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2018 NFL Combine: Takeaways from Day 2 of On-Field Workouts

A new top wide receiver prospect emerged and Wyoming’s Josh Allen showed that maybe he should be the first quarterback off the board.

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Wide receivers participate in drills during the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Photos by AP Images.

  1. D.J. Who?**
    We're talking wide receivers D.J. Chark out of LSU and D.J. Moore out of Maryland. Though the school is typically known for defense, namely linebackers, the star prospect from LSU this year seems to be D.J. Chark after Combine workouts. Chark ran the fastest 40-yard dash of the Combine thus far in a blazing 4.34 seconds. Moore clocked in at 4.42, which was good for fifth-best among receivers. Moore led the pack in the broad jump, leaping an incredible 11 feet with Chark not far behind, jumping 10'9" himself. The two D.J.'s went one and two in the vertical jump as well, with Chark nabbing the top spot with 40 inches and Moore right behind him with 39.5 inches. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. had named D.J. Moore one to watch going into the Combine, and Moore snuck into Mike Mayock of NFL Network's top five receivers list, but another D.J. had been flying under the radar until Saturday and his name is D.J. Chark.

2. Baker Mayfield looked extremely sharp.
The quarterback drills pinned UCLA's Josh Rosen and Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield one after the other, giving a good comparison of two top-tier college quarterbacks. Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy this year but isn't projected to go as high as some of his quarterback counterparts like Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold from USC and even Josh Allen out of Wyoming. There has been some concern on how Mayfield's playing style will translate at the NFL level but if the Combine drills taught us anything, it's that he can throw and maintain accuracy with the best of them. It seems his stock definitely went up following Saturday's workout.

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  1. TE Mike Gesicki from Penn State did himself a lot of favors.**
    The former basketball player got the attention of multiple analysts after his showing on Saturday. This guy is 6'5" and weighs 246 pounds, yet ran a 4.54 40-yard dash, which tied for the fastest in the position group. Except the guy he tied with, Jaylen Samuels from NC State, is six inches shorter and weighs 20 pounds less than Gesicki. The Penn State product also nabbed the top spot in the broad jump among tight ends, jumping 10'9", a full six inches further than the next prospect. He also finished second in the bench press, getting 22 reps behind South Dakota State's Dallas Goedert. South Carolina's Hayden Hurst was considered to be the number one tight end in this year's draft class but I wouldn't be surprised if that changes in favor of Gesicki going forward.

4. Quarterbacks named Josh had a good day.
Wyoming's Josh Allen proved that UCLA's Josh Rosen shouldn't necessarily be the first Josh teams should be looking at for their quarterback position. Allen helped himself as much as any prospect in the Combine, testing off the charts throughout the day. He had the highest vertical jump among the group with 33.5, the highest broad jump with 9'11" and clocked in third in the 40-yard dash with a 4.75, well ahead of Baker Mayfield (4.84), Sam Darnold (4.85) and Josh Rosen (4.92). Don't feel too sorry for Rosen, who still had himself a day in the quarterback drills. He was strikingly accurate and his ball placement was extremely impressive. According to the analysts, while Rosen was warming up he was told to throw to the outside shoulder on the deep routes and managed to be the only quarterback to accomplish that in their first drill when matched up with the receivers.

5. Calvin Ridley is smooth.
The wide receiver from Alabama is widely regarded as the number one receiver prospect coming out of this year's draft class. He had a solid Combine, running the 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds. The gauntlet proved to be more telling than some of the measurement drills, as Ridley showed off his finesse in running routes. He was smooth and anticipatory, nabbing a 60-yard pass from UCLA's Josh Rosen over his shoulder with ease following the gauntlet. Ridley comes on the coattails and earns the comparison of fellow Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper, who came out in 2015 and now plays for the Oakland Raiders.

1. D.J. Who?
We're talking wide receivers D.J. Chark out of LSU and D.J. Moore out of Maryland. Though the school is typically known for defense, namely linebackers, the star prospect from LSU this year seems to be D.J. Chark after Combine workouts. Chark ran the fastest 40-yard dash of the Combine thus far in a blazing 4.38 seconds. Moore clocked in at 4.42, which was good for fifth-best among receivers. Moore led the pack in the broad jump, leaping an incredible 11 feet with Chark not far behind, jumping 10'9" himself. The two D.J.'s went one and two in the vertical jump as well, with Chark nabbing the top spot with 40 inches and Moore right behind him with 39.5 inches. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. had named D.J. Moore one to watch going into the Combine, and Moore snuck into Mike Mayock of NFL Network's top five receivers list, but another D.J. had been flying under the radar until Saturday and his name is D.J. Chark.

2. Baker Mayfield looked extremely sharp.
The quarterback drills pinned UCLA's Josh Rosen and Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield one after the other, giving a good comparison of two top-tier college quarterbacks. Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy this year but isn't projected to go as high as some of his quarterback counterparts like Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold from USC and even Josh Allen out of Wyoming. There has been some concern on how Mayfield's playing style will translate at the NFL level but if the Combine drills taught us anything, it's that he can throw and maintain accuracy with the best of them. It seems his stock definitely went up following Saturday's workout.

3. TE Mike Gesicki from Penn State did himself a lot of favors.
The former basketball player got the attention of multiple analysts after his showing on Saturday. This guy is 6'5" and weighs 246 pounds, yet ran a 4.54 40-yard dash, which tied for the fasted among the position group. Except the guy he tied with, Jaylen Samuels from NC State, is six inches shorter and weighs 20 pounds less than Gesicki. The Penn State product also nabbed the top spot in the broad jump among tight ends, jumping 10'9", a full six inches further than the next prospect. He also finished second in the bench press, getting 22 reps behind South Dakota State's Dallas Goedert. South Carolina's Hayden Hurst was considered to be the number one tight end in this year's draft class but I wouldn't be surprised if that changes in favor of Gesicki going forward.

4. Quarterbacks named Josh had a good day.
Wyoming's Josh Allen proved that UCLA's Josh Rosen shouldn't necessarily be the first Josh teams should be looking at for their quarterback position. Allen helped himself as much as any prospect in the Combine, testing off the charts throughout the day. He had the highest vertical jump among the group with 33.5, the highest broad jump with 9'11" and clocked in third in the 40-yard dash with a 4.75, well ahead of Baker Mayfield (4.84), Sam Darnold (4.85) and Josh Rosen (4.92). Don't feel too sorry for Rosen, who still had himself a day in the quarterback drills. He was strikingly accurate and his ball placement was extremely impressive. According to the analysts, while Rosen was warming up he was told to throw to the outside shoulder on the deep routes and managed to be the only quarterback to accomplish that in their first drill when matched up with the receivers.

5. Calvin Ridley is smooth.
The wide receiver from Alabama is widely regarded as the number one receiver prospect coming out of this year's draft class. He had a solid Combine, running the 40-yard dash in 4.43 seconds. The gauntlet proved to be more telling than some of the measurement drills, as Ridley showed off his finesse in running routes. He was smooth and anticipatory, nabbing a 60-yard pass from UCLA's Josh Rosen over his shoulder with ease following the gauntlet. Ridley comes on the coattails of fellow Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper, who came out last year, and proved that he was no one's second receiver with his Combine testing.


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