Receivers Open Day One at Combine
INDIANAPOLIS – The NFL Scouting Combine will begin with a bang, at least as far as the Eagles are concerned.
First up Tuesday morning: wide receivers.
That group will meet with reporters inside the Indiana Convention Center, and every mock draft in the world has the Eagles taking a receiver with their first pick, No. 21 overall, in the 2020 NFL Draft on April 23.
That plan could change, of course, depending on what the Eagles do when free agency begins on March 18.
Perhaps head coach Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman will shed some light on the topic Tuesday afternoon and answer several other offseason questions when Roseman speaks with reporters at 1:30 and Pederson at 1:45.
It’ll be a whirlwind meet and greet for the prospects in the morning, however, with so many of the names linked to the Eagles talking at the same time from various podiums and seated at tables.
At 9 a.m., Arizona State’s Brandon Aiyuk and Ohio State’s K.J. Hill will speak.
At 9:30, a reporter's decision making on who to jump in on gets even more difficult, having to choose between LSU’s Justin Jefferson, Clemson’s Tee Higgins, Florida’s Van Jefferson, Central Florida’s Gabriel Davis, and Liberty’s Antonio Gandy-Golden. And, oh, there is quarterback Jalen Hurts scheduled to talk at this time, too.
Any of those players could wind up being Eagles at some point during the 2020 NFL Draft.
The heavyweights keep on coming at 10, with Alabama’s Jerry Jeudy, Baylor’s Denzel Mims, Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb, Texas’ Collin Johnson, and Minnesota’s Tyler Johnson scheduled to hold court.
At 10:30, Colorado’s Laviska Shenault, Alabama Henry Ruggs, and TCU’s Jalen Reagor will speak.
As a first timer covering the Combine – yes, this begins my 10th year on the Eagles beat and it is my first time here – maybe the decisions would be easier, though I doubt it.
I want to hear from each of these players. If I can only pick one in each group, here’s who I am tentatively considering:
Aiyuk, Jefferson, Mims, and Ruggs.
“The wide receiver group, as deep as I've seen,” said NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah on a conference call last week. “I've got 27 wide receivers with top 3-round grades in this draft. And consider average 31 are taken.
"We had a max of 35 taken in, I believe that was in 2017. So this is a really phenomenal group of wideouts. Not all those guys are going to go early. They'll end up spreading throughout the draft. But it's really a good group.”
Aiyuk is becoming an intriguing possibility for the Eagles, assuming they don’t trade up to grab the perceived top three pass catchers in a draft class loaded with them. They are Jeudy, Lamb, and Ruggs.
Asked specifically which receivers could be available for the Eagles and who they might take at No. 21, Jeremiah said he believes the big three will be gone but spoke highly of Aiyuk.
“I think he's a stud,” said Jeremiah. “He's tough, competitive, run-after-catch guy. Needs a little polish but can return as well. So has some value there.”
Aiyuk went through the measuring portion of the Combine on Monday and, at 5-11, has a wingspan that is two inches longer than 6-5 Collin Johnson of Texas. That is freakish.
Monday also saw LSU quarterback Joe Burrow’s hands measure at less than ideal size. Burrow is everyone's consensus pick to be the first player taken overall by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Burrow responded to his hand size with this tweet:
To which Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes tweeted back: “My small hands are doing alright so far…I believe in ya.”
Back to the Eagles and potential receiver targets.
“They could use all different styles of receivers, when you talk about getting a Z or an X slot,” said Jeremiah. “Like, I think they would prefer to have the speed, which is Jerry Jeudy. I don't anticipate that - not Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs. Jeudy will be long gone. I assume that Henry Ruggs will be long gone as well. But that to me, if you were to say home run pick for the Eagles, who is it, it's Henry Ruggs, just because of how much speed and juice he would give to that offense.
“I think Justin Jefferson has got a chance to be a high, high volume slot receiver a lot like Keenan Allen, can fill that role, can work in traffic. He's really good down in the red zone. He led this entire draft class with touchdowns down in the red zone this year at 12. So, he's a point producer and he would be a great fit for them.
“And you get into Tee Higgins, who I think will probably be there, who is really tall, long and rangy. You hope you're drafting A.J. Green. I don't think he's on that level but that's the style with which he plays. There's a little bit of concern with him just getting off press. Some of the better competition they played later in the year he struggled a little bit with that. I would say that group of wide receivers is probably be the ones they'll be staring at.”
