2025 NFL Combine Recap - DBs & TEs

[0] And now, Move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks.

[1] Hey, friends.

[2] Welcome back from Indianapolis.

[3] This is Move the Sticks.

[4] As we get set for day three of the Scouting Combine on -field workouts, we are looking back for you today on day two.

[5] Rhett Lewis, Bucky Brooks, Lance Zerline, back here for you.

[6] I think this is an appropriate way to begin the conversation by telling you it is time for Hot or Not, presented by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage.

[7] That track, when the DBs got on the field, hot, Bucky.

[8] Hot.

[9] It did not matter how big or small you were, because they were putting up some fast times out there.

[10] I don't want to toot the old horn, but somebody on this set yesterday said Maxwell Harrison is probably going to run the fastest 40 time.

[11] Somebody said that?

[12] Somebody said it.

[13] Oh, really?

[14] I don't remember who.

[15] Do you guys remember?

[16] It doesn't matter.

[17] It came from that side of the table.

[18] This side had a fast guy, but not the fastest guy.

[19] 4 -2 -8, our first and only 4 -2 40 -yard dash so far.

[20] The combine comes from Kentucky's Maxwell Harrison, who was.

[21] Terrific on tape, too, especially in 23 when he had the five picks.

[22] But let's talk about a few more guys who ran a blazing fast 40 time here.

[23] Buck, what stood out to you?

[24] I mean, look, one, just overall group, just the athleticism that is in the DB group continues to impress.

[25] And a lot of times we talk about DBs as if they're second class citizens when it comes to the wide receiver class.

[26] But DBs have talented athletes.

[27] I've told them I like to talk about them as decathletes.

[28] And I think we saw a bunch of talented guys.

[29] You can talk about Harris.

[30] We can talk about Marin.

[31] We can talk about so many guys that have great tape and great athleticism that they put on display.

[32] And whether they worked out or not doing the drills, to me, the measurement portion of the event allowed us to have some of the sizzle that we all covet when we come to this combine.

[33] Right.

[34] And, you know, they're getting aware, you know, you're starting to have to split hairs.

[35] Okay, this guy's fast, but how did he jump?

[36] You know, when you're just, no, once again, that's only, this is just the athletic portion of it.

[37] But then you go, what do you look like?

[38] And there were some guys that ran fast that did not look good in the drills.

[39] So, you know, there's a big difference between being a guy who can run fast in a straight line and being somebody who can get out of your brakes, can, you know, can plant and drive quickly on the throw because that's where you get your ball production.

[40] That's where you break passes up.

[41] It's great that you can run fast, but can you play football?

[42] So there is a combination.

[43] The underwear Olympics thing is something that sometimes annoys me because there's way more than that here.

[44] at the Combine, but it is interesting to see the speed.

[45] then the explosiveness, and then the football movement.

[46] And you get all three of them, and you want guys like Maxwell Harrison checked all three boxes.

[47] I thought Jacob Parrish from Kansas State.

[48] Jacob Parrish ran really, really fast.

[49] He had a 4 -3 -5.

[50] He had a 37 -1⁄2 -inch vertical leap and a 10 -9 broad jump.

[51] Check, check.

[52] And then, you know, I mean, I already know watching him on his tape, he is a really fluid mover.

[53] He is a guy who is going to move up.

[54] He'll be a second -round cornerback in this draft.

[55] So there's some guys that – that helped himself.

[56] There were a few guys that would be on the not side for me who maybe raised more questions than I had coming in.

[57] All of a sudden I got new questions.

[58] Well, I think you could say, you know, hot on the track, a guy like Darian Porter blew it up.

[59] Oh, wasabi was blowing it up over here with Darian Porter, right?

[60] The converted wide receiver in the corner.

[61] I think he struggled a little bit at the senior bowl, you know, and look, but he's still very young in his.

[62] cornerback life it's weird because he's played six years yeah but he's only played one year at cornerback so it's like so i got this six -year guy who's raw at the position what do i do with that well he's a phenomenal athlete but you know his saving grace is he's a star on special teams a star well it's five block kicks yeah the other thing you talk about like a six -year player but only one year at the position developmental teams are still covet someone who has those tools and you'll see if you convert them it does help that he is a standout special teamer because at least we talk about on Sundays can he get a jersey can he find a way onto the active roster to be able to get in games and if he gets in games as a special teamer there's an opportunity for him to get in game as a player and as long as he can continue the show improvement and practice over the long haul those two will certainly make him a very very coveted prospect on the board Now, I will say hot conversations I had down there on the field as kind of walking around after the 40s, watching guys do drills.

