Although many of the top prospects in this year’s draft are opting out of participating at the combine, for many under-the-radar draft hopefuls, the annual athletic testing still makes a big difference. Many prospects are in a position to augment their prospect profiles by revealing athleticism that didn’t show up in the box score. Many others will try to confirm that the numbers we rely on in statistical analysis are not a mirage.

It’s important that we don’t double count the combine. In many cases, a good combine performance shouldn’t raise a prospect’s ranking too much. Yet some prospects didn’t have a chance to play much because they were buried behind stars on the depth chart ahead of them. Some played at small schools and didn’t get the visibility of their larger-school counterparts. And some played in offenses that didn’t need to feature their complete skill set on a regular basis. For these players, the combine can be decisive.

I recently joined Colm Kelly on an episode of RotoViz Overtime to discuss the combine and the players who will benefit the most from a good showing.

Roman Wilson

Michigan’s 2023 national title team is unique among recent winners in that none of their offensive players have particularly impressive production profiles. They attempted only 360 passes all season. Roman Wilson had only 789 receiving yards, but that was enough for 2.24 yards per team attempt and a 38% dominator rating.

Wilson led all relevant 2023 wide receivers in boom rate, and was the only WR among the top names above 50%. He has supposedly been timed at a 4.33 forty and an absolutely insane 6.20 three-cone drill, and confirmed this otherworldly agility with a 3.77 short shuttle. Whether you choose to believe these outlandish numbers is something you’ll only have to struggle with for a few more days, but at any rate, Wilson should turn some heads in Indianapolis.