As stated in the winners article, this was a historic combine. A ton of ridiculous 40 times, athletic testing, and more led to many more winners than losers. However, this does not mean there were not a few players who hurt their draft stock for one reason or another. Whether it be slight falling or more dramatic changes to their projection, this is our list of some of the players who hurt their draft stock at this year’s combine.

Kayvon Thibodeaux

Thib was one of the players I wanted to see at the combine the most. When I watch his tape I do not see the hype. Limited pass rushing moves, lack of elite production, repeat failure to beat up on lower level tackles and more have me concerned. A lot of his highlight tape is him beating tight ends and running backs who try to block him. His athleticism does not pop off the tape either. While he ran a good 40 and did 27 reps on the bench, he did none of the agility tests (jumps or cones). But, the real reason he is on this list has nothing to do with the tests. After running the 40 yard dash, he got dressed and said he was done for the day. Reports are that he did not want to do the defensive line drills and then re warm up and do the linebacker drills. I just have a question, what was he thinking? Apparently he told every team he would do all of the drills during his interviews. This has to look bad on his part. It also was reported that he had effort concerns, well yeah that just got magnified now. His physical traits may get him drafted high, but if I am drafting in the top 15 I am taking a chance on one of the other edge rushers in this class.

Kyren Williams

I caught a Notre Dame game on tv during the college football season, and Williams looked special. He did everything well, seemed to have great speed and burst, and seemed to be able to catch the ball. I honestly thought he would run a 4.4. Boy was I wrong. He ran the slowest time of all the running backs at over a 4.7 twice, unofficially (4.65 officially), and I was shocked. He also did not do particularly well in the vertical or broad jump. He just seemed like a much better athlete to me. While he did salvage the day somewhat with really good positional drills, especially as a pass catcher, he definitely has fallen down some draft boards. I wanted to believe he was an every down back and a steal in this draft, but I am unsure now if he has the athleticism to do so.

David Bell

One of my favorite sleepers that I have watched tape on so far. I saw David Bell being a steal in the second, with potential to sneak into the first. However, he ran much slower than I would have thought at 4.65. He looks so much faster on tape. I would even go as far to say that he plays faster than Jahan Dotson who ran a 4.43. Now, the 40 is overrated and is not everything, but it was still slow even with all things considered. I do believe he is no longer a first rounder potentially. However, his prowess is route running, strong hands, and elusiveness with the ball in his hands so speed is not his forte. He can still win with all the things listed above and can be a very successful slot receiver. I see him as a mid to late day two pick at this point, but still could end up starting in year one and be one of the better slots in the league. 

Myjai Sanders

This is a rare case where it had not nearly as much to do with his testing (he did slightly above average compared to the other edge and d line), but rather about what he weighed in at. Sanders was 228 pounds at the combine, which is incredibly light for an edge rusher. His testing was good for his listed playing weight at around 258, but if the weight loss was on purpose, he should have tested better. Reports are that he dealt with illness, but Sanders may have been better off explaining this and not doing any of the testing drills. It is one of the rare cases where I would support this. Instead, he did everything, and gets bonus points for this, but leaves with a decent amount of questions about his health and true playing weight. Due to this, he may have slightly hurt his draft stock. However, his pro day can clear up a lot to the point where this inclusion of him may be void. 

Kenyon Green

Heading into the combine Green was considered by many analysts the best guard of this class and the second best interior offensive lineman. Green had a chance to solidify his position as a top 16 pick, if not top 10. Green failed to do so, and for us now has many question marks about his NFL potential. Green did not test well at the combine at all; he was slow(5.24), he was not strong(20 reps), his jumps were average… at best, and his 20 yard shuttle was bottom of the pack. If Green either ran faster or showed better strength he may not be in this article, but it’s the fact that he was basically bottom of the barrel in every test. If he wasn’t at the bottom he was average at the very best. I could’ve looked past some of the numbers if he had a good field workout, but he did not look good there either. He did not look that smooth in his movements and stumbled multiple times. I haven’t watched too much tape on Green yet, so maybe his tape is good enough to make me overlook his combine, but if not his only hope is his pro day. After watching the combine I would say Green has significantly hurt his stock and could slide to the late first round, if not day two. His pro day could either save him or solidify that he is not a top prospect in this year’s draft.

Chad Muma

Heading into the combine it seemed like Muma was a consensus top 5 linebacker in this year’s class amongst analysts. When I watched tape on Muma I really did not see top 5 linebacker play out of this kid. As a coach who’s worked with linebackers a few times in my coaching career so far, it was hard to watch. I wanted to turn off his tape a few times. I don’t want to go too far into his tape as we have a profile on him that will be released soon, but I thought with a good combine Muma may be able to find himself as a late second rounder, early third rounder, but for sure a day two backer. I have to be honest I don’t know that he’s even a day two backer at this point. Most likely an early day three backer. I was impressed by many more than him. Muma tested well. He was the strongest of the backers who participated in the bench, he jumped pretty well, and his agility drills(3 cone and 20 yard shuttle) were top of the class, but his 40 time was not ideal. It was when they got to the field drills that I really started to see the Muma I saw on film. He struggled in the drills in more ways than one. If you are looking to draft Muma as an off-ball linebacker I would probably look again because there are some serious concerns in my eyes. Hopefully he can get it together and have a better showing at his pro day.