The NFL Draft isn’t the guaranteed sign of success for those who knock it out of the park, and it also isn’t a surefire case of impending doom for those who fail at it. However, it’s a little more complicated than that. When a player doesn’t merely fail at the combine, but does something so poorly or so consistently that they appear to be lost at sea, draft stock can really tank and a career foothold can be lost. The quality of player is also at issue. Here are several different kinds of scenarios among players who hurt themselves at the combine:
Leonard Fournette
This is a case of a great player who might be in trouble simply because he can’t stay healthy. Fournette was constantly banged up in his collegiate career at LSU. His diminished combine results, far below what was hoped for, could be viewed as a problem not because of any one thing, but because the collective reality might scare teams away. They won’t look at an individual test, but will see that Fournette is not as explosive as he was two years ago. Fournette will still be given a chance to compete in the NFL, and he might even have a good season or two. However, the durability of his career is already at issue, and that’s a draft no-no for a lot of teams.
Don’t worry too much about Fournette, though. He’s still projected to go in the Top 10. There are few players that offer his type of size and speed at the running back position and after teams saw the Dallas Cowboys hit it big with Ezekiel Elliott in the first round last year and the Los Angeles Rams do the same with Todd Gurley two years ago, they’ll have similar visions of Fournette.
Reuben Foster
There was no bigger embarrassment than Foster blowing up and losing his temper when waiting at the combine. NFL teams do intensive character evaluation, and so this is a bright red flag Foster will have to overcome. Many were in agreement that he possessed top-10-pick talent, but he might fall to the bottom of the first round or early in the second round, costing him a lot of dollars. He has to get this issue fixed very soon in order to minimize damage.
Sefo Liufau
When the list of NFL Draft candidates is compiled, Liufau will not rate very highly in terms of an overall specimen. He is not in the same position as Fournette or Foster – he never was going to be a first-round pick, and very likely not even a second- or third-round pick on day two of the draft. The damage for Liufau in the combine, where he was very inaccurate and could not fix his problems, is that he probably went from a fifth-round choice to being undrafted. That’s too bad for a guy who was one of the key cogs on a surprising Colorado Buffaloes team.
Darrell Daniels
The tight end from the University of Washington boasted that he would be the fastest tight end on the board, but he didn’t come remotely close. Forget the embarrassment of boasting and then failing to deliver; NFL teams will be worried about the boasting itself more than the 40-yard dash time, although the 40-yard dash time is a big concern in its own right. He was fed a huge piece of humble pie and unless he can do much better at his Pro Day, his stock is going to take a big hit. He’s still very talented, though, but the attitude is a concern.
Bucky Hodges
When the Virginia Tech tight end – a terrific receiver – was asked to perform blocking drills or assume blocking stances at the combine, he failed more profoundly than any other tight end prospect in terms of displaying basic competence as a blocker. His support team, tasked with preparing him for the draft, did a horrible job. That will surely catch up with him during the draft.
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