Why Has Hogs' Carmona Gone into Free Fall Mode in NFL Draft?

FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. — Arkansas defensive back Julian Neal stole headlines when he shot up into the second round, quarterback Taylen Green stole records when he took over the combine, and running back Mike Washington stole hearts when he was overcome with emotion after posting the fastest time of any running back.

All of these star moments were unexpected to varying degrees. The one thing that was expected, however, was for the Hogs' most consistent performer over the last two seasons to be the talk of the combine, yet he is the one who has kind of quietly disappeared among all the hype and analytics that come with the event.

He, of course, is Arkansas offensive lineman Fernando Carmona. When he chose to return to Arkansas after last season, the perception was that he would work himself into a high second or lower first round draft pick.

It's not like Carmona didn't do everything he should. Not only did he work his way up from the All -SEC 3rd Team to All-SEC 2nd Team, but he was able to put a nasty incident that made him look like a dirty player against Texas Tech far behind him.

Instead, he spent the year proving he can focus that edgy demeanor in as positive of a manner as there can be on the football field. He had a necessary mean streak on the field, which is basically requierd to compete in the SEC, and all of the kindness and affable personality, along with strong communication skills, needed to be highly marketable off the field.

On top of that, he has a pet pig that he keeps in his apartment which serves as an automatic talking point if an NFL team sends him out to meet with children. There's not a whole lot else he could have done to help his dreams of getting drafted high.

That is, except just not go to the NFL Combine. There teams went out of their way to find reasons to ignore two years of excellence against SEC defenses and, somehow, they found them.

The first sign was the extreme lack of buzz surrounding him once the linemen finished their appearances last week. Other than a repeated post that had a single line indicating the former Hog did fairly well in the three-cone drill, there wasn't a single mention of Carmona.

Even that tiny note listed him as having played for Arizona instead of Arkansas. Locally, all the buzz was about the other three Hogs as their accomplishments popped up one after the other in the media cycle, leaving Carmona sadly forgotten as it pertains to Razorbacks in the draft.

Unfortunately, it appears to be the same with NFL teams. He was thought to be somewhere from an instant starter to a starter soon to be named after a year or two behind a quality veteran.

However, there is a clear line of that perception over the past year right up until February where it changes drastically. That once sparkling reputation altered greatly after the combine.

NFL.com listed his projection as a back-up or special teams prospect following workouts after he ranked between No. 8 and No. 9 in key categories among guards at the combine. Not exactly a glowing review considering there were only 50 linemen in total and guards didn't make up a large number of them.

Still, it should be noted he's being compared to linemen who were invited to the combine, which means he was already expected to be a high priority target. In 2024, nine offensive linemen went in the first round alone.

Still, as the updated mock drafts came out, reality began to set in. Carmona's projections suddenly fell from late second round in some places to anywhere from the fifth round to undrafted free agent in a lot of cases.

His most promising projection appears to come from the Palm Beach Post down in Florida where he is projected to go to the Dolphins in the fifth round at a spot yet to be determined.

Only one site appeared to have enough interest in Carmona to make actual notes on him, but all it took was the one review to pull back the curtain on what's happening. Walter Football kept tabs on four guards, with the Razorbacks' captain being the only one to not draw praise.

Instead, they diced him up pretty hard, saying in as many words as possible without saying it directly that the NFL found Carmona to be rather disappointing.

"Fernando Carmona’s arm length wasn’t ideal, as they measured in at 32 1/8 inches. He could have made up for it via testing numbers or the on-field drills, but neither happened. Carmona ran a 5.22 with a slow 1.86 10-yard split. His jumping numbers were also lackluster (29 vertical, 8-7 broad jump). And even worse, his performance in the drills wasn’t very good."

He had those apparent short arms as he dominated SEC play for two years. Also, if an NFL offense is asking its linemen to run 40 yards or do a lot of jumping as part of the schematics of a play, then that might not be the best fit for pretty much any lineman.

Carmona has a mental edge that makes him suitable for the NFL and he is durable. His name almost never gets called because he doesn't draw penalties and he doesn't get beat.

His communication skills and high football IQ will help him a lot once the on-site interviews at team facilities start taking place. Carmona has the ability to walk away having increased his stock a full round with a team hoping to keep dead quiet on him until the right time to pull the trigger in the draft.

One of these NFL teams is going to land a quality guard who has the durability to be a long-term piece and they're going to get him at a price that might be even less than what Arkansas has been paying for his services.

If only he could jump a little higher so he could excel in all those times he's going to need to get off his feet while dropping back into pass protection. He could have made so much more money.

Hogs Feed:

Fernando Carmona’s arm length wasn’t ideal, as they measured in at 32 1/8 inches. He could have made up for it via testing numbers or the on-field drills, but neither happened. Carmona ran a 5.22 with a slow 1.86 10-yard split. His jumping numbers were also lackluster (29 vertical, 8-7 broad jump). And even worse, his performance in the drills wasn’t very good.

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