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Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
The 2022 NFL Scouting Combine is well and truly underway.
Thursday was a day replete with surprises, impressive performances and at least one hand scandal.
The evening belonged to the quarterbacks, tight ends and wide receivers. Little clarity was offered up under center, as the top three prospects under center all fared relatively well. Kenny Pickett was accurate. Desmond Ridder was athletic. Malik Willis showed off outstanding arm strength.
But the night really belonged to the wide receivers. To say that the wideouts tore up the track is an understatement. There were nine sub 4.4-second 40s than you can count without a second hand, and they came from all over the place, whether it was first-round prospects or FCS standouts.
There was also—unofficially at least—the fastest 40-yard-dash in combine history.
Sadly, that time didn’t hold. But it’s the speed on display at wide receiver where we’ll begin our look at Thursday’s takeaways.
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Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Two years ago, there were all of two players total who ran a 40-yard dash faster than 4.35 seconds.
On the first day of the 2022 combine, there were half a dozen faster times than that just among the wide receivers. A staggering nine wideouts ran a sub-4.4.
That’s ridiculous.
Some of the speedsters were expected, but quite a few were not. There weren’t a lot of draftniks beating the drum for North Dakota State’s Christian Watson to blaze his way to a 4.36-second 40, especially at 6’4″ and 208 pounds.
And there were even fewer people who expected Baylor’s Tyquan Thornton to break John Ross’ combine record of 4.22 seconds…even if his time was later changed officially to 4.28 from 4.21.
This isn’t to say that Thornton doesn’t have talent—he caught 62 passes for 942 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Bears last season. But as Matt Waldman wrote for the Rookie Scouting Portfolio, many viewed the 6’2″, 181-pounder as more project than impact player.
“Thornton doesn’t strike me as a first-year NFL starter based on the games I’ve studied thus far,” he said. “However, his game has growth potential that could lead to him starting down the line.”
Now, one blistering 40 doesn’t necessarily change that, and NFL teams remember the harsh lesson the Cincinnati Bengals learned when they drafted Ross with the ninth overall pick in 2017.
But any way you slice it, 40 yards in 4.28 seconds is still quite the accomplishment and the combine’s fastest 40 this year thus far.
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Aaron Doster/Associated Press
As Hayes Gardner wrote for the Louisville Courier-Journal, Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder made it clear that he thinks he’s the best signal-caller in this draft class.
“I think I should be the first quarterback off the board because I’m athletic, I make plays, I’m the most winningest quarterback in almost all of college football, and I think that can translate over to the NFL,” Ridder told NFL Network this week. “I think at the end of the day, I’m a winner.”
Bleacher Report’s Nate Tice agrees. In B/R’s scouting report for the 6’3″, 211-pounder, he ranked Ridder as the top quarterback in the class and compared him to Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys.
“Considering the improvement he showed his senior season, and with still enough upside left to tap into, he has a path toward being a Pro Bowl-caliber player at the position if he gets in the right situation and can continue to work on his consistency,” Tice said.
Ridder did nothing but justify that praise in Indianapolis on Thursday. Just as he was in so many games leading the Bearcats to the College Football Playoff, Ridder’s throws were sharp—especially the shorter and intermediate passes. But what really drew oohs and aahs from those in attendance was Ridder’s 4.52-second 40-yard dash, easily the fastest among the passers who participated.
Ridder is accurate. He’s a proven winner. He’s more athletic than many realize.
And he just might be the first quarterback drafted in 2022.
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Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
One of the biggest stories of the first day of combine workouts came out before the players ever hit the field, and it has the potential to shake up the pecking order in an already unsettled QB class.
Every year fans and draftniks debate hand size among quarterbacks and whether it really matters. And there was some concern that Pitt’s Kenny Pickett (B/R Scouting Report) would measure on the small side. But as Jeff Legwold wrote for ESPN, the 2021 Heisman finalist said that if NFL teams are concerned about his mitt measurements, he hasn’t heard about it.
“The tape is your resume; the rest of this stuff is just part of the boxes you have to check,” Pickett said. “There hasn’t been much talk about [his hand size] in the formal interviews that I’ve had.”
The general rule of thumb (Sorry. It couldn’t be helped) is that nine inches are the minimum acceptable hand size and that anything smaller is cause for concern. There was a hullabaloo surrounding Joe Burrow two years ago when his hands were measured at 9″ exactly.
He seems to have done OK.
But Pickett’s hands came in smaller—significantly smaller. As a matter of fact, at 8½”, Pickett’s hands are smaller than any starting signal-caller in the league.
In fairness, Pickett looked fine in passing drills, and he certainly enjoyed success with the Panthers. But given that he fumbled the ball a whopping 38 times at Pitt (while playing home games at Heinz Field), it’s fair to wonder what impact his hand size could have if he’s drafted by a cold-weather team that will be playing into January each winter.
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Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press
After Kenny Pickett’s hand drama and Desmond Ridder’s impressive workout, the already muddied waters at quarterback in this draft class were all the cloudier.
So the least Liberty’s Malik Willis (B/R Scouting Report) could do is make things that much more confusing.
Willis doesn’t have the profile of Ridder or Pickett after having played in relative anonymity at Liberty. He’s also not as refined as a passer as either of those players. But from a talent perspective, he brings things to the table that no other quarterback in this class does.
For starters, at 6’0½” and 219 pounds, Willis is built as much like a tailback as he is a quarterback. He has the wheels of a running back, too, although he chose not to run the 40-yard dash in Indy.
