OK, the big day...the QB-RB-WR groups went...and ‘man’ the athletes pumping out of the college ranks is ‘sick’...at RB and WR. A record setting day in a variety of ways for speed from the RB and WR groups as a whole.
Let’s look at Day-3 by position group...
Running Back Notes:
-- I mean...what else is there to say? I just sat there watching 4.4 runners try and out-do each other prospect after prospect. 14 of the 24 RBs who ran clocked a 40-yard dash in the 4.4s or faster (4.49 or faster). For context, let’s look back in 5-year historical increments and see how many RBs could run 4.49 or faster at the Combine.
2025 = 14
2020 = 7
2015 = 3
2010 = 6
2005 = 5
Last year was a really solid RB class...and they only 8 RBs hit the 4.49 or faster mark. The 2025 RB class is INSANE.
Now, just because a guy runs a 4.49 or faster 40-time doesn’t automatically mean they’re good or great NFL prospects...but it’s definitely a good starting point to consider.
The NFL is being invaded by a surge of college athletes from another dimension. And that invasion is going to turn Fantasy Football 2025 on its ear...it’s going to completely change strategies on Dynasty teams. Too many talented RBs...no place for them to go but to depth charts where there is other talent there to compete with...to share touches with.
Fantasy RB scouting is going to be more about ‘where did they land?’ more than it is talent assessments. The leading rookie rushers in 2024 were day three draft picks...Bucky Irving (1,122) and Tyrone Tracy (839)...the next rookie RBs on the list were half of Tracy, approx. And Irving and Tracy did not start out/were not intended to be their team’s 2024 starters...but injury hit, or a new O-C changed RB priority...and ‘boom’.
I think Braelon Allen and Trey Benson are very talented...but they can’t get on the field outside of sparse relief carries. Issac Guerendo was 3rd-string most all 2024 season...and then injuries elevated him to starter, and POW...he looked as good/better than any RB taken in 2024. The highest NFL-drafted RB in 2024, Jonathon Brooks...was a total bust. Where are all these RBs of 2025, a golden age of RB talent, going to land to play/impact Fantasy 2025...or 2026?
2025 NFL Draft day’s 1-2-3 is gonna be a massive ‘hold your breath’ moment when the team of your FF main carry RB is about to draft and you’re praying they don’t draft one of the 10-15 talented RBs in this draft.
Actually, I just stopped writing this piece and went and counted real quick...going down the RB list. It’s 20 guys that I think could legitimately work well in the NFL. So, half+ the league is about to get a really good RB to their roster. Half+ the league already has a fine lead RB.
Yes, RBs are gonna be devalued in Fantasy...an ever-changing landscape of ‘who’s hot’/’playing’ week-to-week -- but what will be priceless are the RBs that avoided this hostile takeover, where their team didn’t draft an RB who could make an impact or command touches. Bijan Robinson and Saquon Barkley, and Derrick Henry are likely worth their weight in gold for 2025. Just about everyone else is probably gonna be at-risk in either 2025 or 2026.
-- With that being said, focusing strictly on scouting/talent...let’s talk about RBs at the Combine.
My ‘winner’? I don’t even know where to begin. I expected (like everyone) this RB class to be good/great and it didn’t disappoint. So, I am going to name my ‘winners’ as the guys who made me take note to go back through and reconsider their NFL case/grade...to the upside.
#1 on that list, has to be Quinshon Judkins. I was not a big fan of him during my deeper scouting...I mean, he was fine but I didn’t see the B-grade or better athlete on tape...but then he goes out and runs a 4.48 40-time...a 1.51 10-yard split...with a best in RB class 11’0” broad jump and a nifty 38.5” vertical at 221 pounds. Those are the numbers of a real athlete at RB...and I didn’t see it coming that hard. Time for a re-scout/re-grade there.
Again, it doesn’t mean he isn’t a stiff, limited, straight-ahead runner (compared to the others). He skipped all the agility stuff. But his other times and measures means a re-look and re-grade for sure.
#2 Trevor Etienne continues to look better and better with each viewing...from the Senior Bowl to the Combine. He ran a 4.42 40-time with a 1.51 10-yard split. Visually, he was really fluid/smooth.
#3 Montrell Johnson out of Florida needs a new look. 5’11”/212 and ran a 4.4...and an OK 4.29 shuttle, but no 3-cone time as of this writing.
-- Traditional ‘winners’...guys who just jumped out at me above the other talents...
#1 was probably Kaleb Johnson...pure muscle through and through and just moved around so smoothly at 224 pounds...and caught the ball well enough. A solid enough 4.58 40-time for his size and style. He locked in his place in my heart here.
