This weekend, the focus of the football world shifted to Indianapolis for the annual NFL Combine. Every year, hopeful prospects see their draft stocks rise and fall based on their performance in a series of drills. This year is no exception. There are dozens of players that have helped themselves this weekend. Some grabbed a lot of attention from the national media while others flew a little under the radar.
Not all of these players will be options for the Kansas City Chiefs. Some players are out because the Chiefs are set at their position and others because they don’t really fit what the Chiefs do scheme-wise. So which combine standouts may be a good fit for Kansas City? I’ve got four that really stood out to me as I watched coverage this weekend.
Before I get to the four players that I’m going to focus on, let’s talk about the quarterbacks for a brief moment. I considered putting a quarterback (or two) on this list, but at the end of the day I believe quarterback is one of the positions where the Combine matters the least. Yes, it’s nice to have a quarterback show some athleticism. Yes, it’s nice to see them deliver a great accurate spiral in drills. The problem is that so much of a quarterback’s success has to do with reading defenses and handling pressure that the combine just can’t show you. Now, that’s really true for any position. The film will ALWAYS give you the best and most accurate picture of a player. However, sometimes you need to know if a player has NFL caliber size/speed/strength, etc. The Combine helps complete that picture. I just believe it gives you less of a picture for quarterbacks than it does for most other positions.
Having got that very long disclaimer out of the way, I did like what I saw from some of the quarterbacks. I would love to see the Chiefs land Deshaun Watson or Patrick Mahomes in the first round. I worry that their performances on Saturday may have been good enough that they will both be gone by the time the Chiefs select at No. 27. In terms of late round quarterbacks, I liked what I saw from both C.J. Beathard and Josh Dobbs. There will be plenty of time and posts to debate quarterbacks though. Let’s get to some players who may have proved at the combine that they have the tools needed to succeed in the NFL and specifically with the Chiefs.
Let’s start with a wide receiver who had a fantastic day.