alabama: the talented quarterback has been injury prone. His junior year was limited to just nine games as he fought through an ankle injury then a hip injury that ended his season.
Several teams reported they felt there was “nothing alarming” with his medical reports and that Tagovailoa was on schedule to work out in April for scouts. His height from the combine is 6’0 and he weighed 217 pounds.
Joe Burrow – LSU: He did not participate in any on-field workouts, choosing to let his college resume speak for him. He made headlines for his small hands, measuring at 9 inches. This is one of the sillier measurables in my opinion. The one concern is he looked like two different players in 2018 and 2019.
Cam Akers – Florida State: he was a top-10 national recruit after being named the U.S. Army National Player of the Year and Mississippi’s Mr. Football in 2016.
He broke Dalvin Cook’s school record for freshman rushing in 2017, leading the Seminoles with 1,024 yards (194 carries, 5.3 per, seven touchdowns; 16 receptions, 116 yards, 7.3 average, one touchdown).
The Seminoles struggled and his numbers got worse as a sophomore. He looked more like the Akers of 2017 as a junior, receiving second-team all-conference honors after leading FSU with 1,144 rushing yards on 231 carries (5.0 ypc) and 14 touchdowns. Akers also caught 30 passes for 225 yards (7.5 per) and four scores in 11 starts.
At the combine he ran a 4.47 40 and put up 20 bench-press reps (225 pounds).
On The Other Hand
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
I think we’re all in agreement, except for maybe anyone that actually works for an NFL organization, that the NFL Combine is more show than substance. It’s similar to proclaiming that a particular movie is the greatest piece of cinema ever created, after having only seen the trailer.
Nevertheless, there is always one athlete who tends to steal the show with a quicker than expected 40-yard dash, or impressing the attendees with the amount of reps they do on the bench press. This year was no different, albeit for one minor exception.
Before the Combine, I didn’t know much about Shaquem Griffin. I knew he played for UCF and I was aware that he did not have a left hand; that was it.
I didn’t know if he was a good player or not. I had no idea if he had been born without a left hand, or if it had been amputated. Hell, I didn’t even have a clue as to what position he played, besides defense. I can promise you, I know now.
Besides impressing everyone with his 40 speed (4.38 seconds), or his 20 reps on the bench press using a prosthetic hand, Griffin is coming off two very successful seasons at Central Florida.
In 2016, his junior year, he was 1st team All-AAC and AAC Defensive Player of the Year. He followed that season up with a senior campaign that saw him receive not only 1st team All-AAC honors again, but AFCA 2nd team All- American, as well.
Over the two year span he combined for 166 tackles, 18.5 sacks, and 1 interception.
I’m not saying Griffin is going to be the next Ray Lewis, but he’s good enough to play on Sundays.
Throw in the fact he did all this without the use of a left hand, which was amputated when he was four years old, and it’s pretty incredible.
All that said, the more interesting question to me is, “Where will he get drafted?”
You can always count on two things happening at the draft: 1. A player is drafted higher than their talent level would suggest, based upon the Combine. 2. A player’s stock will drop, below where their talent level warrants, because of same ridiculous, inane reason. I could see either of those two scenarios playing out for Griffin.
Overall, I think he’s a late 2nd round/early 3rd talent, so it’ll be intriguing to see if a team reaches a bit and drafts him earlier than that, or if they are hesitant and he drops into the later rounds.
Like most draft picks, much of his success will depend on where he goes and who his coach will be. In the right situation, he could be a huge asset for whomever drafts him. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing him on the Panthers.
There will be a lot of feel good articles written about Griffin between now and the NFL Draft, and there should be. What he accomplished in his college career, and what he hopes to achieve at the next level, is something that should be applauded; not necessarily because of what he’s done, but because of what it took for him to get to this point.
I don’t normally get too sentimental about these type of things, but his story is certainly inspiring and I’m rooting for him.
At this point I have no idea what type of professional football career Griffin will wind up having, but so far he’s put out one hell of a teaser trailer.
