Several SEC teams exit Combine with more than one potential first-round pick
The NFL Combine finished out Monday with on-field drills for the defensive backs.
Exiting the most important post-season draft evaluation period, eight different college teams have a chance to send at least two players into the first round of the NFL draft, including three SEC programs.
Expect to see a lot of highlights from Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Ole Miss early in this year’s NFL draft broadcast.
ALABAMA: LB REGGIE RAGLAND, DT A’SHAWN ROBINSON, DE JARRAN REED, C RYAN KELLY, RB DERRICK HENRY
Likelihood: Lock
We’re not so sure either of Alabama’s top offensive prospects will sniff this year’s first round. But it would almost seem like an injustice if the 2015 Tide defense didn’t place at least two players.
Ragland is the closest thing to a first-round lock among inside linebackers in this draft. He held a second-round grade after his junior season, returned to Tuscaloosa, got better and displayed versatility. So we’re counting him as one.
Beyond that, Robinson (rare size and athleticism, even at the NFL level) and Reed (tremendous production in 2015, analytics sites loved him) claim better than even odds to become first-round picks. We’re betting on three Alabama players among the first 31 overall.
FLORIDA: CB VERNON HARGREAVES III, DL JONATHAN BULLARD
Likelihood: Not quite a coin flip
Most analysts, and NFL personnel folks peeking ahead on the calendar, have penciled in Hargreaves as a first-round pick in this draft since the end of his freshman season in 2013. While the ’15 season and the current pre-draft process have revealed a flaw here and there, some consider him the least-risky cornerback selection in the entire draft. He’ll be off the board April 28.
Bullard entered the Combine as a player most pegged as a second-round selection. But he’s versatile enough to play a number of spots in a 4-3 or 3-4 alignment, maximizing his opportunity to go within the first 31 picks. Add to that a very strong showing in Indianapolis and a few teams should at least be considering him as a potential selection near the bottom of the first round.
OLE MISS: LT LAREMY TUNSIL, WR LAQUON TREADWELL, DT ROBERT NKEMDICHE
Likelihood: Even bigger lock
Tunsil is in the discussion to become the No. 1 overall pick. If he remains eligible for the draft come April 28 — and it’s hard to even conceive of a circumstance in which he wouldn’t — he’ll be a first-round selection.
Less certain is Treadwell’s exact landing spot. Almost every analyst considers him the No. 1 receiver in this draft class. But he did not run at the NFL Combine. If he performs poorly at the Ole Miss pro day (despite generous hand-timed 40-yard dashes), it’s at least possible that a general manager could decide to rank another receiver prospect above him.
It’s difficult to foresee a circumstance in which Treadwell falls all the way out of the first round, though there’s a decent chance he’ll be around past the midway point at pick No. 15.
In the unlikely event that NFL teams with needs at receiver all decide that he’s too slow to invest a first-round pick, some team still may take a chance on the tantalizing potential of Nkemdiche. He’ll be circled as one of the prominent “red flag” guys entering this draft, but it’s not certain he’ll fall out of Round 1.
Others
- Ohio State easily won NFL.com’s “Combine Olympics” due to sheer numbers. DE Joey Bosa is a lock to get taken in the first round. RB Ezekiel Elliott should join him. LB Darron Lee, OT Taylor Decker, CB Eli Apple, S Vonn Bell and WR Michael Thomas are other possibilities.
- Clemson got the attention of Alabama and the rest of the country with an offense led by DeShaun Watson. Most all of those players return in 2016. But three members of the defense all have a shot at first-round status: DE Shaq Lawson, CB Mackensie Alexander and DE Kevin Dodd.
- UCLA LB Myles Jack is so athletic that at one point he was one of the best running backs in the Pac-12 — as a two-way player. NFL scouts are salivating. DT Kenny Clark could help place two Bruins from last year’s defense into the first round.
- Coach Art Briles has built an offensive juggernaut at Baylor. But DT Andrew Billings, a physical freak, could combine with speedy deep threat WR Corey Coleman to represent the Bears in Round 1.
- One of the toughest bits of news to emerge from the Combine is a negative medical report for Notre Dame LB Jaylon Smith, easily a top 5 player in this draft class if not for a knee injury that’s now led to nerve damage. Reports indicate that some teams believe he’ll miss the entire 2016 season. But his prodigious talent could tempt a team to select him in the first round regardless. OT Ronnie Stanley seems like a first-round lock, so the Irish have a chance.