[63] Marquis Siegel from Kansas State runs four, three, seven.

[64] And some of the team scouts that I was talking to was like, I might have to go back and see if that four, three, seven shows up watching the tape a little bit.

[65] So those are kind of some of the things that happened here.

[66] By the way, we had a couple of guys run 10 yard splits.

[67] sub one five which is really getting out of your stance right we talk about that a lot with the edge rushers uh and that was darian porter at one four nine and then probably the hottest draft profile right now after two days of work at the combine nick emanori from south carolina four three eight forty one four nine ten yard split forty three inches on the vertical at six foot three and 220 pounds you guys have the floor on the south carolina stud well i mean like look even though he didn't do the on field stuff or whatever like his tape is pretty good when you see him at south carolina you see him make a ton of plays on the ball he can hit run and cover which you love you now come and see the athleticism you talk about the 43 inch vertical the ridiculous broad jump the 149 uh 10 split on a 438 40 yard dash he's everything and then when you see him walk through like an in terms of the way that he's built, you start to have these comparisons that don't make sense.

[68] A super explosive Cam Chancellor, a more dynamic Derwin James, a defensive freak show like DK Metcalf.

[69] Whatever you want to put out there, when you stand in front of your fellow scouts and you read the report, there are a lot of things that you're going to like.

[70] And now the conversation, as we love to talk about mock drafting and those things, where does he go?

[71] Is he 15 to 25 now?

[72] When we talk about as a prospect, where is he coming off the board?

[73] They don't look like this.

[74] I love Malachi Sparks, but one of the things that the combine does, when you have similar grades, and we all have similar grades between Starks and Emmanuel Warrior coming in.

[75] Well, now the nod goes to the great athlete.

[76] Right.

[77] So where does he come off the board?

[78] How high can he go?

[79] Yeah, I think a lot of that really depends on how teams view him.

[80] Like, you know, the reality is the one knock on him to me is that the motor is not always running hot.

[81] Like he has a chance to come downhill and just be a killer as a hitter at that size.

[82] And he doesn't always do it.

[83] But then when he wants to, he dominates.

[84] You don't love that he can turn it off and on.

[85] But then when you talk about his ability to.

[86] So that's the question you always ask.

[87] Does he have the ability to do this?

[88] He has the ability to play in the slot.

[89] He has the ability to play over the top because he has speed and instincts.

[90] He played over 500 snaps in the slot.

[91] Yeah, and he can play down low.

[92] So he can play three safety spots.

[93] He's scheme diverse.

[94] He can play the big tight ends.

[95] He can play the pass -catching tight ends, you know, both versions of tight ends.

[96] Like, when you have a guy who's that scheme versatile with those kind of traits, I mean, I would say, Bucky, he's going to get pushed really high.

[97] Yeah, he's going to get pushed really high.

[98] I mean, I'm looking.

[99] Dolphins at 13?

[100] Is that too high?

[101] I don't think it's – I mean, Ballard loves traits.

[102] Yeah.

[103] And he's sitting there at 12.

[104] He's sitting there at 14.

[105] I mean, this is – Was he 14?

[106] Okay.

[107] Yeah.

[108] I mean, I don't know if he gets past 14.

[109] And that's actually a need.

[110] He could use his safety too.

[111] Yeah, the conversation becomes interesting because of the dynamic athleticism that he displayed.

[112] Normally, when you see someone who's a freak athlete like that, you don't have real solid tape.

[113] to back it up.

[114] But his tape really led you to like him a lot.

[115] There was conversation about him being the number one ranked safety before we even got a chance to see him work out.

[116] Now it makes it easy to flip those spots between Starks and Falcons at 15.

[117] too.

[118] He can't get past the middle of the draft.

[119] Like it's just, he's not getting to the second half.

[120] Before I would have put them in a second half, but now this is one of these things where he's inside the top 16 to me, but you know, it's funny because no one had any doubts.

[121] Like everyone, everyone was just here to just see, but once you get it, what will the numbers be?

[122] You already knew the numbers were going to be great.

[123] He was on Bruce Feldman's freak list and all the numbers had an idea.

[124] You already knew he was going 40 plus vert and he was probably going to go sub four, four, but once you see it it's different you know once you see it you're like and then standing on the field right you were down there i don't know if you were buck but standing next to him you realize oh no this looks like a linebacker doing this like this guy is for real for real it's another one uh that i would throw out uh at you lance and see what what uh what you had had you know in your report on him coming out here caleb ransoff from tulane 433 40 uh 40 on the vert 10 9 on the broad I thought he had some good moments in Mobile as well, especially in the game.

