Tag: 2022 Scouting Combine

Talking draft, trades, and free agency with Brian Baldinger of the NFL Network

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar chops up all the draft, trade, and free agency news with Brian Baldinger of the NFL Network

It’s always great to talk football with Brian Baldinger, the former NFL offensive lineman and current analyst whose brand can be found at (deep breath) NFL Films, the NFL Network, Compass Media, Audacy, Sky Sports, Baldy’s Breakdowns on Twitter, and Coach Tube.

This time around, we started with Baldy’s courses on Coach Tube, and why they’re a treasure trove for football fans who want to know more about the game. Then, we went deep on several subjects around the draft and free agency.

  • Can Jordan Davis become the next Vita Vea?
  • What does the run on established NFL quarterbacks tell us about how NFL personnel people feel about the 2022 class of quarterback prospects?
  • How important is the safety position in today’s NFL, and how could that make Kyle Hamilton the most important player in the draft?
  • How does this year’s offensive line prospects measure up?
  • How much did the Seahawks get fleeced in the Russell Wilson trade, and how will Wilson perform in Nathaniel Hackett’s Broncos offense?

Great stuff as always from Baldy, and you can watch the entire video conversation right here.

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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). 

Winners and losers from Day 1 of scouting combine drills

Which draft prospects helped themselves the most during Thursday night’s combine drills, and who’s now wishing for better performances?

Now that the combine drills are underway, it makes sense to ask just how much NFL teams take this entire process seriously. Coaches and general managers will tell you that it’s part of the process, and what they’re looking to nail down in Indianapolis are the deep specifics of the players they’re interested in based on their own tape study, and the work of their area scouts. Most often, a blow-away performance at the combine won’t vault a guy up the boards unless it’s truly exceptional — what teams do from here is take their interview notes and performance notes back to their facilities to re-watch the tape and get ready for pro days.

That said, the combine can be an important part of the process when it comes to confirming one’s particulars. Here’s a list of the draft prospects who helped themselves the most during Thursday night’s quarterback/tight end/receiver drills — and a couple of prospects who really didn’t.

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.

Malik Willis is helping others during the biggest week of his life

Malik Willis took time to help someone less fortunate on the streets of Indianapolis during his scouting combine week.

It has been said that greatness is truly defined by the things you do when nobody’s looking — or, at least when you think nobody’s looking. That was the case for quarterback Malik Willis, the Liberty star who’s looking to establish himself as the top quarterback in this draft class.

You would expect Willis to be preoccupied with getting ready for the podium and throwing sessions, but he had enough time — and enough presence of mind — to help someone less fortunate on the streets of Indianapolis even as all this was going on.

It looks as if Willis is taking something out of a bag — perhaps a warm hat — to give to someone in need. Which says a lot about the person.

Receiver prospects who can raise their stock at the scouting combine

Touchdown Wire’s Laurie Fitzpatrick goes to the film to examine receivers who may raise their stock at the 2022 NFL scouting combine

As the 2022 NFL Draft approaches, we already have an idea of who the first-round wide receivers are, but there are some prospects who, even though they have great measurables, might not be as high on the boards as they’d like

What makes the difference between a guy with the same measurables better than another? Usually, it’s because of what they’ve shown on their tape. It’s true that the tape doesn’t lie, but it also doesn’t paint the full picture of a prospect.

Some receivers who play at the bigger schools could be overshadowed by other players, therefore limiting their reps. Other times. guys just aren’t in the right scheme or position. It’s impossible for a prospect to show what he could be capable of at the next level if those situations arise. One place where teams usually find hidden gem is at the scouting combine.

It happens every single year. Some guys who are twentieth on the board, show up to Indianapolis and raise their stock to top fifteen or even top ten.

Let’s check out a few receivers who have that opportunity.

Kliff Kingsbury discusses Kyler Murray’s future, his own coaching, at scouting combine

Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury met with the media on Tuesday at the scouting combine, talking about Kyler Murray’s future, and his own coaching.

When Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury took the stage at the 2022 scouting combine to meet with the media on Tuesday, he undoubtedly knew that he would be grilled about quarterback Kyler Murray, and Murray’s future with the team. On Monday, Erik Burkhardt, Murray’s agent, released a statement in which he made it clear that his client believes in his team, but wants long-term stability to bring his best to the Valley of the Sun.

