Penn State winners and losers from the NFL Combine
The 2024 NFL Combine has wrapped up in Indianapolis, meaning the Pro Day season is upon us. Before the Penn State Nittany Lions host the NFL world on March 15, let’s review the winners and losers from the Lions contingent at the event this past weekend.
Winners: Penn State Strength and Conditioning
It was another banner year for Penn State athletes at the 2024 NFL Combine, with several players stealing the show on their respective days. Each time that Chop Robinson, Daequan Hardy, Curtis Jacobs, or Theo Johnson ran a standout time or jumped, literally and figuratively, into the top of a category, it was another feather in the cap of Chuck Losey and his team. It’s also a testament to James Franklin and his coaching staff for finding rare athletes at the high school level and identifying their potential.
But let’s get to the individual players in no particular order.
Chop Robinson
As we mentioned earlier, Robinson kicked things off with an exceptional performance. He was first or second in four of the five metrics he participated in on Thursday of last week. His work likely solidified his spot in the first round of the draft.
While some will knock his production or his lack of an extensive toolbox of moves, Robinson proved that his combination of speed, explosiveness, and size are rare and should translate to the NFL.
Curtis Jacobs
There’s a surprising amount of projection with Jacobs despite being a three-year starter for the team. But film aside, he proved that he can run at 241 pounds, making him a better projection to the box in the NFL. Whether or not a team wants to take a chance on him on Day Two will be the story.
While Jacobs wasn’t at the top of most drills like Robinson, he was in the top ten for every drill he participated in. He showed the explosiveness he needs to start in the NFL with a solid 4.58 40-yard dash and a 10-foot, four-inch broad jump.
Theo Johnson
Johnson has been a bit of an afterthought this draft cycle, with Robinson and Olu Fashanu stealing the headlines. But he put on a show last Friday, nearly posting an elite R.A.S. score.
Expect teams and draft pundits to dig back into Johnson’s film after the Combine. If they’re smart, they’ll turn back the clock to see his 2022 film, in which he was one of the country’s most dangerous deep threats at tight end. I’m not saying he’ll end up in the first round, but I sort of want to say it. Worse players with similar testing metrics have been drafted that high. Still, expect him to come off the board early on Day Two.
Daequan Hardy has the best day for a Penn State corner
Hardy ran a blazingly fast 40-yard dash at 4.38, which is great. The only problem for the Penn State slot cornerback is that this was a historically fast combination with the fastest-ever recorded time from Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy. Even in his position, Hardy tied for fifth place. But with a 42.5-inch vertical and a solid arm length to boot, teams might feel less worried about Hardy’s size from a coverage perspective.
A team looking for a third-down specialist to plaster receivers in obvious passing situations will have to think twice about passing up a player with his combination of physical skills and film.
Winner? Caedan Wallace
The performance Caedan Wallace put together was very good. However, it didn’t meet the lofty expectations that he set for himself coming into the event.
Also, as we discussed last week, former Penn State offensive lineman Landon Tengwall said that Wallace holds the team record for the vertical jump.
His results? They were good but fell short of the build-up.
The standout metrics for Wallace were his jumping tests, which measures explosiveness. But he also helped himself with the field work after the test, which is not as widely discussed. He showed good positional skill and was one of the most fluid and athletic linemen in his group.
Did Wallace prove that he can stick at tackle? The testing metrics for Wallace all say yes. At the very least, whatever team selects him should give him a shot.
Losers
Labeling anyone a “loser” always feels harsh, but there’s a list of players who didn’t succeed at standing out among their peers.
Us: Olu Fashanu Injury Default
Olu Fashanu was putting together the type of performance that validated the talk about his elite athletic traits before pulling a quad during his first 40-yard dash attempt. He still managed a respectable 5.11, despite Losey mentioning last summer he’s capable of running a sub-five-second time at 315 pounds.
Fashanu doesn’t really have anything to prove, and he was far from the only offensive lineman who injured himself running that day. But with players like Notre Dame’s Joe Alt and Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga showing impressive skills, it’s more of a missed opportunity than anything else. Fashanu would have been showed similarly excellent skills in the on-field testing portion of the event. Not getting to see him compete against his peers was a disappointment but hopefully his injury wasn’t serious.
Hunter Nourzad
Hunter Nourzad was another player who would have stood out among offensive linemen at the Combine with potentially great performance. The ultra-explosive center has the size, at 6-4, 315 pounds with 33-inch arms, to be a prototype for the position. He did bench press 225 27 times, which was good for 10th among all linemen.
But Nourzad didn’t participate in any other drills other than the bench. Film is the most important aspect of any evaluation, but we’ve seen athletic players taken much earlier than expected all the time. Unlike Fashanu, Nourzad does need to put all of the testing metrics out there to move up draft boards. He will have his shot to prove his skills at the Penn State Pro Day provided whatever held him out of the Combine isn’t a long-term situation.
Kalen King
The majority of Penn State’s struggles came from an injury aspect, thanks to incomplete performances from Nourzad and Fashanu. However, cornerback Kalen King was the only player that didn’t meet or exceed his positional testing. His 4.61 40-yard dash is the slowest 40 for a Penn State defensive back since at least 2021 and is slower than both Jacobs and Robinson.
King’s best event was the vertical jump, where he came in the middle of the pack at 37 inches. There was talk at this time last year that King was a potential first-round pick with the way he played down the stretch. At this point there’s no telling what day or round he’ll find his new home. It’s been a far fall for the Penn State cornerback.