[125] I think he came up with an interception in the game.

[126] He was making some plays in the football.

[127] A kid from Tulane that followed John Sumrall from Troy to Tulane and felt like stepping up in a little bit of competition on that front and handled himself pretty well.

[128] Yeah, he's a big nickel who supports the run, but he's got really, really good speed, as you alluded to.

[129] Very, very competitive.

[130] I think he could play.

[131] nickel or safety you know he's the big nickel now has turned into just nickel he's called big nickel now it's just this is what teams like to do and you think well that's a matchup problem you're not gonna be able to guard those fast guys out of the slot just guard them long enough is all you have to do and there's just just more advantages to being able to rough people up from the slot and support the run but um i think he can play All over the place.

[132] And to me, he was like a very good backup to eventual starter type.

[133] Yeah.

[134] And now I think he's pushed himself to the top of that list.

[135] You know, when you're stacking them.

[136] Sure.

[137] I'm going to stack them higher at a 613.

[138] So now the stack is going to go to about a 619, meaning he's right on the cusp of turning into a 620, which is going to be an NFL starter.

[139] And I may eventually put him there.

[140] I'm going to go back and watch him again because I'm reading my write up and like, I liked him.

[141] I definitely like them.

[142] Maybe this number was a little low.

[143] Yeah.

[144] Yeah.

[145] Any other names that you want to get out there on the DBs before we move on to the tight ends?

[146] I mean, so many good guys that have showed up.

[147] We've talked about some.

[148] What about the Thomas Kidd from Florida State?

[149] Yeah.

[150] Just showing up and doing some of the stuff.

[151] Azari, yeah.

[152] Like Azari, just being able to show because he only has two career interceptions.

[153] He's a press man corner.

[154] So watch him go through the gauntlet drill, see if he can catch and do those things, some of the movement skill stuff.

[155] There are people that buzz about him being a first -round pick.

[156] Oh, yeah.

[157] He is definitely one.

[158] that is squarely in the conversation.

[159] We've already talked about him here.

[160] We talked about Porter.

[161] They're just some really good guys in this class.

[162] Harrison, we've talked about.

[163] I think we're just going to come away saying that the cornerback group...

[164] is really, really solid.

[165] The slot cornerback group with Parrish and all those guys that are playing there.

[166] We'll talk more about that.

[167] And then Trey Amos from Ole Miss. Oh, I thought he looked good.

[168] Running like really, really solid in the four fours.

[169] You like some of those things.

[170] So I think I feel better about this group, particularly as we talk about the top 50, the top 60 selections.

[171] We can have that traditional run of cornerbacks that will go.

[172] Another guy that kept showing up in Mobile was Billy Bowman from Oklahoma.

[173] I thought he ran a really nice time at 4 -4 -2.

[174] Smaller, so you've got to be fast, but he's got crazy instincts.

[175] That guy plays like the motor just is stuck.

[176] The throttle is stuck for him because he can't slow down.

[177] He is all gas.

[178] Further down the line, Justin Wally from Minnesota missed some time last year for the Ghosts.

[179] But when he came back, he helped kick off with.

[180] I believe was a five -game win streak for Minnesota.

[181] Started with a big upset over USC at home.

[182] He ends up running in the 4 -4s.

[183] I thought it was a pretty good time there.

[184] Another guy that I liked from seeing him in person.

[185] So just a bunch of names there from the DB group that kind of stood out to us.

[186] A lot more that we'll get into here.

[187] But that was this week's Hot or Not segment brought to you by Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage.

[188] Store more and do more with your data.

[189] Try them for free at wasabi .com.

[190] Coming right back here on Move the Sticks with a look at the tight end.

[191] that were on the field here day two of the scouting combine All right, back with you here on Move the Sticks.

[192] Rhett Lewis, Bucky Brooks, Lance Zerline talking tight ends.

[193] And by the way, if you were wondering yet, Travis Hunter did not come out here with the defensive backs and participate.

[194] Will Johnson, kind of the same.

[195] So, you know, that's why we didn't mention those names there with the defensive backs.

[196] Kind of similar situation with the tight ends.

[197] Top two guys in the class were not out here working out.

[198] Tyler Warren and then also Colston Loveland.

[199] We also didn't see, you know, two of the other top tight ends actually run the 40.

