[Elvis]

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Daily Combine Recap: Saturday

Myles Simmons
Rams Insider
@MylesASimmons

INDIANAPOLIS -- The final day of media availability is also the day with the most on-field intrigue as quarterbacks, wide receivers, and tight ends go through their workouts.

As you’d expect, some players had better days than others when it comes to those passing and catching. Let’s get to it in our final recap of the 2016 NFL Combine.

TOP STORIES

1) Goff, Wentz look like the top QBs

In my opinion, Jared Goff of Cal and Carson Wentz of NDSU both looked as advertised when they threw at the Combine on Saturday. While those two quarterbacks have been training together in Southern California, they were in separate throwing groups today. Goff was in the first, passing alongside other high-profile QBs like Connor Cook and Christian Hackenberg. And while Goff usually stands out, I thought he looked particularly accurate in these workouts.

Did Goff make every single throw? No. But he did look like the same talented quarterback he improved to be over the course of his career at Cal.

Wentz was the most polished quarterback at the Senior Bowl and he looked the same way in the second group of passers. One of the attributes that stands out the most for the NDSU product is his fluidity. He rarely looks like he’s thinking about the steps he needs to take in order to get off a successful throw. Does that mean he’s mastered the fundamentals? Not necessarily. But it does provide a good base to work off of.

Rounding out that “top three” quarterbacks list, Paxton Lynch had a decent day making his throws. He was not necessarily as accurate as Wentz or Goff, but his tools are apparent.

2) Disappointing day for Hackenberg

There’s a lot that goes into making passes at the Combine, and it’s not necessarily easy. But I think it was apparent to plenty that Penn State’s Hackenberg did not have a great day throwing the ball.

It seemed to start when the quarterbacks were just throwing out routes and many of them -- not just Hackenberg -- had trouble connecting with the receivers.

But for most of the signal-callers, performance improved from there. For Hackenberg, throws continued to be off target. Many passes sailed high, sometimes out of the reach of the receiver. And observers both here and on Twitter took notice.


For me, the order in which Hackenberg threw compounded the issue. He was often placed right after Goff, and the Cal product’s precision made the Penn State quarterback’s inaccuracy all the more apparent.

Look, this is just one day and by no means am I saying Hackenberg will not be a good pro because of it. But this could not have been what he had in mind when he woke up this morning, and I’d expect him to have a much better showing at his pro day to make up for it.

3) Run as fast as you can

There are 14 players from Ohio State at the Combine and throughout the week, media members asked the various players from the school who they thought would run the fastest 40. Invariably, they said Braxton Miller.

Well, that would not actually be the case. Through two attempts, Miller’s fastest time was 4.50. Running back Ezekiel Elliott cleared that yesterday with his 4.47.

The fastest time of the wideouts actually went to Notre Dame wide receiver Will Fuller. He ran a 4.32 40, which was one of only a few times that reached the 4.3 range. No one out of the wideouts was able to crack the 4.2 barrier.

Among the quarterbacks, Wentz was actually the fastest was one of the top performers, recording a 4.78 time, beating out Goff (4.82) and Lynch (4.87).

[OldSchool]

Just reinforced that we need to move up if we want one of the best 2 QB's. Goff and Wentz showed they were better than the others. Lynch I think could be good but I don't think he'll do it in 2016.

[snackdaddy]

Just reinforced that we need to move up if we want one of the best 2 QB's. Goff and Wentz showed they were better than the others. Lynch I think could be good but I don't think he'll do it in 2016.

Can Fisher afford to pretty much put their top 3 picks on ice for a year or two? Because that's what it will take to move up for one of them. Using those picks for a quarterback you might have to wait a year or two for would be risky. Or going with a rookie in a season that he needs to start winning would be risky too. I still think Fisher can't resist stud LB or DE if there is one available.

[OldSchool]

Just reinforced that we need to move up if we want one of the best 2 QB's. Goff and Wentz showed they were better than the others. Lynch I think could be good but I don't think he'll do it in 2016.

Can Fisher afford to pretty much put their top 3 picks on ice for a year or two? Because that's what it will take to move up for one of them. Using those picks for a quarterback you might have to wait a year or two for would be risky. Or going with a rookie in a season that he needs to start winning would be risky too. I still think Fisher can't resist stud LB or DE if there is one available.

You're saying it'll take our top three picks this year or it'll cost next years first to move up to get one of them? Not at all. We could get one trading up to 6. When we traded up for Austin it cost us our first(which was #16) our 2nd and 7th rounders and we swapped picks in the thirds. So this year moving up from 15 to 6 isn't going to cost that much more than from 16 to 8. That's a price I'd pay all day every day for Goff or Wentz.