2023 NFL Combine Results: QB, RB, WR and TE

The NFL combine is the first objective look at the 2023 class of rookies and a chance to see what their measurables actually are – not what the university PR department has pushed. Extreme values are always the most interesting but the bottom line to every player isn’t their weight, height, or speed.

It’s all about the yards and scores they generate when facing opposing NFL defenses. But the measurables below will impact where they are drafted and by whom, and that will define their opportunity and situation as a rookie.

Quarterbacks

First Round Prospects	School	HT	WT	Hand	40-yard
Bryce Young	Alabama	5’10	204	9.75	—
C.J. Stroud	Ohio State	6’3	214	10	—
Anthony Richardson	Florida	6’4	244	10.5	4.43
Will Levis	Kentucky	6’4	229	10.63	—
Rest of Class	School	HT	WT	Hand	40-yard
Tyson Bagent	Shepherd	6’3	213	9.5	4.79
Stetson Bennett	Georgia	5’11	192	10	4.67
Malik Cunningham	Louisville	6’0	192	9.5	4.53
Max Duggan	TCU	6’2	207	9.88	4.52
Jake Haener	Fresno State	6’0	207	9.38	—
Jaren Hall	BYU	6’0	207	9.5	—
Hendon Hooker	Tennessee	6’3	217	10.5	—
Tanner McKee	Stanford	6’6	231	9.38	—
Aidan O’Connell	Purdue	6’3	213	9.75	—
Dorian Thompson-Robinson	UCLA	6’2	203	9.88	4.56
Clayton Tune	Houston	6’3	220	9.38	4.64

The first four quarterbacks above should all see first-round selections and a near-certainty that they’ll be given appreciable playing time as a rookie. Bryce Young is expected to be the first taken and that could be with the 1.01 pick that is currently held by the Bears but available to anyone if the price is right. He threw a ridiculous 79 touchdowns over the last two seasons in Alabama but he played with a listed height of 6-0. Seems he shrank two inches and he enters the NFL at almost exactly the same size as Kyler Murray.

Many of the prospects declined to run a 40-yard dash but should during the Pro Days at their college. Anthony Richardson enters the draft as a dual threat and his blazing 40-time suggests his success will continue when he is in the NFL. C.J. Stroud totaled 85 touchdown passes in his two seasons for Ohio State as a dangerous pocket passer. Will Levis could show up later in the first round after success in Kentucky as another quarterback with elite measurables as a passer, tough with lesser college stats.

This is considered to be an average to good class of quarterbacks and should produce at least a couple of 2023 starters.

Running Backs

Early Round Prospects	School	HT	WT	Hand	40-yard
Bijan Robinson	Texas	5’11	215	9.75	4.46
Jahmyr Gibbs	Alabama	5’9	199	9.25	4.36
Zach Charbonnet	UCLA	6’0	214	9.88	4.53
Kenny McIntosh	Georgia	6’0	204	9	4.62
Zach Evans	Mississippi	5’11	202	10.25	—
Devon Achane	Texas A&M	5’9	188	8.5	4.32
Rest of Class	School	HT	WT	Hand	40-yard
Israel Abanikanda	Pittsburgh	5’10	216	8.25	—
Tank Bigsby	Auburn	6’0	210	9.5	4.56
Chase Brown	Illinois	5’10	209	10	4.43
Travis Dye	USC	5’10	201	9.25	—
Tiyon Evans	Louisville	5’10	225	8.5	4.52
Eric Gray	Oklahoma	5’10	207	9.75	—
Evan Hull	Northwestern	5’11	209	9.25	4.47
Mohamed Ibrahim	Minnesota	5’8	203	9	—
Roschon Johnson	Texas	6’0	219	9.63	4.58
Hunter Luepke	North Dakota State	6’1	230	9.63	—
DeWayne McBride	UAB	5’10	209	9.5	—
Kendre Miller	TCU	5’11	215	9.38	—
Keaton Mitchell	East Carolina	5’8	179	9.25	4.37
Camerun Peoples	Appalachian State	6’1	217	9.75	4.61
Deneric Prince	Tulsa	6’0	216	9.25	4.41
Chris Rodriguez Jr.	Kentucky	6’0	217	8.63	—
Tyjae Spears	Tulane	5’10	201	10	—
Tavion Thomas	Utah	6’0	237	9.25	4.74
SaRodorick Thompson	Texas Tech	6’0	207	9	4.67
Sean Tucker	Syracuse	5’9	207	9.5	—
Deuce Vaughn	Kansas State	5’5	179	9.5	—

