The NFL Combine is upon us. That’s right. The yearly ritual where teams gather in Indianapolis to poke, prod, measure and test college football players. It has truly become a ridiculous spectacle where “draftniks” and so called experts gather and babble nonsense for five days. I don’t put as much stock into the combine as I used to because I am a firm believer that it is all about the film. The film tells the story on a player, not the bench press, 3 cone drill or the vertical jump.
In any event, I digress. Here some thoughts on this year’s combine and other NFL news.
1.The Dolphins should trade Jarvis Landry. He is not a number one receiver and he is not worth $16 million a year.
2. Kirk Cousins will sign with the Broncos when the new league calendar year kicks in next week. John Elway can be very persuasive. Just ask Peyton Manning.
3. Lamar Jackson will prove that he is a quarterback and should stay at the position. Many observers thought that Michael Vick, Troy Smith, Tyrod Taylor, Colin Kaepernick and RG3 weren’t quarterbacks either.
4. Josh Allen will be the most scrutinized quarterback at the combine but I think people are focusing way too much on his completion percentage and accuracy. Allen needs a year to develop and fix those issues but there is a lot to like about him. He has experience in a pro style offense, can throw from all platforms and has plus, plus arm strength. He is also tough as hell and a competitor.
5. Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield will also be under the microscope. He needs to prove that he can throw from under center. His drop steps, delivery and timing will all be judged. We know what he can do out of the shotgun, but he needs to prove he can throw from multiple spots in the pocket from under center.
6. The Browns should draft Saquon Barkley first overall but they won’t. They will draft Sam Darnold, which is fine but I believe that Barkley could have the same impact on the Browns that Zeke Elliott had on the Cowboys two years ago. By the way, if Barkley gets past the Giants at two, Dave Gettleman should be fired.
7. Get to know the following names: Quenton Nelson, Darius James, Billy Price, Will Hernandez, Austin Corbett and Isaiah Wynn. The interior lineman in this class are nasty. They are fundamentally sound and play with a mean disposition.
8. Front office executives and scouts are down on this year’s receiver class. Really? Why? Courtland Sutton, Calvin Ridley, Dante Pettis and Christian Kirk were all very productive players in college and they pop on film. This is a better class than people think.
9. The tight end class in this draft intrigues me and I am looking forward to seeing guys like Mike Gesicki, Dallas Goedert and Mark Andrews run routes. They are all detach tight ends who could create match up problems for defenses, especially in the red zone.
10. Can we please eradicate terms like “quarterback whisperer” and EDGE from our football vernacular. The two terms drive me nuts!!! Particularly the term EDGE. If a player is a hybrid outside linebacker, defensive end. Call him a Backer End or BE. Its really not that hard folks.