The 2019 NFL Combine is here, and the Redskins are in attendance.
Friday’s combine events featured on-field testing by some of the NFL Draft’s best offensive lineman, an occasion the Washington Redskins needed to pay attention to, with their glaring need both on the starting lineup at left guard, and on the depth chart in reserve spots.
It’s important to emphasize the fact that the NFL Combine doesn’t truly divulge new information. The tape gives so much to the observer, but the combine helps teams quantify what they see on tape, and make informed decision from a numerical standpoint.
With that said, Friday’s combine events provided some very interesting numbers, and a few prospects in particular found their stock on the rise after participating in drills. Who are five risers from the NFL Combine after Friday? Take a look!
Before typing anything, let me reiterate: Prospects should not be drafted based on athletic traits alone. Teams know this, and teams cross-reference tape after the NFL Combine to supplement their knowledge of prospects.
In a way, the drill results seen at the combine are not new, as they are readily accessible via the tape. Even so, some relatively unknown prospects cultivate their own artificial hype with exceptional drill all-around results, and that’s what Weber State’s Iosua Opeta did on Friday.
As a Day 3 offensive guard prospect, Opeta put his modest developmental upside in the spotlight during combine testing yesterday. At 6-foot-4, 304, he boasted some mobility and functional strength. He ran the fifth fastest 40-yard dash time at 5.02, as well as a blazing 1.66 10-yard split, logged the most bench reps in the offensive line class at 39, and logged a 33-inch vertical as well.
Opeta’s agility scores weren’t nearly as good, and he’s long been considered a late-round prospect at best up until now, so care should be taken when considering him. But as a riser, Opeta is near the top of the list after Friday’s events. Some team will undoubtedly be willing to take a chance on his strength and speed at some point.
D.K. Metcalf was expected to steal the show from the rest of the wide receivers at the 2019 NFL Combine. What he probably didn’t expect, however, was to be matched at the bench press by Arizona State wide receiver N’Keal Harry.
Granted, when the wide receivers do on-field testing this weekend, Metcalf is expected to test near the top of the group, while Harry’s athletic upside is less certain. But Harry’s play style might be more refined and versatile than Metcalf’s, at this point, and after his performance at the bench press, the league knows he can hold up.
Harry is a stellar run-after-catch threat, and per D.C. sports reporter Craig Hoffman, some believe Harry is a better route runner and pure catcher. And if he tests better than expected in the 40-yard dash and in agility drills, he could be an option for the Redskins at pick No. 15.
It’s worth noting, however, that the Redskins interviewed with D.K. Metcalf and Kelvin Harmon (both very good options as well) and not Harry at the combine on Friday. That doesn’t mean that they won’t do their due diligence. Harry could earn an interview before the weekend is up.
File Erik McCoy under “offensive linemen who helped themselves with good movement scores on Friday”.
The Texas A&M product ended his afternoon with a number of impressive numbers to his name, including the fastest 40-yard dash time among linemen at 4.89, a 10-yard split of 1.72, 29 bench reps, and a cumulative RAS score of 8.97. McCoy was mocked to the Redskins in Round 3 earlier this offseason by our own Jacob Camenker, who mentioned his ability as an easy mover.
"In terms of his skill set, McCoy has great technique and a strong frame that will allow him to block well at the next level. He’s a better run blocker than pass blocker at the moment, but he has a lot of room for growth in the former department. His arms are a bit short (33 inches) but on the interior line, that should be less of a problem. He can make up for that with good movement skills."
McCoy wasn’t great in agility drills, but his short-area burst and strength gives him immense upside as a guard at the next level. If the Redskins are looking to add their starting left guard in Round 2, as opposed to Round 1, McCoy is a very good candidate.
Florida State’s Brian Burns hasn’t yet gone through testing at the combine, but he did weigh in on Friday, and his weigh-in gave a very surprising update in the evaluation of Burns.
Burns’ weight was his biggest question mark coming into the NFL Combine. After scouting Burns, I was blown away by his well-rounded, elite skill set, and he’s a top five player on my board. But even with his all-around prowess, there was concern around his size, which was rumored to be as low as 230 in his college playing days.
Burns made his weight work, either way. But in the NFL, that kind of success is no sure thing. Burns seems aware of the criticism; he came into the NFL Combine and was measured to be 6-foot-5, 249 pounds. He also measured in with a wingspan nearing 84 inches. Simply put, Burns was already an enticing prospect with his fundamental prowess, burst and bend alone. Now, his physical profile seems to check out completely as well.
If Burns’ mobility isn’t hurt by his added weight, and if he does run between a 4.5 and a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash, as some are expecting, then he might not make it past the tenth pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The implications are huge, not just for Burns, but for the outcome of the Redskins pick as well.
Garrett Bradbury has been steadily climbing as an offensive line prospect this offseason, and after his 2019 NFL Combine performance, he should be firmly within the Round 1 conversation.
Bradbury posted an elite RAS score, per football analyst Kent Lee Platte; in fact, Platte described Bradbury’s score as one of the best ever recorded. Among the figures that went into his incredible 9.95 RAS score? A 4.92 40-yard dash, a 1.74 10-yard split, 34 bench reps, a 31-inch vertical jump, a 4.53 shuttle time, and a 7.41 three-cone time.
It’s safe to say that, athletically, Garrett Bradbury has what it takes to be a top-tier interior lineman in the NFL. It’s known that there’s a correlation between the shuttle time and success in the NFL, and Bradbury fits the bill. He’s a stellar athlete, and he has some fundamental polish as well.
As a plug-and-play starter with upside at left guard, Bradbury was already mocked to the Redskins in our most recent NFL mock draft. With his athleticism now confirmed via testing, he should climb up some boards, and with their pressing need at left guard, the Redskins could do far worse. And from an upside, value standpoint, they couldn’t do much better.