“Just a quick programming note – (GM) Steve Keim will be here at 3 p.m,” Kingsbury started. “I know he’s really anxious to talk to you guys, so any other tough ones, you can save for him.”

The media didn’t bite, and the questions came thick and fast. Kingsbury said that while he hadn’t talked with Murray since Burkhardt released that statement, he and Murray are in a good place, and “I just haven’t talked to him since yesterday.”

Kingsbury wasn’t aware that Burkhardt, who is also Kingsbury’s agent, was going to release that statement.

“No, we keep those things separate. Like I said, we know it’s a business and he’s doing his job… I love Kyler, I love Erik, and that’s not going to change.”

Kingsbury then reaffirmed his desire for Murray to be his guy.

“I think all of our long-term goal here is to have Kyler be our quarterback. He understands that. He understands my view of him and how I feel about him. Once again, I’m going to refer it back to the business side of things. That’s not something I deal with, but it’s all part of the business right now and things that we’ll continue to work through.”

Kingsbury also talked about how things need to improve going forward — both for the quarterback and for the head coach.

“I think just continue to take what the defense gives you,” Kingsbury said of his quarterback. “At times, he’ll want to make the big play, whether it’s with his feet or his arm. But when he’s finding his checkdown, when he’s taking what’s there – the underneath stuff – he’s really efficient and it helps our offense. It’s hard to play from third-and-7, third-and-9, but if you’re [at] third-and-5, you’ve got a fighting chance.”

As for his own adaptations, Kingsbury was forthright about his inability to adjust when receiver DeAndre Hopkins missed multiple games with an MCL injury. Hopkins’ late-season misses at times coincided with Murray’s own injury issues, so it was more than just Hopkins’ absence, but the on/off splits without Hopkins were truly alarming — the Cardinals dropped from 8.8 to 7.0 yards per attempt, from a 6.4% touchdown rate to 3.0%, and from 8.2 to 6.4 in average depth of target with Hopkins off the field.

“I think after doing some reflection, the biggest thing is when we lost Hop, I didn’t do a good job, schematically, of adjusting some things that could have taken some pressure off of Kyler, I think. You lose a piece like that, you’ve got to find a way to be more creative, I think, and I’ve got to be better at that. But I think we’ve improved each year, offensively. Obviously, didn’t like the way we finished [losing 34-11 to the Rams in the wild-card round], but we’ve got to continue to be creative and try to put Kyler in positions to be successful and surround him with talent that can make plays.”

Where it all goes from here, we don’t know, but this does bring some drama to the offseason.

2022 mock draft: Offensive tackles, defense lead pre-combine first round

With the 2022 scouting combine starting this week, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar drops his first mock draft of the 2022 draft season.

As most of the NFL’s coaches, executives, and scouts converge upon the Indianapolis Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium for the 2022 scouting combine, it’s time for the league to get a reset on the biggest collection of draft talent every year. There was no combine due to COVID in 2021, and the number of opt-outs that year added an extra level of depth to this year’s class — there are those in the know who will tell you that while this draft class isn’t particularly top-heavy, you can get a lot of first-round talent in the second round, and a lot of first- and second-day talent in the second and third days of the draft.

Workouts will be important. Medical checks will be important. Prospect interviews will be important, though less though than in previous years, because teams have become comfortable and familiar with the Zoom interviews that became a necessity last year, as opposed to the round-robin stuff that happens in Indy.

So, here’s one person’s thoughts on how a first-round draft might look like as the scouting combine gets going. Things will change during the week as we get a better sense of what NFL teams are looking for, and what these prospects can show them, but here’s the start of that process.

Full 7-round Bears mock draft 1.0: Pre-Scouting Combine edition

Ahead of the NFL Scouting Combine, we’re unveiling our first Bears mock draft of the season, where Chicago addresses some important needs.

The Chicago Bears have an important offseason ahead of them where new general manager Ryan Poles has some big decisions to make with the roster.

During his introduction press conference, Poles stressed the importance of building through the NFL draft. But it’s going to be hard given the Bears have just five draft selections this year. Not to mention, they’re without a first-round pick after trading it to move up and acquire Justin Fields last year.

With a plethora of needs ranging from wide receiver to offensive line to defensive back, Poles has plenty of work to do with this roster.

Ahead of the NFL Scouting Combine next week, here’s our first seven-round Bears mock draft of the season: