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2019 NFL Scouting Combine: Wide Receiver Notes

Trey Daubert / College Football, NFL, NFL Draft / March 3, 2019

The longest day of the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine includes the quarterbacks, wide receivers, and tight ends. It’s a long day and even starts an hour later than normal. If you haven’t already, check out the offensive line and running back notes from yesterday. This article will focus on the wide receivers.

What I’ll say about the receiver spot is tough to judge here. A lot of the camera angles favor the quarterbacks so it’s hard to know which wide receiver is running routes all the time. Definitely not easy trying to figure out who is who on a regular basis here. Here’s which wide receivers stood out at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine!

Ole Miss Dominates

https://twitter.com/Brown1arthur/status/1098720295630729216

Nobody won the combine more than D.K. Metcalf did. He looks like he was carved out of steel. His physical physique is perfect. Just totally shredded. You have to respect that. The man gets in the gym. Metcalf came into the combine at 6-foot-3, 228, and 1.9 percent body fat. He then went on to the field and notched a 37 inch vert and ran a 4.33. If Al Davis were still alive, he would sprint to the podium to take him in the first round.

But that also wraps him up perfectly. From a combine perspective, Metcalf resembles Julio Jones. I can’t remember a receiver from the SEC this big, fast, and athletic since Julio. The problem is Metcalf has very limited college production. Some of that because of injury this past year. The physicality pops out at you. 27 reps on the bench is crazy for a wide receiver.

As for his on the field work, Metcalf was great. He did have one drop but other than that, he was perfect. It looked like a machine out there playing football. Check him out in the gauntlet drill. Metcalf was just a monster out there and even ran great routes. Zero issues with the gauntlet and made it look easy. There isn’t a more polarizing draft prospect than Metcalf.

All the praise went to Metcalf today but I was kind of expecting to see that freakish performance coming in. A.J. Brown actually exceeded expectations. I was worried he was slow coming in but that wasn’t the case. A 4.49 time is more than fine. I thought he looked crisp in his routes and proved that he isn’t just a contested catch guy. I think he can play in the slot or on the outside. Just way more athletic than I thought he was. There was a nice curl route that Brown really jumped on and it stuck with me. I was impressed.

Don’t sleep on DaMarkus Lodge. I thought he was super smooth as a route runner. Where did all these Ole Miss receivers come from?

Ridley & Deebo

Riley Ridley and Deebo Samuel went back to back in the drills and it was great for my camera work. Riley is the younger brother to Falcons wide out Calvin Ridley. Calvin has more speed than Riley but both are fantastic route runners. We saw that with Calvin in Atlanta. Speed is the only thing that distinguishes them. Riley may have been the best route runner here. Such quiet feet running routes and no issues catching the ball. Ridley ran a 4.58 at 6-foot-1, 199. He’s a good player. Probably in that 2nd-3rd round range.

Deebo Samuel I just love. Couldn’t be covered at the Senior Bowl. Samuel came in at 5-foot-11, 214, and ran a 4.48. That’s a good time for him. Samuel has a thick frame and is tough to bring down. So good after the catch. He rocked the gauntlet too. Nothing changed in my mind here.

Ohio State and Georgia speedsters

I thought a bunch of guys stood out. Parris Cambell, Johnnie Dixon, Mecole Hardman, and Terry McLaurin. I kept looking up and it was like, oh… it’s another Ohio State or Georgia guy. Campbell blew me away. 4.31 speed is off the charts. He had great hands, awesome quickness in and out of cuts, strong hands, and attacked the ball. I was blown away. I didn’t want to get too carried away because it had some Curtis Samuel vibes but I think Campbell is a more polished receiver. Much more of a polished route runner which I didn’t see coming. Campbell is just a weapon that every team needs. His speed translates to the field.

During the year, I said in the past that it was tough to examine which wide receiver you wanted from Ohio State. I thought Campbell put himself above the rest in that group. Dixon and McLaurin are fast and just run crisp routes. Hardman is also super quick and fast. He is a nightmare out in the open field. Could be an awesome open in the slot.

I almost included Terry Godwin here too but he wasn’t quite as good. Godwin rocked the East-West Game. Not as twitchy but is a good player.

Contested Catch

There’s a group of guys that are contested catch guys. It’s my least favorite type of receiver but I’m going to try to sort through them. Hakeem Butler of Iowa State was maybe the most fascinating receiver coming into the combine. 6-foot- 5, 227, and ran a 4.48. That’s a great time for him. Butler is super physical and broke a bunch of tackles. 18 reps showed that. The only thing I didn’t like was he was swirving big time on the gauntlet. Showed some raw route running. Butler is intriguing but it’s a unique skill set that doesn’t have a comp. I do like him the best. He has crazy long arms.

N’Keal Harry had an up and down day. Suffered a drop. Super slow in route running. He ran a 4.53 but I did not see that translate on the field. The good news with Harry? 27 bench press reps and 38.5 inch vert. Crazy good numbers. I don’t know what to make of the guy. Could go either way.

Kelvin Harmon was all around bad. Hoping better from him. Anthony Johnson of Buffalo pulled the classic, I’m so I won’t run the 40. Did all the drills though. I knew he was slow and that only confirms it.

SLOW

I sort of liked Lil Jordan Humphrey coming into the draft. Then he goes out there and runs like a snail. A 4.75 isn’t cutting it. Wasn’t just the speed. He was bad all day. Miles Boykin ran fast and jumped high but then looked like he was going in slow motion in the drills. Probably explained why he wasn’t productive in college.

Other Notes

One last thing here. Andy Isabella stinks. Runs a 4.31 and couldn’t care less. Couldn’t be less smooth. All hurky jerky movements in a bad way running route. Dropped a few balls his way. Just stinks.