The devaluing of running backs in the NFL will be apparent in the NFL draft, with Bijan Robinson the only running back that should be a lock for the first round. The ex-Longhorn runner is fast, has prototypical size and elite rushing skills that will net him a starting gig in Week 1. He’ll be highly coveted in fantasy drafts and is expected to go in the first half of the first round, if not Top-10.

Jahmyr Gibbs is a smaller player at 5-9, 199 pounds but was a speedy dynamo for the Crimson Tide last year and brings dual-threat skills that could see him potentially sneak into the end of the first round, but more likely be taken in the second.

This could be another draft with running back quality lasting into Day 3 which means any NFL team can reach them. That handful of rookies with significant production have to land in a great offense with at least a solid shot at a complementary role.

Wide Receivers

Early Round Prospects	School	HT	WT	Hand	40-yard
Quentin Johnston	TCU	6’3	208	9.63	—
Jaxon Smith-Njigba	Ohio State	6’1	196	9	—
Jordan Addison	USC	5’11	173	8.75	4.49
Jalin Hyatt	Tennessee	6’0	176	9	4.4
Zay Flowers	Boston College	5’9	182	9.25	4.42
Rashee Rice	SMU	6’1	204	9.5	4.51
Cedric Tillman	Tennessee	6’3	213	10	4.54
Kayshon Boutte	LSU	5’11	195	9.5	4.5
Xavier Hutchinson	Iowa State	6’2	203	9.38	4.53
Jonathan Mingo	Mississippi	6’2	220	10.38	4.46
Josh Downs	North Carolina	5’9	171	9.25	4.48
Rest of Class	School	HT	WT	Hand	40-yard
Ronnie Bell	Michigan	6’0	191	9.5	4.54
Jake Bobo	UCLA	6’4	206	10	—
Jalen Brooks	South Carolina	6’1	201	9.5	4.69
Jason Brownlee	Southern Mississippi	6’2	198	9.75	4.59
Jacob Copeland	Maryland	5’11	201	8.63	4.42
Derius Davis	TCU	5’8	165	8	4.36
Nathaniel Dell	Houston	5’8	165	8.63	4.49
Dontay Demus Jr.	Maryland	6’3	212	9.75	4.57
Demario Douglas	Liberty	5’8	179	8.75	4.44
Grant DuBose	Charlotte	6’2	201	9.5	4.57
Bryce Ford-Wheaton	West Virginia	6’4	221	9.38	4.38
Antoine Green	North Carolina	6’2	199	9	4.47
Jadon Haselwood	Arkansas	6’2	215	10	4.66
Malik Heath	Mississippi	6’2	213	9.13	4.64
Elijah Higgins	Stanford	6’3	235	10.5	4.54
Andrei Iosivas	Princeton	6’3	205	8.75	4.43
Kearis Jackson	Georgia	5’11	196	9.38	4.55
Rakim Jarrett	Maryland	6’0	192	9.38	4.44
Michael Jefferson	Louisiana	6’4	199	9.63	4.56
Jaray Jenkins	LSU	6’2	204	10	4.6
CJ Johnson	East Carolina	6’2	224	10.25	—
Charlie Jones	Purdue	5’11	175	9	4.43
Malik Knowles	Kansas State	6’2	196	8.75	—
Matt Landers	Arkansas	6’4	200	9.25	4.37
Marvin Mims	Oklahoma	5’11	183	9	4.38
Jalen Moreno-Cropper	Fresno State	5’11	172	8.88	4.4
Puka Nacua	BYU	6’2	201	9.5	—
Joseph Ngata	Clemson	6’3	217	10.25	4.54
Trey Palmer	Nebraska	6’0	192	9.63	4.33
A.T. Perry	Wake   Forest	6’4	198	9.25	4.47
Jayden Reed	Michigan State	5’11	187	9.13	4.45
Tyler Scott	Cincinnati	5’10	177	9	4.44
Justin Shorter	Florida	6’4	229	10	4.55
Mitchell Tinsley	Penn State	6’0	199	10	4.6
Tre Tucker	Cincinnati	5’9	182	8.63	4.4
Parker Washington	Penn State	5’10	204	10.13	—
Jalen Wayne	South Alabama	6’2	210	9.38	4.51
Dontayvion Wicks	Virginia	6’1	206	10	4.62
Michael Wilson	Stanford	6’2	213	9.75	4.58

