Category: 2022 scouting combine

The eight defensive tackles in combine history to outpace Jordan Davis’ 4.78 40-yard dash

Only 8 defensive tackles have run faster 40s than Jordan Davis in scouting combine history. From Aaron Donald to guys you may not know.

It’s relatively safe to say that no draft prospect made more of a splash at the 2022 scouting combine than did Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis. At 6-foot-6 and 341 pounds, Davis somehow ran an unofficial 4.82 40-yard dash that was corrected DOWN to a 4.78 time when it was made official.

Davis also had a 1.68-second 10-yard split, which might be even more ridiculous for a man his size. How rare is all this? It’s pretty rare.

That’s regardless of position, kids. As for the defensive tackle position, only eight defensive tackles have run faster 40-yard dashes in recorded scouting combine history than Davis did, and nobody was close to his weight when they ran it. But here are those eight prospects — it’s a fascinating list of future Hall of Famers, multiple Pro-Bowlers and All-Pros, and one guy whose name might not be familiar to you at all.

(All draft data courtesy of MockDraftable.com). 

Jordan Davis sets Twitter ablaze with a 4.78 40-yard dash — at 341 pounds

Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis blew up the scouting combine with a 4.78 40-yard dash at 341 pounds. Twitter responses were just as quick.

Legendary coach Bill Parcells came up with the “Planet Theory,” in which Parcells posited that there are so few men both large enough and athletic enough to be NFL linemen that they are intrinsically valuable just standing there. During Saturday’s scouting combine drills at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium, Georgia defensive tackle Jordan Davis extended the Planet Theory to its illogical limits when he lined up at 6-foot-6 and 341 pounds, and somehow ran an official 4.78-second 40-yard dash, with a 1.68-second 10-yard split.

To put that into perspective, at his scouting combine in 2017, Patrick Mahomes ran a 4.8 40-yard dash. People as large as Davis is should not be able to scoot at this level. People were flipping out at the unofficial 4.82 40-yard dash, and as it turned out, Davis got cheated a bit by the stopwatch.

The thing about Davis is that the speed and quickness shows up on tape.

Davis was also looking super-agile in the position drills.

As you’d expect, Draft Twitter had quite a bit to say about it.

2022 scouting combine: Defensive backs to watch this weekend

Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick profiles five defensive backs who can raise their names at the scouting combine this weekend.

On Sunday, March 6th, sixty-one defensive backs will take the field at Lucas Oil Stadium for on-field workouts at the scouting combine. This group makes up two positions on the defense: safety and cornerback

As far as the safety position goes, there is a clear drop-off after the number one guy, Kyle Hamilton from Notre Dame. So that being said, players will be fighting to get noticed when testing their speed, explosiveness, and fluidity. Whether that is in the speed turn drill, box drill, or just simply running the 40-yard dash.

When it comes to the cornerback position, each analyst seems to have different choices at numbers one, two and three. They say at the combine, a player can lose a million-dollar contract if they don’t test well, and so, that makes this one of the most anticipated positions of the entire weekend.

When it comes to testing change of speed, pad height, hip fluidity and balance, a defensive back must have it all. Some prospects will test better than others, and this Sunday we may find out who our top defensive backs are.

Let’s see which ones have a chance to raise their stock.

2022 scouting combine: Who stood out among the offensive linemen in Friday’s drills?

Friday was the day for the offensive linemen to get on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium. Which linemen stood out at the scouting combine?

Remember Thursday night at the scouting combine, when the receivers were running all kinds of crazy 40 times, and it held up fairly well even when the times were made official? That extended to Friday’s offensive line drills, when we saw a display of pure speed from the big men we’ve never seen before.

There were six linemen with official sub-5.0 40-yard dash times in the first group, and six in the second. The previous record was six, and there were 11 sub-4.5 40-yard dashes overall in the last three combines.

The 10-yard splits were just as impressive, meaning that we have a group of offensive linemen who can get on the hoof to a highly impressive degree. Many of those linemen also looked great in the position drills, with natural movement and agility.

NFL teams should be going away from these drills excited about the talent available in the 2022 draft, and that’s without two of the best linemen — Alabama offensive tackle Evan Neal and Iowa center Tyler Linderbaum — choosing to pass on the activities for now.

Receiver standouts from the first day of scouting combine drills

These receivers did the most to improve their draft stock during Thursday’s scouting combine drills.

If you like speedy receivers, the 2022 scouting combine is for you. Before this combine, the record for receivers running official sub-4.4 40-yard dashes was seven. In this class, a full 14 ran unofficial sub-4.4 40-yard dashes, and while that number will drop when the times become official, the speed on the track at Lucas Oil Stadium was obvious.

Of course, there’s more to the position than running in a straight line. NFL evaluators will tell you that the tape tells you at least 80% of the story, and bowl games and postseason activities (combine, pro days) rack up the remainder. But from a pure traits perspective, here are the receivers who helped themselves the most at the 2022 scouting combine.

Tight end standouts from the first day of scouting combine drills

These five tight ends helped their draft stock the most during the first drills of the 2022 scouting combine.

There may not be a first-round tight end in this draft class, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get a Pro Bowl starter at the position in the later rounds. The 49ers stole George Kittle in the fifth round of the 2016 draft out of Iowa, the Ravens got Mark Andrews in the 2018 draft out of Oklahoma, and theChargers got Hunter Henry in the second round of the 2016 draft out of Oklahoma.

So, it’s important to watch this year’s class of tight ends as they go through their combine drills, and here are the guys who stood out as those drills got underway on Thursday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.