Tag: 2023 scouting combine

1 Prospect Cowboys showed combine interest for each day of draft

The Cowboys talked with a ton of prospects in Indianapolis, but these three players seem like ideal fits for each day of the draft, says @cdpiglet

With NFL free agency still a few days away, there’s still some exhaust fumes from the 2023 scouting combine to wade through. Dallas uses the draft more so than free agency to fill holes left on the rosters. Last year’s Conner Williams departure led to a need at offensive line, filled by Tyler Smith. Sam Williams was drafted as part of the plan to replace Randy Gregory.

Dallas has created a bit of wiggle room against the salary cap in order to make some signings, but it would be a great departure from tradition for them to be major players in the first stanzas of free agency. Wise fans know to keep their focus on the draft and so it’s only fair to look at prospects whose combine performances should’ve caught the club’s eye.

4-Down Territory: Risers and fallers from the 2023 scouting combine

With the scouting combine in the rear view, 4 Down Territory’s Luke Easterling and Doug Farrar recap which NFL prospects’ draft stocks rose and fell the most.

Every week in “4-Down Territory,” Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Luke Easterling of Bucs Wire and Draft Wire go over the things you need to know about, and the things you need to watch, in the NFL right now. With the 2023 scouting combine wrapped up, it’s all about how the prospects did in the medicals, in the meeting rooms with NFL teams, and of course, on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium.

This week, Doug and Luke discuss:

00:00 – Intro

01:01 – Which offensive draft prospect helped himself with the combine drills?

05:29 – Which defensive draft prospect helped himself with the combine drills?

09:18 – Which offensive prospect failed to capitalize on it when the rubber hit the road?

13:36 – Which defensive prospect didn’t meet expectations at the combine?

You can watch this week’s episode of “4-Down Territory” right here:

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VIDEO: Best wide receiver workouts at 2023 NFL scouting combine

A video compilation of some of the best wide receiver workouts during the 2023 NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

Below is a video compilation of some of the best wide receiver workouts during the 2023 NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

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WATCH: Best of the tight ends at 2023 NFL scouting combine

Take a look at some of the best of the tight end workouts during the 2023 NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis ahead of this year’s draft.

Take a look at some of the best of the tight end workouts during the 2023 NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis ahead of this year’s draft.

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Here’s who the Cowboys have met with at the 2023 Scouting Combine

Based on the positional breakdown of guys they’ve talked to in Indy, it’s pretty clear where the Cowboys intend to focus during April’s draft, and the boundary dominates Rd 1. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The annual NFL Scouting Combine affords each NFL team an opportunity to meet, greet, poke and prod at a number of draft prospects. Teams are able to get medical evaluations, athletic measurements and a feel for how a prospect handles the bright lights of Indianpolis and the league machine at work. The drills and performance metrics are a great baseline to how the prospect’s film will translate to the professional level.

But perhaps nothing is more revealing and helpful in finding the right fit than the chance to sit down and talk with a prospect. Teams can do this throughout the week, but there is a structure that goes along with the general open nature of an event where everyone talks to everyone. Each team is afforded a maximum of 45 official meetings and it’s a glimpse into guys Dallas wants more information on.

Here’s who the Cowboys have been linked with thus far. Please note, sometimes informal meetings are erroneously noted as formal visits. Prospects who are confirmed as official are marked with an asterisk.

Shout out to 105.3 The Fan’s Bobby Belt for compiling a thread of formal visitors from various tweets, as well as Walter Football for the list of informals.

Florida QB Anthony Richardson is absolutely dominating the scouting combine

Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson is making the 2023 scouting combine his personal demolition project with record-setting performances.

INDIANAPOLIS — Question the pure passing potential of Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson all you want (though he clearly showed improvement in the second half of his first season as a college starter), but let it be known that this dude is just as freaky an athlete on the track as he is on the field.

During Saturday’s combine drills for quarterbacks, Richardson blew up the 40-yard dash with a 4.44-second time — which, per MockDraftable.com, is the fourth-fastest 40 time for a quarterback since 1999. Richardson finished behind Virginia Tech’s Michael Vick in 2001 (4.33 seconds), Texas A&M’s Reggie McNeal in 2006 (4.4 flat), and Baylor’s Robert Griffin III in 2012 (4.41).

Richardson’s 40 was faster than those of Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor, Vince Young, Daunte Culpepper, Jake Locker, Colin Kaepernick, and Russell Wilson.

Oh, and he also made history in other ways.

Richardson saw no need to run a second 40, and who could blame him?

We’ll see how Richardson fares in the throwing drills — he has a ridiculous deep arm and can feather touch passes a bit better than his detractors think. If he aces that as well, Anthony Richardson could send the 2023 draft class into total chaos.

Tennessee OT Darnell Wright explains how to block Will Anderson Jr. and BJ Ojulari

Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright erased Will Anderson Jr. and BJ Ojulari in 2022. On Saturday, he explained exactly how he did that.

INDIANAPOLIS — It’s not always easy to get anything of import from the player podium sessions at a scouting combine. The 15-minute pressers are generally taken up halfway with various reporters asking, “Did you meet with [Team X],” “Did you meet with [Team X]?” “Did you meet with [Team X]?” “Did you meet with [Team X]?” “Did you meet with [Team X]?” and finally, “Did you meet with [Team X]?”

Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright took care of that during his Saturday morning podium session by pulling out his phone and running down the names of about three-quarters of the NFL.

