NFL Combine Day 3: Rams will have lot of explosive options at WR and RB

The Los Angeles Rams will be looking to add more explosive playmakers on offense this offseason. That starts with the wide receiver and running back positions. On Saturday, the running backs and wide receivers tested at the NFL Combine and the two position groups put on a show. For running backs, the average 40-time at The Combine this year was a 4.48. That’s the fastest running back group at The Combine since 2003. The wide receivers also impressed, recording the most sub-4.4 40-yard dashes at The Combine since 2003.

If the Rams were looking to add speed, they got the perfect draft class to do it in. Obviously, a little too much stock sometimes gets placed on the 40-time and some of the drills in Indianapolis. However, The Combine is meant to confirm what we see on tape, and that’s exactly what happened on Saturday. Here are the top players that stood out.

Iowa State Wide Receiver Duo

Throughout the entire draft process, the Iowa State duo at wide receiver in Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel have caught my attention. Coming into The Combine, NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said last week, “You look at Jaylin Noel from Iowa State who is going to put on a show at the combine. He is really, really explosive.”

The Iowa State wide receiver was explosive to say the least. Noel had the second-highest vertical among participating wide receivers despite being smaller and his 11’2 broad jump did lead all wide receivers. Noel may only be 5’10, 194 pounds, but he is a firecracker. In the college football regular season last year, Noel ranked 12th in the nation with 11 receptions of 20 or more yards. At the Senior Bowl, he had the fourth most explosive efforts with 112. An explosive effort is defined as “high” accelerations and “high” decelerations a player achieves. Noel confirmed in Indianapolis what we saw on tape. He is one of the more explosive wide receivers in this draft class.

Noel’s teammate Jayden Higgins quieted a lot of the questions around him as well. Higgins was never going to run the fastest 40-time as a bigger wide receiver. However, he ran a 4.47 and his top speed of 22.28 mph. Higgins was smooth in the gauntlet and other position drills.

NextGen Stats

While he didn’t put on quite the show that Noel did, he had an impressive outing. There was some hope that at least one of these two players may fall to the Rams at 90. As it stands, it’s hard to see either of them making it past the early portion of the third round.

RB Bhayshul Tuten, Virginia Tech

There is one running back that I’ve been pounding the table for as an explosive option for the Rams. That player has been Virginia Tech’s Bhayshul Tuten. Tuten was a player that was expected to run fast. I asked him on Friday what he was expecting to run as he hit a 4.32 last offseason according to Bruce Feldman. Tuten hit a 4.32 on Saturday at The Combine.

While Tuten’s 40-time was fast, it was the other drills where he really impressed. He had the highest vertical at 40.5’’ and his 10’10 broad jump was also in the top-five. The thing with Tuten is that he isn’t just fast in street clothes. This is one of the fastest running backs in the draft. He had the fastest speed at 19.75 mph on day two of practice in Mobile at the Senior Bowl. There will be concerns about Tuten’s ball security, but talking with him on Friday, he owned it and called it a point of emphasis. Tuten is likely still a day three pick, but he was one of the more explosive running backs on Saturday.

WR Matthew Golden, Texas

The Rams met with Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden at The Combine and it would not be surprising to see them take him at 26th overall. Golden ran the fastest 40-time among wide receivers as the only player to crack a 4.3 at an official 4.29. His 10-yard split was also the fastest at a 1.49.

NextGen Stats

Coming into the day, Texas wide receiver Isaiah Bond talked a big game that he was going to crack a 4.2. Bond didn’t come close to that at a 4.4 and the fastest Texas wide receiver ended up being Golden. Again, the Combine should confirm what is seen on film. Golden ranked 8th in college football last year in receptions of 20+ yards with 13. Out of those 13, seven were contested. After Arizona’s Tet McMillan, the ranking of that next group of wide receivers is pretty wide-spread. Golden could start to generate more buzz as the second-best wide receiver in this class.

RB Dylan Sampson, Tennessee

Sampson didn’t run the 40-yard dash as some would have liked. This is one of the fastest running backs in the draft and may have given Tuten a run as the best 40-time. Sampson didn’t run as he was dealing with a hamstring. With that said, he did participate in the position drills and appeared to be moving pretty well. Sampson showed off his quick feet and good balance. His cuts were sharp and he made quick decisions. We’ll see if Sampson runs at his pro day, but the position drills were smooth and that’s arguably more important.