The two measurables that are most valued with wideouts are height (without losing speed) and 40-times. While there are many 6-2 wideouts, there are plenty of solid prospects that are not relying on just standing tall over the middle. And there will be fantasy value produced from this group this year, but it will be the combination of their talent and measurables plus the situation and quarterback that they are paired with on their new team.

Both Quentin Johnston (TCU) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Ohio State) are expected to be first-round picks. Johnston is the consensus best wideout in the draft. Jordan Addison, and Zay Flowers are also expected to be Day 1 picks by a receiver-needy team. There’s still time for receivers to jockey for better draft slots and all it takes is one team interested.

There should be up to ten wide receivers taken in the first two rounds and each will carry expectations of contributing as a rookie. There are plenty of candidates to sift through and Pro Days will also help to sort out which ones will deserve fantasy attention this season.

Tight Ends

Early Round Prospects	School	HT	WT	Hand	40-yard
Michael Mayer	Notre  Dame	6’5	249	9.5	4.70
Dalton Kincaid	Utah	6’4	246	10.25	—
Luke Musgrave	Oregon State	6’6	253	10.38	4.61
Darnell Washington	Georgia	6’7	264	11	4.64
Sam LaPorta	Iowa	6’3	245	10.25	4.59
Rest of Class	School	HT	WT	Hand	40-yard
Davis Allen	Clemson	6’6	245	10	4.84
Payne Durham	Purdue	6’6	253	9.75	4.87
Noah Gindorff	North Dakota State	6’6	263	10	—
Tucker Kraft	South Dakota State	6’5	254	10	4.69
Zack Kuntz	Old Dominion	6’7	255	10.25	4.55
Cameron Latu	Alabama	6’4	242	9.5	—
Will Mallory	Miami	6’5	239	9.38	4.54
Kyle Patterson	Air   Force	6’5	260	9.25	—
Luke Schoonmaker	Michigan	6’5	251	9	4.63
Brenton Strange	Penn State	6’4	253	9.63	4.70
Leonard Taylor	Cincinnati	6’5	250	10.13	—
Travis Vokolek	Nebraska	6’6	259	9.5	—
Blake Whiteheart	Wake  Forest	6’4	247	8.75	4.7
Josh Whyle	Cincinnati	6’7	248	9.5	4.69
Brayden Willis	Oklahoma	6’4	241	9.75	—

Historically, rookie tights do not carry enough reliability to merit any fantasy start, but one or two may emerge as a weekly option later in the season. Michael Mayer is the consensus best tight end but that’s as much as being a receiver as a blocker. Any tight end with sub-4.8 40-time has the wheels to be a receiver that tacks on yardage. Darnell Washington is not only the tallest at 6-7, but ran a 4.64 as the heaviest tight end (264 pounds).

The first tight end should be Mayer and while there’s a small chance that he’s taken at the end of the first round, he’s more likely to lead the five top tight ends that will be taken on Day 2.