With that out of the way, it was time to talk about Wright’s 2022 season reps against two of the best edge-rushers in this draft class — Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr., and LSU’s BJ Ojulari. Anderson is a consensus top-five prospect, and Ojulari might sneak into the first round, but neither man did much against Wright. In back-to-back games against LSU and Alabama, Wright allowed a total of no sacks, no quarterback hits, and one quarterback hurry on 81 pass-protection snaps. And at 6-foot-5 and 342 pounds, you know that Wright can get it done in the run game, as well.

But this was about how Wright protected quarterback Hendon Hooker in those two games. He did so to the point where Anderson, in his own podium session this week, said that Wright was the best offensive tackle he faced.

“My sophomore year to my junior year, he had gotten way better,” Anderson said of Wright. “Very athletic, can bend, [and] can re-trace with his steps. If he gets off balance, [he] can sit down on power[-rushes], so it was really exciting going against him this year. He was really great.”

Wright’s game against Anderson was one of the primary series of moments in the SEC last season, because Anderson had just two pressures in that Tennessee game, and he had to get as far away from Wright as possible to get either one of them. When it was mano a mano, Anderson found himself shut out.

I asked Wright how he decided to deal with Anderson, and from there, it’s time to go to the tape.

Tennessee OT Darnell Wright explains how to block Will Anderson Jr. and BJ Ojulari

Tennessee right tackle Darnell Wright erased Will Anderson Jr. and BJ Ojulari in 2022. On Saturday, he explained exactly how he did that.

INDIANAPOLIS — It’s not always easy to get anything of import from the player podium sessions at a scouting combine. The 15-minute pressers are generally taken up halfway with various reporters asking, “Did you meet with [Team X],” “Did you meet with [Team X]?” “Did you meet with [Team X]?” “Did you meet with [Team X]?” “Did you meet with [Team X]?” and finally, “Did you meet with [Team X]?”

Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright took care of that during his Saturday morning podium session by pulling out his phone and running down the names of about three-quarters of the NFL.

With that out of the way, it was time to talk about Wright’s 2022 season reps against two of the best edge-rushers in this draft class — Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr., and LSU’s BJ Ojulari. Anderson is a consensus top-five prospect, and Ojulari might sneak into the first round, but neither man did much against Wright. In back-to-back games against LSU and Alabama, Wright allowed a total of no sacks, no quarterback hits, and one quarterback hurry on 81 pass-protection snaps. And at 6-foot-5 and 342 pounds, you know that Wright can get it done in the run game, as well.

But this was about how Wright protected quarterback Hendon Hooker in those two games. He did so to the point where Anderson, in his own podium session this week, said that Wright was the best offensive tackle he faced.

“My sophomore year to my junior year, he had gotten way better,” Anderson said of Wright. “Very athletic, can bend, [and] can re-trace with his steps. If he gets off balance, [he] can sit down on power[-rushes], so it was really exciting going against him this year. He was really great.”

Wright’s game against Anderson was one of the primary series of moments in the SEC last season, because Anderson had just two pressures in that Tennessee game, and he had to get as far away from Wright as possible to get either one of them. When it was mano a mano, Anderson found himself shut out.

I asked Wright how he decided to deal with Anderson, and from there, it’s time to go to the tape.

Watching tape with Tyjae Spears, the most explosive back in the 2023 draft class

Tulane’s Tyjae Spears is the most explosive back in the 2023 draft class, and watching tape with him is just a series of ridiculous plays.

INDIANAPOLIS — Tulane running back Tyjae Spears is cooking, and good luck stopping him. The 5-foot-9, 204-pound back comes to the scouting combine looking to prove his worth as an every-down back (“A four-down back,” as he told me), and if you’re discounting him because of his size, you may want to check that, because Spears’ 2022 tape with the Green Wave is as full of utterly ridiculous plays as you’ll see from any back — perhaps from any player — in this draft class.

The metrics bear this out. In 2022, Spears gained 1,586 yards and scored 19 touchdowns on 231 carries. 1,052 of those yards came after contact, he averaged 4.55 yards per carry after contact, he forced 63 missed tackles, and 21 of his carries went for 15 or more yards for 793 explosive yards. He also caught 22 passes on 28 targets for 251 yards and two touchdowns, and though all of his passes were of the short-to-intermediate variety, he averaged 12.7 yards after the catch per reception.

Then, when he got to the Senior Bowl, Spears continued his penchant for ridiculousness.

I met with Spears in the lower lobby of the Indianapolis Omni Severin Hotel on Wednesday, as he was one of many EXOS clients doing final training for the combine.

2023 NFL Draft: Inside the last-minute prep for the combine’s biggest names

It was the first time I’ve ever watched tape with a player on my phone, but I could not resist the opportunity to go over a few plays with the most explosive back in this class. Spears was eager and able to explain — to a point — how it is that he does what he does, though as he says, you just can’t plan some of this stuff. It either happens, or it doesn’t, and with Spears, it happens all the time.

Without further ado, let’s have the man himself explain some of the silliest tape you’ll see from anyone working out at the scouting combine this year.

All-22 from the scouting combine: Defensive backs detail their favorite plays

Christian Gonzalez, Clark Phillips III, Jaylon Jones, and Jammie Robinson detail their most notable college plays from the scouting combine.

INDIANAPOLIS — What’s your one defining moment?

Every prospect at the scouting combine has that one play which defines them to a degree — the highlight shot they think about over and over when it’s time to think about their collegiate careers.

As the defensive backs took the podiums in Indianapolis on Thursday, I thought it would be interesting to ask them which plays they thought best defined them as players. So, here’s Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez, Utah cornerback Clark Phillips III, Texas A&M cornerback Jaylon Jones, and Florida State safety Jammie Robinson on that very subject.