Every week in “4-Down Territory,” Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar and Luke Easterling of Bucs Wire and Draft Wire go over the things you need to know about, and the things you need to watch, in the NFL right now. It’s all about draft prospects with the scouting combine getting started this week, so Doug and Luke get into a bunch of questions about all the draft prospects looking to raise their games in Indianapolis — both on the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, and in private interviews and medical checks with NFL teams.
Which draft prospect, regardless of his need to be great at the combine, is absolutely going to turn the event into a freakshow?
Doug: I don’t know what drills Tennessee receiver Jalin Hyatt plans to run, but based on his tape alone, I’m expecting him to run in the 4.4s at worst in the 40, and his 10-yard and 20-yard splits should be equally incendiary. He’s a better catcher of the ball than a lot of people think, which makes me think he’ll be great in the gauntlet drill. The knock on Hyatt is that he’s not running a bunch of routes, but the routes he runs? Yikes. Last season, he caught 14 passes of 20 or more air yards on 24 targets for 677 yards and eight touchdowns. For those scoring at home, that’s 48.4 yards per deep reception, which is pretty nuts. I think Hyatt will take all that explosive athleticism to the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, and it’ll make him a late first-round pick.
Luke: Texas Tech edge defender Tyree Wilson. He’s a massive, dominant force on the field, and he’ll be one of the big-ticket performers this weekend. Guys at his size just shouldn’t be able to move like he does, and if he performs as well as we’re expecting, don’t be surprised if the debate between him and Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. starts getting more competitive.
