NFL Combine 2022: 3 players who improved their draft stock on Day 1

Honestly, I don’t think anyone truly helped their stock as much as Virginia tight end Jelani Woods did on Day 1.

The Oklahoma State transfer spent the first three years of his career in Stillwater and never really reached his potential as a 6-foot-7, 265-pound behemoth of a tight end. He always had that size (obviously), but there was just something holding him back in Mike Gundy’s system.

In his first year with Virginia, he finally broke out.

In fact, he had 44 catches for 598 yards and eight touchdowns which topped his numbers from the previous three seasons with Oklahoma State combined. He improved drastically from a potential NFL player to a surefire draft pick.

And on Thursday, he became a topic of conversation as a potential early-round guy after leading all tight ends with 24 bench reps and running a 4.61 40-yard dash which tied him for second among tight ends. A 6-7 tight end running a 4.6 40 and repping 24 times on the bench? Yeah, he’s going to soar up draft boards.