Everyone wants to focus on the fun. Xavier Worthy set the combine record. Dallin Holker caught two passes in the same drill at the same time. The risers are the fun stories, but some key players didn’t hit their thresholds at running back or wide receiver, and their draft stock could take a hit. This isn’t to say they won’t be great players, but the buy-in from their future team is likely to be lower. With that in mind, who are the biggest fantasy football relevant fallers from the 2024 NFL Combine?
Fantasy Football Fallers from the 2024 NFL Combine
1. Audric Estime, RB Notre Dame
What in the world does Notre Dame tell these guys to do before the combine? Whether it was Kyren Williams running a 4.65 as an undersized back or Audric Estime and his 4.71 on Saturday, they don’t exactly ball out at the combine. Estime is still able to be a great player, and he pops in the film lab. But with that low of a 40, he’s likely to be a day-three pick.
2. Keon Coleman, WR FSU
This is going to be a fun, hot debate. In the classic sense of the combine, Coleman missed the 4.6 second 40 threshold that every first-round WR for the past five years hit. On the other hand, with modern tracking technology, he was absolutely flying during his gauntlet drill. He would be the slowest wide receiver picked in the first round since Kelvin Benjamin, but Coleman looks like he was chiseled out of marble. He didn’t have a horrible day, but in relation to his peers who were flying up and down the field and jumping out of the gym, he lost some steam as the freakiest in the class.
3. Troy Franklin Jr., WR Oregon
Troy Franklin had the slowest ten yard split in the receiver class. It was even slower than defensive end Jared Verse, who weighs about 80 pounds more than Franklin. This is important because the big knock on Franklin is his ability to deal with press and explode in the short area, and that split confirms the film. If he gets a clean release and opens his stride up, he’s an absolute nightmare deep. But with the shortcomings in acceleration, he may struggle against NFL caliber defenders.
4. Bucky Irving, RB Oregon
Bucky Bucky Bucky. You can’t weigh in at 192 pounds but then run the same time as a MLB and a QB. What really pops on his film study is his short area quickness, but rather than showing it off for the world to see he skipped those events. It wasn’t a pretty combine for Irving, but he can still carve out a passing down role somewhere around the league.
5. Ja’Tavion Sanders, TE Texas
So much for being the super athlete tight end we were all hoping for. Instead Sanders weighed in light, ran slow and measured with shorter arms than expected. The trifecta of heartbreak. His play speed is fun, but the dreams of Sanders being a first round pick are over, and his second round hype might start to fizzle.
Main Photo Credit: Sara Diggins/American-Statesman-USA TODAY Sports