[200] Mason Taylor from L .A. LSU, Elijah Arroyo from Miami.

[201] We did see Taylor out there in the on -field workouts.

[202] Bucky, what stood out to you about the tight end group?

[203] No, well, I think about Taylor.

[204] And he is the one that I had right on that borderline in terms of my top five.

[205] He obviously will be in it the next time around.

[206] But watching him go through drills, he is the prototypical wide tight end that you always look for.

[207] The guy that can line up and do everything.

[208] inline blocking when you saw him moving the bags it moved differently than some of the other guys like he did not have the struggles that some of them did when it came to explosive online blocking movement and then as a pass catcher how easy it is for him to catch it the route running how smooth he is uh to me he's just one of those solid all -around wide tight ends that can play for a long time in this league yeah i i thought he looked great out there i mean i can't wait to see how he tests but i already know he's going to run well and And I thought he looked really smooth out in space, has a separating gear.

[209] I think he's going to get pushed up.

[210] I think the first two tight ends come off the board inside the first 12, 13 picks.

[211] And then there's going to be somebody who says, you know.

[212] Once it gets, it's going to get to, because Gunnar Helm did not help himself yesterday from the University of Texas.

[213] So I don't know how you stack it, but I know that I think Mason Taylor will probably be the third guy off.

[214] I think he goes third because Fanning Jr. didn't run fast.

[215] No, he didn't.

[216] But I thought he was one of the winners of the field workout.

[217] Oh, he's terrific.

[218] But he doesn't block.

[219] Yeah, he's terrific.

[220] He's just a pass catcher.

[221] So if you're going to just be a pass catcher, you want to see a little more juice.

[222] So that's one of the things.

[223] So I think Mason Taylor's the third, and it's going to be a matter of we really need.

[224] a tight end and this dude can play let's go up and get him like it wouldn't shock me if maybe a sneaky third tight end got into the first round yeah with mason taylor because i'm not sure a third quarterback gets into the first round so i know travis kelsey's coming back but That'd be a nice spot for him there in Kansas City at 31.

[225] Oh, I mean, mess around and let them get a replacement for Kelsey.

[226] I'm sure they'll take a look at that.

[227] CJ Dupree had a really nice workout for Alabama.

[228] He's a guy that I think helped himself a little bit yesterday as well.

[229] You and I were standing while they were doing another piece of the testing, which we don't talk about a whole lot, which was flexibility.

[230] They'll kind of, you know, anybody who's ever, you know, sat down and done a hamstring stretch where you get the, you know, your legs out in a V. Right.

[231] And then you're trying to reach for your legs.

[232] But what they do here is they you cross the elbows and then they try to see how close you can get your elbows to the ground and then measure that space.

[233] Yeah, they got a yardstick off the ground and they see how they get way low and they see how many inches off the ground you are.

[234] And I know there was.

[235] Evans from Notre Dame was like eight and a half inches off, which is low.

[236] There was another guy, I won't say who it is, was like 18 and a half.

[237] But I just thought, oh, that's me. That's me. But Dupree was, I mean, those elbows went right to the ground, feet over the top on kind of that low back.

[238] Bucky, talk about that for a second.

[239] So, you know, we talk about flexion, but this is something that's never discussed.

[240] I saw the force plate measurements that are out there, which is something new that's not going to, the public isn't really going to see that or get.

[241] measurements and i talked to one of the guys who was running it but can you talk about the flexibility test because it's not just for tight ends they're doing this for everyone right yeah because you want to see that like some of this is like you're trying to get the predictors of guys that could have injury issues because they're tight they can't move all of that other stuff like when we talk about athleticism flexibility has to be a big part of it no one wants to big stiff athlete and you only know as they get older they're not going to become more flexible and so you're trying to get that baseline testing underway but you do like to see guys that can be and think about all the conversations that we have with the big guys that are dancing bears and how nimble they are and those things yeah so the flexibility certainly matters okay Let's give some credit to some of the testing monsters from the tight end group.

[242] I'll just run through that quickly.

[243] Luke Lachey, Colston Loveland were the tallest at over six foot five.

[244] And then we had Terrence Ferguson run the fastest 40, a guy I feel like.

[245] has some real high -level potential in his frame and in his production, in his game.

[246] He was a very valuable target there at Oregon.

[247] Want to see just a little bit more edge to his game.

[248] 4 -6 -3 on the 40 was the fastest we saw.

[249] Thomas Fedoni had some of the biggest measurements, longest arms, biggest hands from Nebraska.

