INDIANAPOLIS -- The Detroit Lions picked a bad year to need a quarterback, but boy did they ever pick the right year to need a receiver. Or three.
That’s what Lions receivers coach Antwaan Randle El wants. Just ask the man, because he’ll tell anyone within earshot that he wants three more receivers to help protect Amon-Ra St. Brown.
“I told (my guys) I’m trying to draft two and bring in one,” Randle El said a few weeks ago at the Senior Bowl. “Bcause there’s going to be some competition. I want it to be a competition.”
Then Randle El packed his bags and went home for a couple weeks, crushed every snap of tape from the Lions offense last season, then hit the road down to Indianapolis to lead drills for the receivers at the NFL Scouting Combine -- and was standing just a few feet away as the fastest group of receivers in combine history burned a hole in the track at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Eight of those guys went sub-4.4 in the 40-yard dash, an all-time record at an event that traces its roots back to 1985. Baylor’s Tyquan Thorton led the way with a blazing time of 4.28 seconds, the fifth-fastest time in the last 14 years. Only John Ross (4.22 seconds in 2017), Dri Archer (4.26), Marquise Goodwin (4.27) and Henry Ruggs III (4.27 seconds) were faster.
Fast stuff. But he wasn’t alone.
Not even close.
A couple minutes before Thorton’s run, Ohio State’s Chris Olave burned down the building in an unofficial 4.27 seconds, a time so good he didn’t even run again. The official time wound up coming in much slower, at 4.39 seconds, which is still very good, although perhaps he would have run again had he known where the official time would come in.
Perhaps most impressive of all came just moments later, as North Dakota State’s Christian Watson took his marks with the smell of jet fuel still wafting through the stadium, then ripped off a time of 4.36 seconds. In the fastest combine in NFL history for receivers, that time ranked sixth best.
Christian Watson, by the way, is 6-foot-4.
Oh, right, and he also went No. 1 in the broad jump (11 feet, 4 inches).
Watson already was one of the breakout stars at the Senior Bowl a month ago, where the Lions got an up-close look at the most dominant X receiver of the week. Then they came to the combine telling everyone who would listen how much they need an X receiver. Interesting.
“I think it comes in a number of shapes and forms,” offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said. “But I think the definition of it really is, as you said, a guy who can consistently win one-on-one. Whether that’s a big guy, with a lot of strength and size, or whether that’s a guy with elite quickness or speed, I think it comes a number of different ways.”
On Thursday night, it was clear the top of this draft class is dominated by speed of all shapes and sizes. Even big guys like Watson were lighting up the night. And that doesn’t even account for Jameson Williams and Drake London, perhaps the two best deep threats in this entire class, who did not participate on Thursday night because of injuries. London is expected to run at the USC pro day in a couple weeks, and has strong connections to the team through former teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Maybe London, all 6-foot-5 of him, is the pick. No one in the country was better on the 50-50 ball than that guy last season. Or maybe it will be Watson, the best combination of size and speed at the combine. Or maybe it will be Olave, one of the smoothest route-runners in the country. Or maybe it will be Williams, an unstoppable force on the vertical route who just might have been the fastest receiver here had he run.
“I just know nobody can run with me,” Williams said after arriving here. “I don’t know no 40 time. I just know nobody can run with me. Just say whatever the fastest 40 time here, I’m faster.”
Maybe. Who knows?
What we do know: The Lions seem destined to take a pass rusher with the second overall pick -- Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson is emerging as the favorite, if he doesn’t go No. 1 -- and then they should have a whole menu of options to go get Jared Goff and Amon-Ra St. Brown some help when they’re back on the clock at No. 32 and No. 34. And it seems no matter which direction they go, their offense is about to get a whole lot faster.
The eight receivers who ran sub-4.4, a combine record:
1. Baylor’s Tyquan Thornton (4.28 seconds)
2. Tennessee’s Velus Jones (4.31 seconds)
3. Memphis’ Calvin Austin (4.32 seconds)
4. SMU’s Danny Gray (4.33 seconds)
5. Rutgers’ Bo Melton (4.34 seconds)
6. North Dakota State’s Christian Watson (4.36 seconds)
7. Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson (4.38 seconds)
8. Ohio State’s Chris Olave (4.39 seconds)
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March 04, 2022 at 07:38PM
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Detroit Lions get up-close look at the fastest group of receivers in NFL combine history - MLive.com
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