What Willis did do is participate in the passing drills. And in them, he showed off an absolute cannon of a right arm. There is zero question that Willis can make every throw at the NFL level, whether it’s a deep out across the field or a 65-yard seed to a streaking wideout.
From what we saw from Willis in first the Senior Bowl and now the scouting combine, he’s an exercise in risk tolerance for NFL teams. He’s not as pro-ready as the other top signal-callers. There’s work to be done. Improvements to be made.
But if Willis can maximize his immense talent, he could easily have the highest ceiling of any player at the position in this draft, never mind the running aspect he offers a pro offense.
Teams looking to go quarterback in Round 1 still have a lot of ruminating to do.
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Butch Dill/Associated Press
Heading into the combine, there was no question that Memphis’ Calvin Austin III was one of the faster players at the event. As a matter of fact, a certain writer here at Bleacher Report predicted Austin would peel off the fastest 40-yard dash of any player in Indy.
I was off by two-tenths of a second.
The 5’8″ 170-pounder won’t claim the title of the combine’s fastest man, but at 4.32 seconds, Austin set the tone early for his position group. That came on the heels of an equally impressive 11’3″ broad jump.
It’s a continuation of a solid draft season for Austin, who shined at the Senior Bowl, drawing praise from Detroit Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El regarding his adjustment to the slot.
“You can see him picking it up and being able to understand the inside, what it takes to understand the coverage of the backers, the nickels buzzing out, not just hook and turn,” Randle El told reporters. “He’s getting some of that.”
Austin admittedly isn’t the biggest pass-catcher, but he was wildly productive at Memphis, eclipsing 1,000 receiving yards each of the past two seasons. And given the blazing speed he showed both on the playing field and Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium, Austin’s odds of being taken in the second half of the draft’s second day are trending upward.
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Jay LaPrete/Associated Press
The reason why Calvin Austin won’t be the combine’s fastest man is simple—the second group of wideouts was shot out of a cannon.
The record for the most sub-4.4-second 40-yard dashes in a combine wasn’t just broken. It was obliterated. In addition to Tyquan Thornton’s record-setting run, a pair of receivers from The Ohio State University made it clear why they are both likely coming off the board on the draft’s first day.
First up was Chris Olave (B/R Scouting Report), who Bleacher Report ranks as the No. 10 player overall in this draft class and the second-best wide receiver. Olave’s speed was never in question, but the 6’0″ 187 -pounder still left jaws on the floor with a blistering 4.39-second 40.
Then came teammate Garrett Wilson (B/R Scouting Report), who our scouting report ranks sixth at the position and 21st overall. All the 6’0″ 183-pounder did was one-up his old running mate, posting a time of 4.38 seconds.
If there was any question the pair were both going to be taken in Round 1, that matter has been settled. Both receivers are blazingly fast, quick in and out of breaks and showed good hands in pass-catching drills.
There’s a certain NFL team in the state of Ohio with a pick in the top half of the first round with a dire need at wide receiver who might want to look at keeping one of these guys in-state.
Just saying.
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Al Goldis/Associated Press
Like the aforementioned Austin, Skyy Moore (B/R Scouting Report) isn’t the biggest wide receiver at the combine, although at 5’10”, he actually measured a little taller than most expected. Also, like Austin, Moore plied his trade collegiality at a Group of Five school starring at Western Michigan.
And like Austin’s, Moore’s stock is on the rise after an impressive showing Thursday.
His evening started with another flattering measurement—his 10¼”-inch hands were the largest of any receiver at the combine, and he sports 31-inch arms. Then Moore took to the track and peeled off a 4.41-second 40-yard dash.
Mind you, this is a young receiver who caught 96 passes for 1,292 yards last year for the Broncos. And a player who, per PFF’s Mike Renner, dropped all of six of 176 catchable targets over his collegiate career.
Those hands were on display during position drills. Whether it was in the gauntlet, running corner routes or going deep, if the ball was put in a spot where Moore could get it, he did just that. He also demonstrated plus route-running and excellent change-of-direction skills.
Will Thursday’s performance be enough to get Moore into the latter stages of Round 1? Probably not. But there was already buzz growing around him. That buzz is now a roar.
And there is next to no chance he makes it out of Round 2.
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Darron Cummings/Associated Press
The 2022 draft class doesn’t have a consensus No. 1 tight end. For every draftnik who prefers Colorado State’s Trey McBride, there’s another who likes Jalen Wydermyer of Texas A&M or Coastal Carolina’s Isaiah Likely.
Given those varying opinions, it’s a little surprising that many of this year’s top tight end prospects skipped the 40-yard dash. However, Jelani Woods of Virginia (B/R Scouting Report) participated in the 40—and in doing so, he might have helped himself more than any player at his position at the combine.
Woods’ 4.61-second 40 time wasn’t the best among the tight ends who ran. Maryland’s Chigoziem Okonkwo peeled off a blistering 4.52. However, Okonkwo ran that time at 6’2½” and 238 pounds.
Woods is 6’7″ and 259 pounds—and running the second-fastest 40-yard dash among tight ends at that size is quite impressive.
Woods’ 40-time wasn’t the only highlight of his day. His 24 reps of 225 pounds led all tight ends. He sports a massive wingspan, with arms measuring 34⅛”. And whether it was pushing around a blocking sled or catching the rock, Woods fared well in on-field drills.
A former quarterback, he isn’t a flawless prospect by any stretch. As one might expect given his relative lack of experience playing the position, Woods’ route-running needs refinement.
He won’t be the first tight end drafted. Or the second. But the combination of size, speed, strength and agility he displayed Thursday all but certainly sent multiple NFL teams back to the film room to look at more tape of the big man.
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