#2 D.J. Giddens had a day as well...6’0”/212 and ran a 4.43 40-time, 1.53 10-yard with a 2nd-best 10’10” with a 39.5” vertical. Ross Jacobs says DeMarco Murray, I say Tony Pollard...so, same thing essentially.
-- Disappointments, for me?
Let me say who it is NOT, even though I’m not thrilled that they didn’t do anything off-the-charts...
Ollie Gordon ran a 4.61 40-time at 226 pounds, I wish it were better...but that’s fine for his size. But it was after the 40-yard dashes where Gordon shined more...very smooth movements and such a great catcher of the ball at his size. He’s gonna be fine...but if he ran in the 4.4s you’d never hear the end of it from me.
Guys who DID disappoint me...
Kyle Monangai ran a 4.60 40-time at 211 pounds. I swore he was just like Ashton Jeanty, but arguably shiftier. A 4.60 is a bit of a downer. I would have liked/been OK with a 4.55 or faster. It also makes me wonder if virtually identical sized, similar-looking Jeanty isn’t a 4.5s runner not a 4.4s.
Ja’Quinden Jackson came in at 229 pounds, which blew me away...because he wears it like 215 pounds. He didn’t run a 40-time, but did do the broad jump, vertical, and 3-cone...and was weak in all of them. It made me wonder how bad his 40 might have been. I may have to separate from him. I’ll give him through his Pro Day to assuage my growing fears that he just doesn’t have ‘it’ beyond some great looking tape moments but not full consistency...
-- My biggest ‘loser’ of the RB group: Cameron Skattebo. I just do not get prospects going to this one event, this one-time job audition where every single thing they do, say, look like is being judged...and there’s Skattebo...down on the field with the RBs, but was the only one dressed way differently...
He was the only guy wearing a hat, which isn't a crime but no one else was. He wore a sleeveless hoodie + hat + backpack most of the time and was not paying attention or interacting much with the other RBs...looking like he was ‘too good’. He just stood out (not in a good way) from everyone else with his fashion ensemble.
You probably are miffed at the minor nitpicky stuff I just mentioned. But I hadn’t told you about his standout fashion accoutrement: a diamond braided necklace with a giant diamond pendant displaying the word ‘SKATT’.
You have 364 days a year where you can wear pretty much whatever you want whenever you want, but this one day with your peers at the Combine judgement day -- all your goal should be is to just look normal, look like a worker...look humble...look like a leader. There is no win looking like a slacker or a diva at the Combine. It’s not like Skattebo is a mile ahead of a rare handful of top RB prospects -- there’s legit 20 guys who are talented...don’t make me pass you by in the draft because you decided to look like an idiot at the Combine...it’s not that I don’t care for jewelry (and I don’t) -- it’s just that there’s an insight into somebody’s mental judgement ability on display by what they wear or statements they are trying to make with their garb at this job interview week.
If I were an agent, I would have told Skattebo ahead -- definitely skip doing anything at the Combine, but when you go out there...go wear their standard issue gear with no hat or flashy jewelry or backpack...just look normal but stand out by the way you interact and cheer on the other RBs. Do everything all for show if it’s not natural for you...it’s like a politician trying to get elected. Don’t be a fool at this one event.
But Skattebo looked like a fool to me. He looked like he felt like he was too good to even be on the field with the other RBs. Bad optics. And him doing the vertical (because he was obviously good there, and knew it), but nothing else...tells me he and his team are worried about his 40-time. He created that doubt...not me.
-- I want to mention that the TV analyst talk at this event seemed full scale focused/hyping the Ohio State RB duo. ‘Talk’ valuation...it was Jeanty-TreVon-Judkins 1-2-3, from a gut feel of chatter from the analysts...Omarion up there too.
But I mention the OSU guys to say...Judkins was an upside surprise here, but TreVeyon kinda got lost in all the good times here...but he was fine -- 4.43/1.52 and a 38.5” vertical at 5’10”/202. All solid enough numbers, but he didn’t make the analysts go wild like I think they were hoping. I think they thought a 4.35 was coming. It didn’t. Those two OSU’ers did get a lot of general love from the TV analysts...as national title players tend to get...especially if it’s Ohio State or Alabama, etc.
-- Ross Jacobs’ RB comments: A lot of RBs did well for themselves including my guy Tahj Brooks but Quinshon Judkins really cemented himself near the top with some excellent scores across the board at 220 lbs.
