MORSE: Clearing the Notebook from the NFL Draft Combine
NFL Combine Notebook: Record-Breaking Athletes, Deep Draft Class & Patriots Trade Rumors
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Posted Under: 2026 Patriots Draft
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This is an insane combine stat: 40-yard dash top speed: 23.2 mph for TE Kenyon Sadiq as compared to 23.2 mph for RB Jahmyr Gibbs. Gibbs ran at 199 lbs vs Sadiq at 241 lbs. Both hit the same top speed in the 40 via NextGenStats. Sadiq also threw up 26 reps at 225 lbs on the Bench Press. That number was better than All-Pro Offensive Tackle Trent Williams, prospects Max Iheanchor and Kadyn Proctor.
Eli Stower Vertical of 45.5 was the third highest of all time. Stowers won the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is widely regarded as the “Academic Heisman”, honoring college football players for excellence, leadership, and on-field performance.
Dillon Thieneman 4.35 40 outran three of the top receivers in the NFL last year (Justion Jefferson, Stefon Diggs, and AJ Brown)
Jaren Kanak, TE, Oklahoma, is a very interesting prospect. He ran a 4.52 40-yard dash, 6’ 2’’, 234 lbs., 30 1/2’’ Arm, 9 3/8’’ Hand. He is a former HS Quarterback that went to Oklahoma as a Linebacker and played three years at the position. He had 104 Tackles in his career as a part-time player. He even took snaps as a wildcat QB. In 2025, he switched to TE and had 44 catches for 553 yards, 12.1 YPC, but no TDs. Immediately, he is a top Special Teams player with tremendous position flexibility like Taysom Hill.
Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama – At his size (353 pounds), Proctor performed very well as he matched a lot of players across the board who are packing 30-40 pounds less than he is. At 6’7” 352, he ran a 5.21 in the 40 and jumped 32.5 inches in the vertical, both of which are solid numbers. At the end of the day, Proctor squats over 800 pounds and benches over 500. He is so athletic that he was actually split out wide as a Tackle Eligible and caught a screen pass and ran it for a 1st down. Some feel he would be best at a Guard position. However, there are so few good Left Tackles in this draft that he might just stay there. He is currently rated as the #3 LT in the draft.
DeAngelo Ponds, CB, Indiana – Despite his 5’8” size, he posted a 43.5 Vertical Leap, which was the 4th highest in Combine history. The Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl Defensive MVP did not run at the combine, deferring until his Pro Day. His comp in the NFL is Marcus Jones.
How athletic are these Tackles? Spencer Fano’s Relative Athletic Score (RAS) was 9.76, Caleb Lomu was 9.88, and Monroe Freeling was an incredible 9.99 out of 10.
Speed Kills – The average speed of each individual Group of players was the fastest in Combine history, with the exception of the QB group.
I heard one General Manager declare during the broadcast that this is a very deep draft.
Lineman Didn’t Weight Lift – Only 14 OL did the Bench Press. Trey Zuhn C Texas A&M topped the lineman with 33 reps of the 225# bar. That was impressive since Zuhn has 32 1/2” arms. Usually, you see that kind of push by lineman that had short arms. OTs Max Iheanachor and Kadyn Proctor each had 25 reps.
Jacob Rodriguez, LB, Texas Tech – he had a terrific Combine and showed more speed than he was thought to have. His 4.57 40 was excellent. He also had a 38.5 V, 10’1” BJ and a 6.93 3-Cone Drill. The 3-Cone is a change-of-direction drill, and he followed that up with excellent on-field workouts. Anything under 7.00 is very good. In his 4 years at Texas Tech, he had a combined 315 tackles and 7 Forced Fumbles in 2025. Rodriguez, a team Captain, was the top Linebacker in college football, winning the Lombardi Trophy, Butkus Award, Bronco Nagurski Award, and the Chuck Bednarik Award. I saw a report that Rodriguez might possibly sneak into the 1st round, according to one unnamed NFL GM.
Overall … there were a lot of prospects that didn’t run. They are being instructed by their agents not to overdo it at the Combine. The three-day grind of Physicals, Interviews, Drug Testing, and the physically taxing on-field workouts is draining on the athletes. The 40-Yard dash is one of the last things they do. Many are pushing it back until their Pro Days on campus. I am also very disappointed by the number of athletes who refuse to run the 3-cone drill. They are afraid they will get exposed as just being a track athlete who doesn’t have the requisite quickness to go along with it.
The Patriots have been in touch with the Eagles concerning AJ Brown, and the talks were described as “Unserious”. It should have been titled as Unrealistic! The asking price is reported as a 1st and 2nd round pick. The reason why the asking price may be so high is that the Eagles would take a $20M cap hit this year if they were to trade him before June 1st. After June 1st, they can spread the cap hit over two years, bringing it down to $7M this year.
Brown’s contract is difficult too! Any team taking him on will be required to pay him $14.8M in salary and bonuses. He has a buyout clause in 2027. I just don’t think this will get done before the draft and will surface again before June 1st. Philadelphia could be banking on the potential draft pick from the Patriots will be better in 2027 because they will be playing a much tougher schedule.
There is also the possibility that they do not want to give Brown what he wants, getting traded to the Patriots to play for Mike Vrabel. Being vindictive is what Howie Roseman wants to do.
This is Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed from the Boston Herald. They had a couple of interesting tidbits in this week’s podcast.
“The Free Agent market for Jaylinn Hawkins is depressed. One GM has stated that he doesn’t think Hawkins is a starting-caliber NFL Safety. I think he is very wrong and I look at the PFF ranking of Hawkins as justification for that. The problem for Hawkins is that the Free Agent market is loaded with Safeties. Second, the draft class is also loaded. This could be good news for the Patriots.”
I loved this little note. Mack Hollins got injured on the 1st play of the Baltimore game. That injury ended up being a lacerated spleen. He wanted to continue playing with it before the Patriots forced him to sit out on IR. Man, that is one tough player.
In a related move, the Patriots re-worked Hollins’ contract for 2026. Because he was placed on IR for the last two games of the season, he was unable to meet one of his incentives in his contract. It was a $400K bonus that the Patriots paid him in the form of a signing bonus in 2026. The Patriots didn’t have to do this, but that kind of move will go a long way with the players.
TE Kenyon Sadiq hit a top speed of 23.2 mph in the 40-yard dash, matching RB Jahmyr Gibbs, despite Sadiq weighing 241 lbs compared to Gibbs' 199 lbs. He also had 26 bench press reps.
The Eagles' reported asking price for AJ Brown is a 1st and 2nd round pick. This high price is partly due to a potential $20M cap hit if traded before June 1st.
Jacob Rodriguez, LB from Texas Tech, had a terrific combine with a 4.57 40, 38.5 vertical, and 6.93 3-Cone. One unnamed NFL GM suggested he might sneak into the 1st round.
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