The annual NFL Scouting Combine has become a must-see event for football fans and the 2018 edition is no exception. In terms of overall talent, 2018 offers up an intriguing crop of incoming rookies and is considered a very deep class, which is great news for fantasy football fans as well.
Now that the unbearably long, two-week offseason is finally over and the Combine has arrived there are tons of engaging storylines and unanswered questions that savvy football fans will be monitoring throughout the entire week of activity in Indianapolis.
Here are some predictions of some of the highlights we might see in Indianapolis and what kind of fantasy football ramifications they might have for the 2018 season.
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Baker Mayfield will become a top-10 prospect
Now that Mayfield’s official measurements (6-foot 5/8, 215 pounds, Hand 9 1/4) are in the generally acceptable ranges, it’s time to display his athleticism and elite arm. Mayfield excelled as a field general with a competitive drive and terrific accuracy and power as a thrower. He’ll have the chance to showcase those skills in front of every NFL team and that will give him the opportunity to stand out among his peers.
Mayfield will have to perform well in the on-field drills to alleviate the current concerns about being under six-foot-one and off-the-field, maturity issues. The good news here is that Mayfield often performed at his best when the pressure was on and given the opportunity to compete against the other potential first-round signal-callers, Mayfield has an excellent shot at separating himself from the crowd and showing NFL personnel that he is the complete package and a potential franchise quarterback.
Vita Vea is going to enter top-15 discussion
When an interior lineman is consistently called a rare talent that compares favorably to Haloti Ngata, he’s going to be a very hot commodity in the NFL Draft. Vea (six-foot-four, 344) is a mountain of a man that has impressive quickness to go along with tremendous power. Vea is a run-clogging nose tackle that will instantly become a premier nose tackle in an NFL 3-4 front.
In his final seasons at Washington, Vea also improved as a pass rusher and finished his three-year career with the Huskies tallying 99 tackles (15 for a loss), 9.5 sacks, five passes broken up and two forced fumbles. While he’s not the most gifted pass rusher, Vea is versatile enough to also line up as a run-stopping bull from inside or outside in a 4-3 scheme.
Vea is raw and still has room to continue improving in the pros. If he performs well in on-field Combine drills and enough teams feel that he is capable of playing on NFL passing downs, Vea has a real chance at shooting up a lot of draft boards.
Saquon Barkley will run a 4.38 and cement top-5 status
There’s no denying that Saquon Barkley is a freak of nature. Seeing his lateral agility, explosiveness, pass-catching skills, and speed on film shows why the former Nittany Lion great is considered the best collegiate running back prospect in the last decade or longer.
Barkley is just as much of a phenom is the weight room, where he put up some unbelievable results for a man that is six feet tall and weighs 233 pounds. Expect Barkley to put on an amazing show in Indianapolis throughout the first week of March but what will really stand out is his speed. Having already run the 40-yard-dash in under 4.4 seconds multiple times, Barkley should enter the Combine in the best shape of his life and cement his status as a game-changing talent that should convince a team in the top-5 to spend a valuable early pick on an invaluable talent.
Plenty of speed, but nobody is breaking 4.22
Chris Johnson’s record-setting 4.24 40-yard-dash mark stood for nine years before Washington WR John Ross ran a 4.22 last year to set the new bar for NFL speed. Barely one year later and there is speculation that some of the incoming speedsters of the 2018 rookie class can top that brand new record. But as Lee Corso famously quips “not so fast, my friend.”
While 4.22 is certainly not an unbreakable record, it’s hard to believe that we will see that record go down in just one year. If it does, only a handful of prospects are capable of displaying those kinds of wheels. It might be a pair of cornerbacks that will have the best chance of besting Ross’s record time.
LSU cornerback Donte Jackson was a state champion sprinter in high school and ran 100 meters in 10.22 seconds at LSU. Jackson has been clocked at a 4.24, which would tie Johnson for the second-fastest time in history.
Ohio State’s Denzel Ward is considered an early first-round talent entering the 2018 NFL Draft but also showcased top-end speed. Ward was clocked by the Buckeyes’ coaching staff as running a 4.31.
As listed above, Saquon Barkley should be one of the fastest running backs to run and has enough speed to make a run at a 4.3. Other running backs that are expected to impress include N.C. State’s Nyheim Hines, Sony Michel out of Georgia, and USC’s Ronald Jones II.
Calvin Ridley becomes the top WR
Plenty of the wideouts will showcase speed, but none are expected to come anywhere close to John Ross’s record. In fact, the 2018 wide receiver class is considered slightly underwhelming and devoid of a can’t miss, potential superstar.
Obviously, things can change, but Alabama’s Calvin Ridley is already regarded as one of the top wide receivers of 2018 and should shine in Indianapolis, where he’ll get the chance to work with the nation’s best quarterbacks. Look for Ridley to shine in agility and route-running drills while running in the low 4.4’s.
Another wideout to track won’t go in Round 1, but Florida State’s Auden Tate is the tallest receiver in the class (six-foot-four 7/8) and has measurables similar to players like Mike Evans and Brandon Marshall. For Tate to shoot up draft boards, he’ll need to show he can gain separation at the line of scrimmage and the 40-yard-dash time will be critical.
Lamar Jackson will join elite company
Speaking of speed, Louisville QB Lamar Jackson has a chance to join Michael Vick and Robert Griffin III as the only quarterbacks to run a sub 4.4 40-yard-dash. Jackson is expected to run a 4.35, which would be the third fastest time ever recorded by a quarterback.
Jackson certainly passed the measurables test (six-foot-two and 1/4, 216-pounds, Hand 9 1/2) and will throw at the Combine, which gives him the opportunity to alleviate concerns about accuracy on deep balls. Jackson was also plagued by drops at Louisville and an improved supporting cast will help him complete more passes in Indianapolis.
In order for Jackson to become a dangerous weapon on the NFL level, a team has to be willing to alter their offensive approach to fit Jackson’s talents and elite athleticism. Jackson is in a great position to put on a good enough show in Indy to convince a creative play-caller to nab the phenom in the bottom half of the first round.
Jody Smith is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jody, check out his archive and follow him @JodySmithNFL.
