No one in this year’s wide receiver group beat the 40-yard dash record John Ross set last year at the NFL Combine. But there were still plenty of talented players on display.
NFL Combine results: Winners and losers from the WRs on the bench press, 40-yard dash, and other workouts
Which wideouts boosted their draft stock at the combine?
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Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
But we did get a better sense of where players like Alabama’s Calvin Ridley and Texas A&M’s Christian Kirk will end up being drafted this April based on how they performed in workouts on Friday and Saturday.
Winners:
LSU’s D.J. Chark had an overall great showing on Saturday. He ran the fastest 40-yard dash of the NFL Combine through Saturday with a 4.34. He then leaped for a 40-inch vertical, and again for a 10’9 broad jump.
One of the biggest standouts of the entire combine has been Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki. In a draft class that’s not heavy on talented tight ends, Gesicki put on a display with a 4.54 40-yard dash, a 41.5-inch vertical, a 10’0 broad jump, and 22 bench press reps. If teams didn’t love him before today, they certainly will now.
Maryland’s D.J. Moore and Texas Tech’s Dylan Cantrell were also a pair of players who performed quite well in the workouts on Saturday and helped their draft stock this weekend.
Losers:
We’re going to put Calvin Ridley here, only because he didn’t raise any eyebrows with his performance. His 4.4 40-yard dash is good, but was less than impressive with his vertical, broad jump, 3-cone drill, and 20-yard shuttle times. He’s still going to be considered the best wideout in the class, but he could have gone without having his numbers compared to players considered less talented than he.
The same said of Ridley could be said of Christian Kirk. Kirk’s 4.47 40-yard dash time is good and fine, but he didn’t show much elsewhere in measurables. His 20 bench press reps is promising and shows he has great upper body strength, but he might be able to use some work on his explosiveness, just based on his vertical and broad jumps.
Washington State’s Tavares Martin has to be here. He wasn’t a highly touted prospect to begin with, but when you have a 40-yard dash time (4.80) consistent with that of a lineman (Brian O’Neill), that’s not good.
Here’s how it all unfolded on Friday and Saturday:
40-yard dash
Who helped themselves:
- LSU’s D.J. Chark ran an unofficial 4.34 in his first attempt on the 40-yard dash. He would run a 4.38 on his second attempt. His 4.34 (official) is the fastest 40 of the NFL Combine.
- Florida’s Antonio Callaway helped his stock with an unofficial 4.41 in his second attempt. It was the second fastest unofficial time among wideouts, and he would be given an official 4.41 along with Alabama’s Robert Foster.
- One of the best wide receiver prospects in the draft, Christian Kirk out of Texas A&M, ran an unofficial 4.46 on his first attempt. He would be given a 4.47 official.
- Equanimeous St. Brown out of Notre Dame ran an unofficial 4.48 on his first attempt. That’s an impressive speed to go with his 6’5, 204-pound frame.
- Considered to be the best wideout in the draft, Alabama’s Calvin Ridley ran an unofficial 4.44 on his first attempt.
- Tight end Mike Geisicki ran a 4.54 official 40 time, starting off what would be a profound NFL Combine for the Penn State product.
Who didn’t help themselves:
- Washington State’s Tavares Martin had the slowest time among wide receivers with an unofficial 4.84 on his first attempt, and a 4.80 (which would be his official time) on his second attempt. It’s not a good look, considering Pitt’s Brian O’Neill (an offensive lineman, and Piesman Trophy winner) ran a 4.80.
- Indiana’s Simmie Cobbs had the second slowest time among wide receivers with a 4.68 on his first attempt, and a 4.65 on his second attempt.
Vertical jump
Who helped themselves:
- D.J. Chark continues to impress with a 40-inch vertical. The historical average at the position is 35.8 inches.
- Maryland’s D.J. Moore also added to a solid 40 time with his 39.5-inch vertical.
- Texas Tech’s Dylan Cantrell also impressed with a 38.5-inch vertical. His 40-yard dash wasn’t eye-popping at 4.59, but he made up for it here and in his broad jump. Florida’s Antonio Callaway also posted a 38’5.
- TE Mike Gesicki posted a 41.5-inch vertical. The historical average for tight ends is 33.5 inches.
