4 things we learned from NFL Combine week

Retired NFL lineman Geoff Schwartz recaps combine weekend, from the workout warriors to trade rumors.

Where to begin? The NFL Combine always gives us so much NFL news and notes in just a single offseason weekend. This year was no exception. We have workout warriors, Kyler Murray’s height, quarterback free agents, and trade rumblings.

Here are my biggest takeaways from the 2019 NFL Combine.

Kyler Murray is taller than we all thought.

The winner of this year’s combine isn’t even a player. It’s the measurement stick. Kyler Murray was measured at a robust 5’10 1/8, a full two-eighths more than his Oklahoma height. He’s the first player I can recall in combine history who’s taller than his listed height from college.

No surprise, Murray weighed in much heavier than he played, at 207 pounds. The common comparison is Russell Wilson, who was 5’11, 204 pounds at his combine. But that’s a bad comparison. Wilson lost weight to run faster at the combine, while Murray had to gain weight for the combine.

However, this whole thing about Murray’s weight is rather stupid. If he were 5’9 1/2, would it change how he plays? No. His stature has always been the concern and being 207 is an excellent start to change the perception.

Why were players so dang fast this year?

Now, the actual winners of the combine are all the workout warriors who ran ridiculous time at their current weights. That includes D.K. Metcalf, who is 6’3, 228 pounds and ran the 40 in 4.33 seconds.

But the best day of physical accomplishment was Sunday, when the defensive linemen and linebackers took the field. Quinnen Williams, who potentially could be the top pick in the draft, ran a 4.83 at 303 pounds. Just ridiculous. Montez Sweat, Devin White, and Devin Bush all ran 4.41, 4.42, and 4.43 respectively.

Humans shouldn’t be able to move that quickly and that fast. It feels like this year there was a clear uptick in the speed and the physical freakiness of the athletes. I don’t have the exact answer for why that was the case, but I sure enjoyed watching it.

One explanation, and it was suggested by my brother Mitchell, is that players had more prep time than usual. Well, that’s the case with Bush, who skipped his bowl games. But it doesn’t explain the others, who all played bowl games on Jan. 1 or later.

Another explanation is that the combine training business continues to get more streamlined, and as players continue to get bigger, faster and stronger, they adapt well to the process. Also, these kids have been running 40s for years. Nike’s The Opening and other combines test high school kids. They prepare for it. This can contribute to the players being well versed in how to properly run a 40.

Now again, like I wrote last week, these numbers shouldn’t be the only reason a player is drafted. Sweat, the owner of the 4.41 40, is an excellent athlete but hasn’t shown the production on the field to match. Metcalf had a 95th percentile 40 time, but a second and third percentile in the three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle, respectively. These results will force scouts to look at these players in a different light when they go back to watch these players again.

Rumors are in full swing — especially about two quarterbacks.

Last week, I discussed the three main purposes of the combine: the medical, measurements, and interviews. Well, there’s fourth purpose of the combine, and that’s the whispers, aka networking. Everything truly important at the combine happens after a few drinks and a steak. All the personnel from every team and players’ agents are located in one city. They talk. But of course, for the record, they don’t “talk.”

So, with all of this we get rumors. These were the two big ones:

Nick Foles to Jacksonville

Duh. This makes too much sense. The Jaguars are moving on from Blake Bortles. They need a reliable quarterback who can win them games. Bortles, at his best, wouldn’t lose games. There’s a huge difference. Jacksonville is in the process of clearing cap space for Foles, who could get around $20 million a year.

Jacksonville still needs to add some weapons to help Foles, but with its defense and run game, I think Foles can be adequate, or at least better than Bortles. If people expect Foles to be Super Bowl Foles, you can forget about it. Foles has been an average quarterback for most of his career. The NFC Championship Game and Super Bowl were spectacular performances and nothing should be taken away from those, but that’s not who Nick Foles is regularly.

Josh Rosen is on the move

At least that seems to be the consensus: Murray goes to the Cardinals and Rosen is shipped out. I’ve said for a while I don’t expect Rosen to get a first-round pick. Peter King wrote in his Football Morning in America column that he’s hearing, as is Kurt Warner, that Rosen is worth only a third-round pick. Yikes.

However, it seems as though Washington might be the best suitor for Rosen and perhaps the Cardinals could get a first-rounder out of it. Would the team part with the 15th pick, if that’s what it takes? Seems like value for Washington: QB of the future for the 15th pick and a LOW salary for the next three seasons. That sounds like a win to me.