This year’s NFL Combine came with all the intrigue, blistering performances, and drama that anyone could want from such an event. With the event in the rearview mirror, here are a few thoughts I’ve had about this class and some other general observations.

Xavier Worthy is going very high. I think that the top three wide receivers in this class are pretty set in stone. Marvin Harrison Junior and Malik Nabers are your 1 and 2, or 1a and 1b for some people, and then Rome Odunze has the tape and measurables to be the third guy. All three players could go top ten with receiver hungry teams drafting up there. That being said, Xavier Worthy ran his way into history and millions of dollars this weekend with his record setting 4.21 40-yard dash. Worthy’s speed shows up on tape but he’s so much more than being fast. He caught a lot of short yardage, high traffic passes in the Texas offense and drew a lot of attention to free up Adonai Mitchell (who is also excellent). Worthy is a polished player and teams will take a closer look at his tape now given his tested speed. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was drafted in the first 15 picks.

This class’ strength is the receivers. It was pretty clear before this weekend, but the combine testing affirmed that this receiver class is stacked with talent at the top and in the middle. Besides the four guys already mentioned; Adonai Mitchell, Brian Thomas Junior, Johnny Wilson, Roman Wilson, Jermaine Burton, Ja’Lynn Polk, Devontez Walker, Xavier Leggette, and Ladd McKonkey all showed out at the combine this weekend. Then there are players like Keon Coleman and Troy Franklin who didn’t test great but have impressive tape. This class could see up to six receivers go in the first round and maybe ten players go in the top 75. It’s a good year to need a pass catcher.

Of course the NFL loves Jayden Daniels, but he is not a better prospect than Caleb Williams. Look, we have been talking about Caleb Williams as the first overall pick in this draft for almost two years. People get bored: Draft analysts, fans, even NFL executives want to talk about someone else. It’s in our nature and something that happens every year with top-end prospects. With Daniels, I get the fascination. His tape from 2023 was electric. He was dominant at LSU; on the ground and in the air. His character is off the charts and I am positive he is wowing teams in interviews. He’ll probably get drafted very high! But I think any indication that he would go over Caleb Williams is classic media overcorrection/boredom. Williams is a younger, more physically gifted player, who has been dominant his whole career whereas Daniels was a late bloomer. I’m not seeing Daniels as better than Caleb Williams (or even Drake Maye for that matter).

It’s the NFL’s job to care if players test at the combine, not ours. A handful of surefire first rounders decided to forgo the combine testing this year. This got people… mad. Because of course it did. The NFL is trying to market the hell out of everything it does and it hurts their product if Marvin Harrison doesn’t want to do combine testing. Or Caleb Williams. Or any other big name player. And yes, the league and its teams could retaliate by spinning up rumors about players. But we can be normal about this. The players that skipped will test at private workouts or at pro-days. They probably don’t want to be a part of the NFL’s spectacle and that is fine.

This running back class is the weakest one in memory. Not that there are no good players. I think quite a few of these guys like Braelon Allen and Blake Corum will be NFL difference makers. But besides them, it’s hard to feel like there are many game changers in this group. Hopes were high for Audric Estime but a poor combine puts a damper on that. Not to say that some of these players can’t be decent role players, but this is not a great year to want a 20-carry back through the draft. Hopefully Jonathan Brooks can get fully healthy. All that being said, this might be a great year for the free agent running backs looking for one more cash in.