Who didn’t help themselves:
- Calvin Ridley posted just a 31-inch vertical, after doing well with a 4.44 40-yard dash time. It’s nearly five inches shorter than the historical average for the position. His teammate Robert Foster also had the same result.
- Christian Kirk’s vertical was 35.5 inches, which is about average. While it’s not bad, other wideouts have posted numbers in the vertical and 40-yard dash that might make a team think twice about taking him above some others.
Broad jump
Who helped themselves:
- After a great vertical jump, Dylan Cantrell posted a 10’10 on his broad jump. The two numbers show great explosiveness and lower body power, which will bode well for him going into the draft. Central Florida’s Tre’Quan Smith also had a 10’10 broad jump.
- Maryland’s D.J. Moore continued to have a great combine with an 11’ broad jump. Much like Cantrell, his jumps were high on the board — but his 4.43 40 was another big help for him.
- D.J. Chark added to his already eyebrow-raising Combine with a 10’9 broad jump. He’ll be leaving Indianapolis with improved stock.
- Hey, it’s Mike Gesicki again! his broad jump was 10’9.
Who didn’t help themselves:
- Calvin Ridley got just 9’2 on his broad jump, with the historical average being 10’1/2. His measurements outside of the 40-yard dash have not been favorable.
- Florida State’s Tate Auden’s broad jump was 9’4, adding to an already average combine.
20-yard shuttle
Who helped themselves:
- Texas Tech’s Dylan Cantrell added to his impressive vertical and broad jump numbers with a 4.03 in the 20-yard shuttle.
- Missouri’s J’Mon Moore posted a 4.04 in the shuttle, capping off a solid Saturday of workouts.
- SMU’s Courtland Sutton clocked in at 4.11.
- Tight end Mike Gesicki clocked in at a 4.10, beating out many wide receivers, and was the best among tight ends.
Who didn’t help themselves:
- Christian Kirk didn’t measure as one of the top performers, with a 4.45 in his shuttle run.
- Calvin Ridley had a similar run with a 4.41 in his attempt.
- Ka’Raun White of West Virginia posted the worst time in the drill, with a 4.57.
Three-cone drill
Who helped themselves:
- J’Mon Moore and Dylan Cantrell also scored high here, with a position-best time of 6.56 seconds.
- In a close second, SMU’s Courtland Sutton recorded a time of 6.57 seconds.
- Among tight ends, Mike Gesicki stood out way in front of the rest, with a 6.76 time in the drill.
Who didn’t help themselves:
- Jake Wieneke of South Dakota State and Juster Weah of Pittsburgh both had the worst times among the group, with 7.24 seconds.
- Christian Kirk finished the drill in 7.09 seconds, while Oklahoma State’s Marcell Ateman finished in 7.07.
Bench press
The historical average for the bench press for receivers is 15.2 reps of 225 pounds. This is the first drill for receivers, with the rest of their workout coming up on Saturday. The bench press won’t make or break a wide receiver prospect’s draft stock, but here are the players who excelled and who didn’t on Friday.
Who helped themselves:
- WVU’s Ka’Raun White has put up the most reps so far with 24, almost nine more than the average.
- Anthony Miller out of Memphis is next with 22 reps.
- Missouri’s J’Mon Moore had 21 reps.
- Christian Kirk, one of the draft’s top wideout prospects out of Texas A&M, had a respectable 20 reps.
- Lamar Jackson did not participate, but that won’t impact his draft stock because he is a quarterback and not a wide receiver.
Who didn’t help themselves:
- It won’t make much of a difference in his draft stock, but Alabama’s Calvin Ridley was tied with two other players for the lowest number of reps with just 15.
- D.J. Moore out of Maryland, another top WR prospect this year, also had 15 reps.
Tight ends also went through the bench press on Friday. It’s a little bit more important for this position group, since they’re often called upon to be more consistent blockers than wideouts. The historical average for tight ends is 21.5 reps.
Who helped themselves:
- Dallas Goedert out of South Dakota State was the top of the field with 23 reps.
- Penn State’s Mike Gesecki was second with 22 reps.
Who didn’t help themselves:
- Wisconsin product Troy Fumagalli came in last with just 14 reps.
- Jaylen Samuel, who lacks the ideal size for an NFL tight end and has also played fullback, halfback, and wideout, turned in a below-average performance with 18 reps.
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