We're about a week removed from the start of the NFL Scouting Combine, and the Command Center crew is still thinking about who stood out during the action in Indianapolis. Analysts Logan Paulsen, Fred Smoot and Santana Moss recently broke down their favorite prospects in a "stock exchange" segment. Take a look at who they consider to be a "blue chip" player, who they need to "hold the line" on and who is going "to the moon."
Blue Chip
Moss: "I'm gonna go with Jeremiyah Love. Best of the best, I think. One of the things about this draft process and the combine, when you put out good stuff on tape, you want to see it immediately. You wanna say, 'I saw what he did a year ago. I saw what he did his last year he played. Now, can he test well when the pressure is on around his peers, around the guys he watches and competed against from afar?' Jeremiyah went out there and, to me, surpassed everything that I expected, because I didn't even think he was moving like that. I saw the guy have a little wiggle and be able to break tackles and run away from people, but to say you can get better in the 40 ... he showed you why he's one of those guys."
Smoot: "Sonny Styles. This is what I'm telling people: this is a middle linebacker. He has...DB and wideout stats. You have no problem with him in coverage against any tight end in the league. He can check any running back in the league. And if you line up three wide receivers to a side, he can get just as deep as they can. I just felt like I had never seen anything like this. And for him not to have an injury history, he's checking every box."
Paulsen: "For me, I'm gonna go David Bailey. This workout was good, not great. He ran a 4.51, which is excellent for an edge, but only a 35-inch vertical, under an 11-foot broad jump, but fine. Those are fine numbers. For me, the film for him was so good...here's a nice 'B' workout. I still think you're going top five."
Hold the line
Moss: "Rueben Bain. I feel like he probably didn't do a lot to make a statement to say, 'This is why you should get me.' But the film speaks for itself. I understand the wingspan and all that. People are going to be highly critical about that. He doesn't look like the average edge rusher. He looks like a guy that could probably play inside if they wanted to ... People are going to talk about the short arms; rightfully so, but he's a hell of a ball player, and I don't think those arms will be an indicator of saying that he shouldn't be one of those guys you go after in the top of the draft."
Smoot: "Jermod McCoy. He is something. If you watch his film from last year, he has no weaknesses. He tackles well in the run game. If he played this year, he would be the No. 1 corner. He's not great at one thing, but he's good at everything. Smooth hips, smoot transition out of breaks. When he gets his hands on a ball, he becomes an offensive player. He is something. Somebody is gonna get a steal."
Paulsen: "Spencer Fano, the tackle from Utah. He tested great. He ran a 4.9, but the thing is that he didn't measure well. He had short arms. They were under 33 inches, which is a threshold measurement for tackles ... First off, the film's great. The field workout for him, like the pass sets and the running, he looks like a tight end. So, for me, it's like, yes, his arms are a little bit shorter, but he's got an 80-inch wingspan, which is bigger than Will Campbell. He's a bigger man than Will Campbell. Everyone's like, 'He's not a top 10 players anymore.' Says who?"
To the moon
Moss: "Sonny Styles. He's one of those guys that...watching him on film, he's a hell of a player. Oh my god. But to see him work out like that, anybody who needs a linebacker, they're gonna be calling. To me, I think he showed everybody that this is a freak of nature that can play the middle linebacker position."
Smoot: "Mine is Zion Young. I thought he tested well, and his film shows. He's a violent guy at the point of attack. He's the type of guy that I want.
Paulsen: "Monroe Freeling from Georgia. Everybody was talking about him being a second-round, kind of developmental guy. He's a guy that tested absolutely bonkers. The reason he's flying up boards is because he's 6-7, 315, 34 3/4-inch arms, almost an 11-inch hand, so just a huge man. He ran a 4.93 40, 1.71 10-yard split, all top percentiles; 33.5-inch vertical, top percentile; and a 9-foot-7 broad jump. I think it was the fourth highest at the combine. So, just a huge, freaky man that people like the film on."
