Combine Surprises (2022 Fantasy Football)

The NFL Network aired 30 hours of coverage from the NFL Scouting Combine over four days. The city of Indianapolis has hosted the event for 35 years running, except for last year when the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation. For the first time ever, fans were invited to attend and cheer for the 200-plus prospects at Lucas Oil Stadium. For football nerds, the combine is a sparkling jewel in the post-Super Bowl wasteland before March Madness and baseball season. The pent-up excitement from two years between the last combine and this one made for quite the fun spectacle once it kicked off.

The combine predictably showcased a real-life job interview for the young NFL hopefuls, filled with the same great triumphs and disappointments we have come to expect. Even though we are used to getting far too excited over how fast a guy is in tight workout clothes, there were a few happenings in Indy last week that truly surprised me enough to highlight them.

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Operating a Stopwatch is Apparently Pretty Difficult

It all started with the wide receiver group when the stopwatch operator for the NFL Network feed that provides the unofficial times for viewers had an itchy trigger finger. Baylor receiver Tyquan Thornton was blazing his 40 and the unofficial time that flashed on the screen was 4.21 seconds, which would have ushered John Ross‘ 4.22 time aside as the fastest in combine history. The official time ended up as 4.28, which should never have been as much of a letdown as it was. Chris Olave of Ohio State ran an unofficial 4.26, only to have it adjusted by 0.13 seconds up to 4.39.

The controversy set social media ablaze and it didn’t take long to find out that the person who normally oversees the unofficial 40 times had retired, so a new person was learning the ropes the hard way. The next day, running backs were showing modest unofficial times. Problem solved, right? Nope! The official times came in nearly a tenth of a second faster. Many who watched the combine were having serious doubts about the validity of the official times, especially since some of the results were much different from expected. The added element of being able to gamble on the individual times made this an absolute mess, with bettors’ emotions swinging wildly with the times and cries of impropriety flooding chat rooms.

Some Prospects Should Not Have Worked Out and Did

The pressure on these athletes to bring out their best in Indy must have been stifling. Until a few days before the combine, most of the prospects were intent on boycotting the workouts altogether over asinine COVID bubbling restrictions proposed by the league. Much like last year, when the absence of the combine spiked the importance of pro-day workouts put on by the universities, players were prepared to “save themselves” for more familiar surroundings. A few should have heeded that advice and opted out of working out. Isaiah Spiller, a top running back prospect from Texas A&M, apparently started to go through drills while fighting through an undisclosed hip injury. He did poorly in the vertical and broad jumps, before bowing out of the 40-yard dash and positional drills. The other top-tier running backs did run the 40 and far exceeded expectations. Spiller will need a strong (and healthy) showing at the Aggie pro day to restore his standing in the class.

Another stud player who fell short of the lofty expectations of his athleticism from football circles was wide receiver Treylon Burks from Arkansas. Burks came into Indy upon a cyclone of folkloric hype. A picture was painted of a 6-4, 230-pound man with a 40″ vertical, a 40-time in the 4.3s, and 11″ hands. All Burks did by working out at the combine was prove that he was mortal. He measured at 6-2, 225 with 9 7/8″ hands. A man that size is plenty imposing, even without pads on. It was still a letdown. His below-average 33″ vertical jump was a major bummer, although he reportedly added 2.5 inches to it at his pro day. Burks “only” ran a 4.55 40-yard dash, which he settled on by not running again in Fayetteville. For the physical specimen that Burks is, 4.55 is plenty fast for the NFL. As with his size, the pundits trudged onward like the show was over. The pro day measurements are famously juiced up in the players’ favor. Burks could have kept the fairytale alive and removed any of the doubt that has now crept into the minds of some.

Some Prospects Should Have Worked Out and Didn’t

Of course, I am not referring to players like Jameson Williams and Drake London, who are recovering from injuries. Some might add Spiller to this column if they don’t believe his injury was significant and he was just saving face after poor showings in the vertical and broad jumps.

The main surprise was edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux from Oregon reneging on his earlier commitment to do all of the drills and workouts and quite literally walking out after the bench press (27 reps) and running the 40-yard dash (4.58s). Many consider Thibodeaux to be a generational pass-rushing talent, but rumors have been circling like buzzards this year about his willingness to give his best efforts to the game of football once he turns professional. His reason for not running positional drills with his peers was also vague and disappointing.

Every NFL team has dealt with talented players who didn’t pan out, due to one reason or another. Most of them are keen to red-flag behavior and jaded from the embarrassment of wasted time and opportunity to improve the team. Thibodeaux is a great player with incredible gifts, but he plays a position that rewards constant effort. Will it affect his draft stock? That remains to be seen, but rest assured that the teams selecting in the top-10 are putting a lot of hours into vetting their draft board to avoid the pitfalls around drafting a bust.

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Bo McBrayer is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Bo, check out his archive and follow him @Bo_McBigTime.