By Jared Stanger

For me, I look for something a little different in a Combine “winner”. To me, it’s not the guys that are expected to do well and then do it. It’s the guys that we think are unathletic and then show that they are, in fact, very athletic. Or maybe their athleticism hasn’t been thought of much at all.

My first winner is Oregon RB Royce Freeman. Weighing in at 6’0″/229lbs, Royce is one of the top 5 biggest RB in this class. He put together a workout that included a 4.54s forty (9th in group), 17 reps in the bench (12th in group), 34″ vert (12th in group), broad jump 9’10” (16th in group). But then here is where things get interesting…agility.

Freeman posted the 3rd-best three-cone drill at 6.90, and the 3rd-best short shuttle at 4.16. The two guys with better times in both agility tests weighed 193lbs and 205lbs, respectively.

To look at it as a pro-comp, I’m going to stack Royce up next to another guy that had a ton of “mileage” in college: Le’veon Bell.

Le’veon: 6’1″/230lbs, 4.60s forty, 24 bench, 31.5″ vert, 9’10” broad, 6.75 cone, 4.24 shuttle
Royce: 6’0″/229lbs, 4.54s forty, 18 bench, 34″ vert, 9’10” broad, 6.90 cone, 4.16 shuttle

From the Offensive Line groups, I will briefly acknowledge the day that Tyrell Crosby had (14th in forty, 8th in vert, 16th in broad) because that athleticism puts him ahead of the athleticism of the tackles generally projected ahead of him (McGlinchey, Brown).

I also think Wyatt Teller had a great day. 6’4″/301lbs with 34″ arms (nice for a guard), he ran a 5.24s forty, 30 bench, 29″ vert, the 2nd-best broad jump at 9’6″, the 5th-best cone drill.

But the guy that was a surprise winner for me was UCLA center Scott Quessenberry. I haven’t been watching the Center class very thoroughly, but I did a couple games on Kolton Miller, which allowed me to also notice Quiz. I thought the tape vs UW and Vita Vea was specifically noteworthy.

And then, today, Scott posted a workout of: 5.09s forty (unheard of for a center and 6th in this OL class), 33.5″ vert (2nd), 9’3″ broad (6th), and a 7.50 cone (6th). Every guy with a better forty and cone time weighs at least 6 lbs less than Quessenberry. So his SPARQ score could end up higher relative to weight.