2023 NFL Draft Combine Preview: Under-the-Radar Players to Watch + MORE | CBS Sports HQ
Half combined is nearly upon us in Indie will once again host the best prospects in the college and amateur game. You know, players are going to be poked in prodding. Ask whether they're more like a dog or a cat. And we'll share stories with one another to break the loaded schedule their way over the next week in Indiana. All right. So who's going to be there at Lucas Oil Stadium? Well, we know the quarterbacks will be there. Stronger class than last year, at least in theory.
Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Will Leviss, Anthony Richardson, more on the UF Gator and just a bit also head in hooker. Then there's also notable skill players. That'll be an Indianapolis, Clinton Johnson out of TCU, Jordan Addison will probably field some questions about his size and height. But it'll be all good for us to be out there. You know, who's going to be out there is our draft analyst, Ryan Wilson. He's going to be an Indianapolis with with the first pick co-host Rick Spielman, RGM, among others. So if I were to ask you the testing process and which players can potentially score really well, Ryan, you got a few names for me or at least a thought process of what we might anticipate next week.
Yeah, you tease it a few moments ago with the Florida quarterback there, Anthony Richardson, right? So the Betty markers are going crazy in terms of where he might get drafted. If he goes first overall, Tommy, I'll buy Tommy Trian Wigg and I'll be wearing that the whole next year. I don't think that's going to happen, but he could certainly help himself with a great week next week in Indianapolis. And that means throwing and he'll probably do that. But more importantly, when we see him do the drills, he'll probably light it up. We're talking potential run some four or five and he's six four, two thirty all day long. And once he gets in the open field, as you see here, it's pretty hard to catch him.
And when you do, he'll run you over as you see here. So he's a quarterback behind the pocket. Once he gets passed a line of scrimmage, he is all running back. We know the athleticism. We know the things he can do. He might have a crazy vertical jump as well. And look, we have to remind ourselves, Tommy, this is basically third great field day when these young men come out here and compete at such a high level, doing the long jump or the vertical jump or the 40 yard dash.
But it does change teams' opinion about where they are athletically based on what we saw in the fall. So Anthony Richardson still has to throw the football down the field and be accurate with that. And those are things he has to work on. But in terms of what he can control, if he runs a sub four or five next week, we'll have to have another conversation about where he ends up getting drafted. Since you brought up Richardson, and we'll get to a couple other players that may test well, but you brought up sort of the betting market because not that long ago, he was 80 to one to be the top overall pick. He's now eight to one. That's still far behind Bryce Young, who is minus 175 at Caesar Sportsbook.
But it's just wild because odds makers are dub or having to take money and liability. Now, it could also go back the other way eventually. It reminds me a little bit, and I don't mean to think that the market will change. But like Baker Mayfield came out of nowhere late. But that was really late in the game to be the top overall pick. Do you envision any scenario in which Richardson could actually leapfrog the likes of Bryce Young or CJ Strouder will love us? Never say never, Tommy. But the teams I've spoken with, they have concerns about Anthony Richardson in terms of the consistency because he hasn't played a lot of football, right? And back in the fall, don't necessarily understand.
The teams were high on Richardson. They were high on Will Love us for the projectable athletic physical traits. Both those young men had not great seasons. They would probably have liked to have done more. And I think once you go from the fall where the expectations didn't exactly bear out and you get to the reality of where we are now here in late February, it's hard to imagine a situation where Anthony Richardson leaps frog, leapfrogs Bryce Young or CJ Strouder, who had much better seasons even though physically they don't look like Anthony Richardson walking down the street. Alright, let's get back to a couple of other players again that you think could contest well. Guiana White, Demin A-Chain.
Why are you so high on those guys? Yeah, let's start with Mr. A-Chain out of Texas A&M. He is Bryce Young-Size. He's about 5'9", 185. But he is an absolute track star and I'm not exaggerating. He ran a 10.02, 100.
Now it was wind aided, but it is, you know how much wind I would need to run a 10.02. He is legit fast, one cut and go, open field guy and then it's over. Now he's not going to run through a lot of arm packers, but that's not why you have him. You have him for his sideline to sideline burst and speed and his one cut and go down the field, outrun everyone to the end zone. So he is a fantastic athlete in space. He can help you in the past game.
He's not going to block anybody, but you're not drafting someone who's 5'9", 185 to block people anyway. He's a third down back. He can help you all day long. And then we talk about Keon White, who's at the other end of the physical spectrum. He was at the senior bowl. ODU transfer went to Georgia Tech and just balled out last season. Tommy, he measured about 6'4.
5", 280 at the senior bowl. He plays on the end. He plays five technique, he even plays seven technique. He may be moved inside a little bit at times at the next level, but again, an absolute physical freak with the things he can do. He had a 32 inch vertical last summer at 280 pounds. He can bench 225 at least 38 times. That's where he was last summer.
And that'll be a big component of what he does next week in Indianapolis in terms of measuring that strength and get everyone's attention and probably trend on Twitter if that happens again. But he has a chance to be a first round pick. Not a lot of folks are talking about him in terms of the mix with the Will A. Anderson's and the Tyree Wilson's of the world. But don't be surprised if he ends up going in the bottom half of the first round when we talk about the BJ O'Jallarys at an LSU or the Nolan Smith side of Georgia. Keon White can be right in that mix. All right, we got to wrap things up.
I know you got to head to Indie soon. You're a favorite under the radar player you're hoping to see next week. I'm going to go to Princeton Tommy Andre Yeshevas. He is 6'1", about 205. He's a wide receiver. Don't talk a lot about the FCS guys. He might run in the 4-2's.
He's a heptathlon. He was one of the best heptathletes in the country last year for Princeton. That translates to the football field when you see him running routes and they'll have a chance to impress people that don't know who he is when he gets to Indianapolis in a few days. All right, Ryan Wilson joining us here on HQ Spotlight. Art, I appreciate it. By the way, don't make those big proclamations about getting my type of hair there because we know it's something about a snoopy making bets and losing bets. So be careful on that, my man.
All right, Ryan Wilson and Rick Spillman with the first pick. Make sure to download and check them out today. Both guys will be in Indianapolis. They tape on Mondays and Thursdays, but they're traveling on Mondays, so no podbed. But check then on Thursday and the guys will have you covered. Do you want a sports network that delivers everything that matters about the game? The highlights, the picks, the instant analysis, no yelling, no fake debates, no politics. Hit the subscribe button and never miss a moment.
NFL Combine