In one week, the top prospects for the 2019 NFL Draft will be competing at the combine to try and move up big boards. Here’s the Top 25 prospects as of now.
Draft season is in full swing with all-star events like the Reese’s Senior Bowl in the rearview mirror as we go full speed ahead toward the forthcoming NFL Draft combine. The combine starts on February 26th and runs through March 4th, as scouts and coaches remove their fine tooth combs from their pockets and run them over prospects.
The combine will reveal a lot of movers and shakers as some prospects test off the charts and leap up draft boards, while others will see their stocks fall after subpar performances and will have to hope they can make up for it at their respective pro days.
Far and away the most interesting storyline heading into the combine week is Oklahoma Heisman winner Kyler Murray’s decision to forego his contract with the MLB to focus his attention on playing quarterback in the NFL. It’s a risky decision, but Murray stands to make much more, in the very least with endorsement contracts, as an NFL player regardless of draft position than he would playing minor league baseball for a couple of years.
Murray is the draft’s most polarizing prospect, with his measurables sure to have the attention of the football world at the combine. He is widely expected to come in under 6-feet tall, which would already make him potentially the shortest quarterback to ever get selected in the first round of the draft since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. Some think Murray will come in under 5-foot-10, which could cause his stock to plummet down draft boards as NFL teams worry his height would be a major detriment to playing quarterback.
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Regardless of what happens, I have a hard time believing that the Heisman winner will fall out of the first round no matter what. If he slips, which is a real possibility, some smart team will make a move at the end of the first round to secure his services.
While Murray has the most intrigue at this point in the process, plenty of other talented prospects will be competing to lock in their spots as first round picks, with others hoping to get noticed by a team or two to secure their position in the draft at all.
Defense dominates the top of the draft, but there are plenty of talented offensive players, including some intriguing skill-position guys, working their way up draft boards with two months left until the draft.
Here’s my current Top 25 prospects ahead of the combine: