Kyren Williams was a force in Notre Dame‘s offense the last two seasons and is one of the most talented running backs the Fighting Irish have had in quite some time. However, his showing at the NFL combine didn’t do him any favors ahead of the draft.
Williams measured in at 5-9, 194-pounds, perhaps a little lighter than NFL teams would like. His hand size of nine-inches is a half-inch bigger than Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett for whatever that is worth.
Williams ran his 40-yard dash in a disappointing 4.65 seconds, the slowest of any running back to run on Friday night. His vertical leap of 32″ and broad jump of 9-8″ left some to be desired.
Williams turned into a fascinating case study in terms of his draft selection with this. Anyone who watches his film sees a player who is clearly strong as a bull and can do anything he’s asked to – catch the ball out of the backfield, take on pass rushers, show elite balance and so on.
How much will the poor showing at the combine hurt Williams? A lot of pressure has certainly been now put on him at Notre Dame’s pro day in April but after strong showings by other top backs in this draft, Williams certainly did himself no favors Friday.
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