[250] He was the number one tight end in the country coming out of high school and then had kind of an injury -plagued early part of his career, but then became...

[251] a bigger piece of the Nebraska pass game.

[252] 34 -inch arms, like you said, that's tackle size.

[253] Those are tackle arms.

[254] And then broad jump, 10 '6", which was the longest of the group.

[255] Aranda Gadsden, who has NFL bloodlines, showed up with a 39 -inch vert.

[256] But I wanted to ask you about our friend who did not have the fastest 40 -yard dash time, but did have perhaps the most intriguing headshot, and that is Robbie Utz from Alabama.

[257] Go ahead, Lance.

[258] Well, so I looked at, I watched him play and he's a burly guy.

[259] Well, muscles, muscles on muscles.

[260] Then I saw his, his picture and he's got the, he's got a full on mustache.

[261] There's a Kenny powers look.

[262] And I was like, man, this guy.

[263] And so I spent about 25 minutes trying to come up with a description.

[264] Because I need to tell people who this guy is.

[265] You need to tell.

[266] And I'm like, and I am working through and I'm like, this guy worked like this is like a grown man with three kids type of look.

[267] Yes.

[268] Like that works a hard job.

[269] So I'm searching for the tough jobs and I'm Google searches stuff.

[270] I should not like, why am I doing, I've got players to write.

[271] And I got into this rabbit hole of who this guy is.

[272] And I came up with, I said, you know who he is?

[273] He's like an iron worker.

[274] with a squat rack in his garage.

[275] And he's out there hitting that rack.

[276] Wow.

[277] Wow.

[278] Before going to work.

[279] Before going to work.

[280] And after he gets back from work.

[281] Yeah.

[282] With like an Iron City beverage right there.

[283] Exactly.

[284] Like he is a blue collar.

[285] He's got a blue collar body type.

[286] He's physical.

[287] He's aggressive.

[288] It's funny.

[289] He didn't run fast, but when you watch him, he plays with short air explosiveness.

[290] He just can't maintain.

[291] Like my guess is his 10 yard time.

[292] I haven't even looked.

[293] I bet his 10 yards, not decent, but.

[294] It tails off.

[295] We can't hang on to the speed, Buck.

[296] We can get the gas going.

[297] Yeah, we can get the gas going, but I'm not trying to play 30 and 40 yards on the field.

[298] Well, nobody's sending him down the seam to run a, you know, trying to beat a safety on a 40 -yard.

[299] But now he is an NFL fullback.

[300] He'll be on a team, and he'll probably get.

[301] pretty good reps as an NFL fullback, but when you see him, like he is, he looks like striking.

[302] He looks like he played at Penn state in the eight, in the eighties, Bucky.

[303] That's what he looks like.

[304] If he just put just a little bit of a neck roll on to me, I would raise him a full two rounds.

[305] Um, one of my favorites in the class, uh, also, um, you know, it was not like at the way top end of any of the testing, but I thought moved really well and has some good tape is Maliki Matavao from UCLA.

[306] Um, trying to think of some of the other guys that kind of stood out on this one again we mentioned terrence uh or tyler warren and uh and colson loveland did not uh get out there on the field he was actually i thought he had some good hands so he's got like he's interesting at arizona state He played some quarterback.

[307] They had him as a he's like five of six throwing.

[308] They used him as a as a wildcat quarterback.

[309] He would run.

[310] He would hand off and he would throw some like he is a really, really interesting athlete.

[311] He went from Arizona State to Texas Tech, you know.

[312] The buzz on him up in the stands from some of the scouts was not a guy who lived in the weight room necessarily.

[313] Some of the stuff about getting after it and grinding, if he does that in the NFL, then all of a sudden he's got the athleticism.

[314] If that work ethic kicks in, that's something to keep an eye on.

[315] Yep.

[316] And then never discount the Iowa tight ends.

[317] Right.

[318] We'll find a way.

[319] Right.

[320] We'll find a way.

[321] So there's just a look at some of the tight ends and defensive backs that were out on the field from day two of the combine.

[322] We'll get back with you tomorrow for a recap of what look in most years is the main event.

[323] Right.

[324] quarterbacks, wide receivers, tight ends.

[325] We're getting ready for that today.

[326] We'll have that recap for you coming up tomorrow on Move the Sticks.

[327] For Lance Zerline, Bucky Brooks, I'm Rhett Lewis.

[328] Thanks so much for being with us.

[329] We'll catch you next time right here on Move the Sticks.