2018 NFL Scouting Combine Preview: The Hurricane Perspective

With the city of Philadelphia still soaring from Sunday’s Super Bowl 52 victory, the conclusion of the 2017-’18 season marked the official stretch down the path to the 2018 NFL Draft. April 26th, the first day of the draft, is in the not-too-distant future, there’s plenty of evaluating by franchises and jockeying by prospects to be done before the Cleveland Browns are officially on the clock.

One of those evaluations is the annual NFL Scouting Combine that takes place in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. During their few days in Indy, prospects will be weighed, measured, tested and interviewed by team doctors of interested clubs and the national scouting service as well. The entire event, with the exception of the one-on-one interview process between team and players that take place behind closed doors during those 48 hours, will be televised on the league-run NFL Network.

On Tuesday February 6th, the NFL released the official list of invites to the combine. As one can imagine, the University of Miami will be well represented starting on March 1st through March 5th. The official invite list of Hurricanes is:

Kicker Michael Badgley

Wide Receiver Braxton Berrios

Cornerback De’Vonta ‘Dee’ Delaney

Tight End Christopher Herndon IV

Guard KC McDermott

Defensive Tackle R.J. McIntosh

Defensive Tackle Kendrick Norton

Defensive End Chad Thomas

Running Back Mark Walton

The names that got the invite are not surprising; however, the UM snub list does provide some intrigue. DE Trent Harris, DT Anthony Moten and OG Trevor Darling were not invited to the showcase. Harris, who led all Hurricane defenders with 8.5 sacks after the 2017 season, is a surprise omission among the group. This now puts more pressure on those who were not invited to the combine to perform at Miami’s Pro Day in the weeks to come.

For the players who will be heading to the Midwest, they’ve been prepping for the biggest job interview of their careers since the Orange Bowl. A few players—DE Chad Thomas, Michael Badgley and Braxton Berrios—had the opportunity to showcase themselves one more time in football drills and game action at a couple of college all-star events after the season. The combine will help determine just how athletic or not these guys are as NFL clubs try to lock in their draft boards before they’re on the clock to make a selection.

So, which ’Canes need to have a great weekend in Indy?

The easy answer would be all of them, of course. The real answer will be the defensive tackles, McIntosh and Norton. Since their decisions to forgo their senior season, there has been plenty of talk about their draft stock—or lack thereof. The duo, who at times were projected to be top 50 draft prospects in 2018, are now being projected to go anywhere from the fourth round or later, according to some analysts. There’s not much a defensive tackle can do during the combine other than run fast, put up decent numbers on the bench and show off good change-of-direction in the cone drills since they will be showing off technique more than their pass-rush or run-stop abilities. Making a good impression on the teams that they interview with could go a long way in helping their draft stock, especially with teams investigating player backgrounds of prospects that are currently ranked ahead of them.

Another part of the combine—aside from the interviews and on-field drills—that will be important is the medical report. For Mark Walton (ankle) and Chris Herndon (MCL) the medical evaluation could be more important than the on-field drills themselves. All three of the players mentioned have been trending upward since the end of the college season, despite coming back from those injuries.

The severity of Walton’s injury has not been revealed to the general public, so this will be the first time that NFL teams will be able to poke around to see how the ankle is healing and where Miami’s former lead back is in the recovery process. Based on his interview with the guys from the ‘Stick to Football’ podcast, Walton sounds eager to show off his athleticism for a large audience, especially coming back from a season plagued by injuries. There is a good feeling from many in the scouting community that a good weekend, from the medical exam to the on-field drills, could launch his draft stock into early day two territory.

In the case of Chris Herndon, according to his representation, he is ahead of schedule in his rehab. Expect to see Herndon to go through drills at Miami’s Pro Day in the coming weeks than at the combine.

Past Performances by ’Canes at the Combine

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

While the combine represents a neutral field in terms of competition, there’s nothing like holding bragging rights over some fellow alums. Which Hurricane has posted the fastest 40-yard dash in Indy? That honor belongs to Miami’s new defensive quality control analyst DeMarcus Van Dyke. Did Vince Wilfork put up the most reps on the bench press? The best performance at the combine in that respect belongs to Ereck Flowers, who put the bar up for 37 reps, barely edging out big Vince for the crown.

You can see where past Hurricanes stacked up in the charts below.

Forty and Fame

No event over the course of combine weekend is more scrutinized than the 40-yard dash. It’s an event where former Washington Huskies’ WR John Ross setting a new record time of 4.22 in the event, breaking former Titans’ RB Chris Johnson longstanding benchmark of 4.24, was met with a social media storm. Unfortunately, for Ross, since he did not run the the heat in a pair of Adidas footwear, he missed out on being given an island by the company. Whether you believe the 40 is the equivalent of the the dunk competition to all-star Saturday or just overblown, it continues to be a big draw. So until NFL Network starts focusing their cameras on the 3-cone and shuttle, the 40-yard dash will continue to be the marquee event of the weekend. For the curious, here are some of the official times for past Hurricanes who ran the 40-yard dash at the combine.

You can see these Hurricanes in the ‘Underwear Olympics’ starting today on NFL Network. Day one features running backs, offensive linemen and specialists participating in on-field drills.

IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT THE U!