QB Kyle McCord, Syracuse

My opinion continues to be that if the Rams end up taking a quarterback on day three of the NFL draft, that player should be Kyle McCord out of Syracuse. He is a great fit for the Sean McVay offense. Had he not thrown five interceptions against Pitt, he might be in the conversation with the second tier of quarterbacks such as Jaxson Dart.

McCord was locked in throwing the football in Indianapolis. I’m not sure he missed a single one of his deep-outs. He also looked like the best quarterback at the Shrine Bowl. This week, McCord owned his bad first year at Ohio State. However, he went to Syracuse and out-dueled likely the best quarterback in the draft in Cam Ward this year. Against Miami, McCord had three touchdowns to go with 380-yards and led a 21-0 comeback. This is the potential bridge quarterback and long-term backup that the Rams could have post-Stafford.

Other Notes and Quotes

• The big news coming out of The Combine on Saturday was obviously that the 49ers traded Deebo Samuel and his $21.7 million salary to the Washington Commanders for a fifth-round pick. That draft compensation is notable in relation to the Rams and Cooper Kupp. Given that Kupp’s cap-hit is closer to $30-million, it should not be expected for the Rams to get more than a sixth.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said on Saturday, “The Los Angeles Rams star receiver, due $20 million–the Rams and Kupp himself have come out and said very clearly the Rams are intending to trade him and for sure there is going to be a marke. Really the question though is, is there enough interest to do a trade where (a) team will take on his full salary? If not, it certainly seems a possibility for the Rams would be cutting Cooper Kupp.”

• While we’re on the topic of wide receivers, Oregon’s Tez Johnson didn’t run what some expected. Johnson ran a 4.55 at 154 pounds No wide receiver at The Combine under 170 pounds since 2003 has ever run a slower 40. Now, the Rams don’t necessarily care about a 40-time with wide receivers, but Johnson didn’t look fast in other drills either. With that said, Johnson’s play-speed is much faster. He did have the fastest 3-cone at 6.65 which is a testament to his route-running. Johnson is going to check a lot of boxes for the Rams which will bring serious Tutu Atwell vibes.
• One of my favorite interviews of the week was from Wisconsin offensive tackle, Jack Nelson. Nelson obviously had the Wisconsin connection that the Rams have targeted in the past. On Saturday, Nelson mentioned two Rams tackles at the podium. Rob Havenstein went to a Wisconsin spring practice last year and helped Nelson for over an hour after the practice. He also mentioned Andrew Whitworth as a player he has watched closely due to their similar size and Nelson praised Whitworth’s technique. Said Nelson,

“He came and watched a spring practice. I was leaving and introduced myself. He actually worked a lot with me just on my set. I’ve gone through a bunch of coaches. From vertical setting to more on the 45 to really getting out there and pushing that angle. I was kind of in a weird spot with my set. I didn’t feel very confident in it and what I wanted to do, what I wanted it to look like. He really helped me. We took a ton of sets after. This was after spring practice which is two hours and we were there for another hour and a half. I’d take a set and he’d tell me what he thought, what helped him, different drills, what I should be thinking during that set. That helped me out a lot, especially my balance in that set. I feel like previous years I used to be a little wild getting out there and probably looked a little hectic. He really helped me be more calm, cool, collected in my set and just make it look easier.”

The Rams could use a backup right tackle to be the heir apparent for Havenstein. While it didn’t work out with Logan Bruss, Nelson is a mid-round option at tackle and seems to really have a strong mindset. The bad experience with Bruss shouldn’t force a negative option of Nelson.

• While Nelson was one my favorite interviews, my favorite quote of the weekend came from LSU’s Miles Frazier. The Rams could use some guard depth. When describing his play style, Frazier said,

I would say aggressive, nasty. I always try to look for style points, so like extra effort points when I’m downfield. I’m looking at really decapitating somebody for real. That’s just my favorite thing to do.”

Sign me up.