NFL
By Bill Carroll
The 2023 NFL Combine was a watershed event. Personally, it was great to be back at the combine and it made history for Team NBS Media, as it is, the first time that our organization has been credentialed, for a NFL Scouting Combine. It certainly got off to a controversial start as, news of the, Jalen Carter arrest warrant dropped.
Soon, several other developments would join that headline. Not since Kenny Pickett’s hands, has there as much furor, over fractions of an inch, as there was over Bryce Young’s exact measurements. Young was measured at 5′ 10 1/8″ 204 at the 2023 NFL Combine. The good news for him, physically, was his 9 3/4″ hands, measurements which are, well above average.
The other overwhelming source of discussion on Saturday was Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson who came in at 6’4 1/” 244, ran the 40 in 4.43, set a, modern era, record for QBs, at the 2023 NFL Combine. The man who nicknamed himself “Cam Jackson, because he feels like he’s a combination of Cam Newton and Lamar Jackson. He also showed that he has real explosion with 40 1/2″ vertical jump and a 10’9” broad jump.
While Coleridge Bernard “CJ” Stroud, didn’t do any physical testing, his accuracy, anticipation and passing touch were all elite, in the passing drills, at the 2023 NFL Combine. Will Levis showed that he has been focusing on improving, both his passing mechanical consistency and efficiency of motion.
Among the quarterbacks who were not projected first round picks Stetson Bennett, Jake Haener, Jaren Hall, Tanner McKee and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, all had quite a few good moments. The surprising success of Brock Purdy,when he went from “Mr. Irrelevant”, the final player taken in last year’s draft, to playing in a game that could have sent his team to the Super Bowl. That success may have scouts wondering if they can find another, similar type of player this year.
The tight end class at the The 2023 NFL Combine, was extraordinarily deep. One of the players, that I have written about previously, Zack Kuntz, had another ‘Freak-Show’ performance. He measured in at 6’7 3/8″255, ran 4.55, had a 40″ vertical, 10’8″ was his broad jump, he knocked out 23 repetitions on the bench, had a 4.12 short shuttle and completed the 3-cone drill in 6.87. These are impressive numbers under any circumstances, but Kuntz missed a large portion of the 2022 season with an injury. In 2021, he caught my eye, as he produced, with 73 catches for 692 yards and five touchdowns.
The 2023 NFL Combine seemed a little light to me, with regard to non-FBS prospects, but one who seized his opportunity was Andrei Iosivas, who earned Second-Team All-Ivy this past season. He was third in the Ivy League in receiving yards. At 6′ 3 1/8″ 205, he was among the larger receivers, at the 2023 NFL Combine, but was also among the most athletic.
Iosivas was a three-sport athlete at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. He played football, basketball and ran track in high school. He earned First-Team All-Conference honors in football, while leading Punahou to the state tournament. Iosivas also caught three touchdowns in the 2017 Honor Bowl to earn MVP honors.
He competed in the Heptathlon, consisting of the 60 meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60 meter hurdles, pole vault and the 1000 meter run. It is surpassed only by the Decathlon, concerning the demands that it places competitors to be agile, determined, fast, powerful and versatile.
He won three Ivy League championships in the Heptathlon, earning Most Outstanding Field Performer honors in 2020 and 2022. Iosivas was a First-Team All-American in the heptathlon in 2022 and his 5715 points at the Wesley A. Brown Invitational leads all competitors in the event, for the season.
On the penultimate day of the 2023 NFL Combine, Matt Landers, the 6’4 3/8″ 200 pound WR from Arkansas, had a breakout performance when he ran a 4.37 40-yard dash. He also jumped 37″ in the vertical and 10’10” in the broad. Landers was just one of five receivers to run under 4.4.
Among offensive linemen, BYU’s Blake Freeland, Earl Bostick Jr. from Kansas, Braeden Daniels of Utah, Jon Gaines II, a UCLA Bruin and Broderick Jones , of the NCAA FBS National Champion, Georgia Bulldogs, all stood out. Freeland set a new Combine record, for offensive linemen, in the vertical jump, checking in at 6’7 7/” 302, with a 37” vertical, is stunning. The rest of his testing was nearly as astonishing: 4.98 in the 40, and a 10′ broad jump.
At BYU, he was a a four-year starter, team captain, starting 41 games and appearing in 44. He was a third-team AP All-American in 2022. As a whole the offensive line group was impressive.
The running back group at the 2023 NFL Combine rivals the corner-back class for depth and diversity of talent. Bijan Robinson, a nearly universal leader in every RB ranking was solid on all areas, 5’11” 215, 4.46 40, a 37″ vertical jump. 10’4″ broad jump and he was explosive, precise and smooth through all of the drills.
The duel for the fastest 40 time among the running back group, at the 2023 NFL Combine, as expected, came down to Devon Achane of Texas A&M and Keaton Mitchell of East Carolina. They did not disappoint, Achane is small at 5′ 8 1/2″ 184 and Mitchell is even smaller at 5′ 7 7/8″ 179, Achane bested Mitchell 4.32 to 4.37 in the 40. However, topped Achane’s vertical 38″ to 33, also Mitchell posted a 10’6 broad and Achane declined to test in the broad jump.
The 2023 NFL Combine was dominated by players that met or exceeded expectations. But two running backs, SaRodorick Thompson from Texas Tech, who clocked a 4.67 and Tavion Thomas of Utah with a 4.74, definitely raised some concerns. Both are perceived as future members of a running back committee. Thomas is 237 pounds so he seems to have a definite role as a power, short-yardage specialist.
For those at the 2023 NFL Combine beyond the heights, weights, speeds and jumps, shuttles and drills, interviews and medical examinations will be enormously important in sorting through this year’s bounteous crop of talent. The 2023 NFL Combine made history as it illuminated futures.
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