None of the RBs really bombed but Ollie Gordon had a chance to really stand out with some good scores and his size, but it was a mild letdown for him with so many other backs running in the 4.3s and 4.4s
Measurable Leaders:
Tallest: Ja’Quinden Jackson, Kalel Mullings (6’1.4”)
Biggest Hands: LeQuint Allen (10 1/8”)
Longest arms: Ja’Quinden Jackson (33.0”)
Longest Wingspan: Ollie Gordon (80.0”)
Fastest GPS Top Speed: Rahiem Sanders (23.55 mph)
40-yard dash: Bhayshul Tuten (4.32)
10-yard split: Bhayshul Tuten (1.49)
Best Vertical: Bhayshul Tuten (40.5”)
Best Broad Jump: Quinshon Judkins (11’0”)
Fastest Shuttle: Tahj Brooks (4.06)
Fastest Three-Cone: Tahj Brooks (6.90)
Quarterback Group Notes:
There’s really not a lot for the QBs to do here to really impress/show-off or scout. Throwing in shorts/t-shirt with no defense in a dome to strange WRs is nothing to really evaluate. And the top two (consensus) guys skipped doing anything...so, in a weaker QB draft there was little to observe here for real scouting purposes.
...but
Let me share some observations outside the normal Combine stuff...
-- From the talk of the analysts...to my conversations with sources on the ground...Cam Ward is going #1 in this draft. The momentum is a growing tsunami. In this horse race, the Shedeur horse is dying...leaving Cam the winner by near default, but also Cam is such a polished, gracious young man with all the QB tools -- he is everything that Shedeur is not. Ward is bigger/thicker, has a much stronger arm, way better feet, and is a natural/humble leader...the kind of guy you want when people are so focused on a team’s ‘culture’. Shedeur is the total opposite.
Either Tennessee is making that pick at #1 (then they will trade Levis), or they will trade that pick to a team that will only move up for Ward...the Giants are the favorite for making that move up. Free agency week is going to change all our perspectives on what teams need/want a rookie QB.
-- Tyler Shough did participate in all things. His QB group (#2)...Shough was the only one to run a 40, to the crowd’s delight and Shough pumping up the crowd a little with some arm waving post-run to acknowledge the crowd. Shough’s stock continues to rise.
Purely based on talent, I would take Shough over Shedeur. Then when you add ‘character’ and ‘culture’ in...no brainer I take Shough.
-- Not as much hype on Jalen Milroe or Jaxson Dart by the analysts as there has been the past week or two...especially surprised by the Dart slowdown of his hype. If I based things on who the analysts were pushing as the #3 QB, today, it would’ve been Ohio State’s Will Howard.
It was Milroe as the fave #3 back in January/for a second...then they went to Dart, now they are trying on the Will Howard slipper. Tyler Shough is inching closer and closer to getting into that #3 conversation.
-- Note from the passer drills... Jalen Milroe was off target on almost every basic timing throw that I watched of his. Then Tyler Shough would go in right after him (just the way the rotation list went) and put laser beams on the money with his throws. It was jarring, the difference of Milroe-Shough, to me observing it...again. Milroe had the same issue at the Senior Bowl. He almost plays better in games and looks worse in practice...but it’s all adding up to mean that he is falling like a rock in draft stock.
-- No player in my football analyst career bothers me more than Shedeur Sanders. The NFL team that invests heavily in him deserves every problem they are going to get.
There he was at the player interview day, the prior day, in a crooked hat to the side and dueling giant diamond necklaces on...mumbling his best, rehearsed pre-practice interview lines -- but eventually/quickly slipping into his arrogant self. Over the last two days, I’ve heard Shedeur say things like...he’s turned around two college programs (like he was the lone reason), that he’s the best QB in the draft, and that the thing teams like about him is he’s the best mental QB by far in the draft (whatever that means), and that people who criticize him or his dad are ‘haters’.
Who in the world would take this guy in the 1st-round of the NFL Draft? He’s a circus all unto himself...and without ‘daddy’ as head coach to protect him, this is gonna be ugly real fast. NFL locker rooms are going to eat his arrogant ass alive. All the while Deion Sanders will be coaching his NFL team from a distance to any available media microphone everyday...as he prepares (in his head) himself to be the next head coach of Shedeur’s NFL team. What NFL coach...what NFL GM in their right mind ‘hires’ this calamity into their business?
I want to say ‘no team or owner or exec could be so stupid’...but we’re talking about the NFL here...the embodiment of poorly run businesses by people with absolutely no business sense, save for a rare few.
