Mel Kiper makes case for prospects opting out of NFL Combine, points to Keon Coleman

There has been a growing trend of players skipping out on the NFL Combine, which ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. recently defended. In the process, he pointed to Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman as a good example of why players skip the Combine.

While speaking to Field Yates on First Draft, Kiper defended skipping all or part of the NFL Combine, pointing out both changing times and an opportunity to perform better at Pro Days.

“It’s a sign of the times. Everything’s changing. Look at college football,” Kiper said. “These kids are professionals before they become professionals in the NFL. They’re getting paid. They’re going to the commercials. You see them all over the TV. It’s just a different way of doing things and these kids now are operating differently now, saying, ‘Hey, I’m a professional already. I’m not going to have you dictate policy to me. I’m going to dictate policy to you. I’m going to do it the way I see fit.'”

Kiper also noted that there are people in the scouting community who see positives and negatives with this. However, he feels that it’s important to not react, especially with some top-end talent that knows what they put on tape should speak to what they’ve already been able to do.

Instead of the NFL Combine, Mel Kiper even suggested that it’s better to test at a player’s Pro Day because, even if not everyone’s there, everyone does get the numbers. So, it works out the same way and is in a better environment for the player.

In particular, Kiper pointed out that when a player tests poorly at the NFL Combine, which is a small part of the process, it costs them in the overall discourse. A prime example of that is Florida State wide receiver Keon Coleman, who ran a 4.61 40-yard dash, potentially hurting his stock when he may have run better at his Pro Day.

“It really is just a part of the process. When you overrate it and you put all the eggs in that one basket, it’s not good. So, you’ve got to — it’s not an exact science. It’s trying to figure this out, not overreact,” Kiper said.

“Keon Coleman, if he didn’t run, we would be raving about Keon Coleman right now if he didn’t run that 40. He’s got to be a mid-first round, look at that gauntlet, look at the way he played. If he would have waited until the Pro Day to run the 40, his stock would not have been maybe dropping into the second round.”

There is a clear top layer of wide receiving talent in the NFL Draft. However, after his poor 40 time, where Keon Coleman fits is up in the air.

“What do we do with Keon Coleman running a 4.62, 4.64, but great in the gauntlet? Looked like a mid-first rounder during the year in a lot of games. Do you push him into the second round, Kiper said.

“I had NFL people say, ‘Well, if he ran in 4.5 range he’s a first rounder guaranteed, maybe even a mid-first rounder if he runs 4.46.’ He ran 4.6 and change. Does that move him into the second? They thought going in if he did, that could move him into the second round. So, again, guard against overreaction but use it as a way to separate.”