3 Rookies Falling in Best Ball After the Combine

The NFL Combine wrapped up last weekend, which means we’ve had nearly a week of Underdog best ball drafts to see how (if at all) player ADP shook up. Today, we’ll take a look at three rookies who are already falling because of their Combine performance.

This is obviously way too early of a look, since we don’t even know the two most important things about these players: Draft capital (where they get drafted) and landing spot. But best ball drafts are already underway, so it’s good to keep tabs on rookies in particular.

We’re focusing only on players who are being drafted inside the top 200 for this piece. We’re comparing ADP on Feb.28 (one day before the Combine) to March 8.

3 Rookies Falling in ADP Post-Combine

Audric Estime, RB

Check out FTN’s pre-draft scouting report on Estime.

Audric Estime is falling down boards (-9.4 spots in ADP from pre-Combine) due to his sluggish 40-yard dash time of 4.71, dead last among all RBs who tested.

He jumped well – fourth among RBs in the vertical and broad jumps – but he was just so slow in the 40 and 10-yard split (second-to-last among RBs) that he has already fallen to the end of Round 13 in best ball drafts.

Bucky Irving, RB

Bucky Irving has fallen 8.2 spots in ADP – from the middle of Round 12 to the early/middle of Round 13 – which, unlike Estime, appears more to do with his jumping than his speed.

Irving wasn’t bad – his 4.55 40 time was 14th at the position – and he was just about average in speed. But he was bad in the jumps, finishing second-to-last in the broad jump and last in the vertical among tested RBs.

Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE

Before the Combine, here’s what FTN’s Jeremy Popielarz had to say about Sanders: “The Combine is the perfect spot for Sanders to post strong testing numbers and look strong in the drills. There is a chance Sanders could leave the Combine as a strong Round 2 candidate and an important fantasy player.”

Welp.

The Texas product has been the TE2 in the draft class and is being drafted in the top 200 of these early best ball drafts. But he didn’t test as well as expected at the Combine.

He was the third-slowest TE (4.69) in the 40 and the third-slowest in the shuttle. He didn’t participate in any of the jumping or strength drills.

Is it enough to bump him out as the rookie TE2? Probably not. But he has already fallen five spots in ADP as a result.

Bonus: Dillon Johnson, RB

He’s being drafted outside the top 200 players, so this one is a bonus, but I’m highlighting him because there was a chance he’d be a sneaky, late-round riser. That doesn’t look like it’ll be the case anymore.

Dillon Johnson ranked at or near the bottom in all the categories he tested in, including posting the second-slowest 40 time and the second-worst vertical among all RBs. He may not be drafted in real life and shouldn’t be drafted in best ball.