Measurable Leaders:
Tallest: Tyler Shough (6’4.7”)
Biggest Hands: Mertz, Shedeur, and Shough (9.5”)
Longest arms: Brady Cook (32.5”)
Longest Wingspan: Brady Cook (77 5/8”)
Fastest GPS Top Speed: Brady Cook (21.34 mph)
40-yard dash: Brady Cook (4.59)
10-yard split: Brady Cook (1.53)
Best Vertical: Brady Cook (37.0”)
Best Broad Jump: Brady Cook (10’8”)
Fastest Shuttle: Brady Cook (4.17
Fastest Three-Cone: Brady Cook (7.01)
Wide Receiver Group Notes:
-- Just like the RB group...the WR group was historic in speed. Only with the WR group the amazement was how many of them ran in the 4.3s or faster.
For context, let’s look back in 5-year historical increments and see how many WRs ran a 4.40 40-time or faster at the Combine.
2025 = 13
2020 = 6
2015 = 5
2010 = 2
2005 = 5
In 2024, nine WRs ran in that 4.40 or faster group.
Wait until 2026 and 2027...
The thing is...are we getting just a bunch of superiorly trained track technique runners for this event...and half+ of them are not legit actual WR talents for the NFL -- but they can run straight very fast?
-- My ‘winners’ from the WR group...
#1 Jaylin Noel knocked it out of the park, as he marches towards a top 30-40 draft status. A 4.39 40-time with a 1.51 10-yd split....a 6.82 three-cone with a 4.17 shuttle and a WR best 11’2” broad jump and 41.5” vertical. I loved him going in...and I love him even more going out.
#2 Jaylen Royals...he’s another draft love child that has star potential. I was talking to Ross Jacobs during the draft, and he remembered preview scouting Royals as a 185-190 pound WR in the summer of 2024...he was shocked to find out that he bulked to 205 pounds now...and ran a 4.42 40-time, 1.49 10-yard split.
#3 Chimere Dike killed it, out of nowhere. I liked him OK enough ahead of/at the Senior Bowl...but I didn’t think he had this coming = 6’0.5”/196, ran a 4.34/1.51 with a 6.82 three-cone and a 10’8” broad + 38.5” vertical. Excellent day for Dike...from undrafted likely to likely drafted now. And he is a good receiver too...that’s what I liked about him, he had receiver skills on tape...but he wasn’t a feature at Florida. He’s climbing the boards now.
-- My ‘disappointment’ WRs were...
#1 Pat Bryant...a bigger WR that I thought would run in the 4.5s, but he ran a 4.61. Not devastating but I was hoping for better.
Overall...none of the WRs that I really had my eye on did anything to hurt their status with me. There were only guys improving or solidifying their status with me.
-- Two bigger name/higher graded WRs to note...
Kudos to Luther Burden (4.42) and Tre Harris (4.54)...both participated in the 40s, and both put up numbers they needed to. And Harris hit a nice 38.5” vertical as well.
-- The flop of the WR group, comedically...Isaiah Bond yapped for weeks that he was gonna break Xavier Worthy’s 4.2 40-time...and he ran a 4.39. Still fast, but nowhere near Worthy. How delusional are you to brag and boast...and then miss it by that much?
-- Ross Jacobs’ WR comments: WR Chimere Dike and Jaylin Lane put their names on the map, but I have to go with both the Iowa St receivers as co best performances of the day. Jayden Higgins ran a very nice 4.47 with a 39” vert and 10’8” broad jump at 6’4”/214 and Jaylin Noel blazed a 4.39 to go along with a 41.5” vert, an 11’2” broad, and a 6.82 3-cone.
The biggest loser was probably Josh Kelly who looks undraftable after today. Ricky White ran a disappointing 40 but his other numbers were ok and I’ll reserve judgement until his pro day. I comp’d him to Antonio Brown and AB had a bad combine as well. It’s not a total death sentence.
Measurable Leaders:
Tallest: Da’Quan Felton (6’4.6”)
Biggest Hands: Josh Kelly (10.5”)
Longest arms: Isaiah Neyor (34 3/8”)
Longest Wingspan: Isaiah Neyor (82 5/8”)
Fastest GPS Top Speed: Isaiah Bond (24.17 mph)
40-yard dash: Matthew Golden (4.29)
10-yard split: Matthew Golden, Jalen Royals (1.49)
Best Vertical: Sam Brown, Jaylin Noel (41.5”)
Best Broad Jump: Jaylin Noel (11’2”)
Fastest Shuttle: Isaac TeSlaa (4.05)
Fastest Three-Cone: Tez Johnson (6.65)
Onto the OLs for Day-4...to wrap it up for another Combine season.
