From zero to hero: NFL stars whose stock dropped at the Combine

The combine giveth and the combine taketh away. As prospective NFLers from colleges throughout the country come together to mark down 40-yard dash times, 225-lb bench press reps, broad and vertical jumps, and more, there’s a real pressure to perform, particularly for those right on the cusp of getting drafted.

The NFL Scouting Combine has produced some busts over the years, as well as dropping the stock of future stars, as it has proven to occasionally be a deeply inaccurate measure of how well a player will perform on the field in the NFL. We compiled a list of NFL players who failed at the combine, only to make an enormous impact on their team and, in some cases, the sport itself.

Might as well start at the top. The poster child for lack of athleticism turned NFL success, Brady’s 5.28 40 is still one of the greatest moments in combine history to look back on knowing what we know now. An unathletic frame combined with mediocre performances at Michigan and the fact that he looked awkward on the run turned several NFL franchises away from the eventual GOAT, who was eventually drafted in the sixth round.

Brady also finished dead last among quarterbacks in the vertical leap and 12th of 15 in the broad jump. While Brady did put up decent times in the three-cone and shuttle run drills, he clearly hadn’t done enough to convince NFL teams to take a chance on him. Bill Belichick saw something special in that slow man from the Bay Area, and the rest is history. - JH

Coming out of Colorado State, where he had walked onto the football team as a freshman, Haggans didn’t exactly have sky-high expectations on his shoulders at the combine, but running a 5-second 40 was definitely a tough look for the outside linebacker. Combine that (no pun intended) with only 20 bench press reps, Haggans fell to the fifth round in the 2000 draft.

He ended up a four-year starter and seven-year rotational player with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who must have seen something in the all-time sack record holder for CSU. He won a Super Bowl with the Steelers before leaving for the Cardinals in 2008. He ended up with 33.5 sacks for the Steelers.— GM

The NFL combine isn’t entirely about how you perform. It’s also about how you measure up. Drew Brees actually put up decent rushing numbers in college — 521 rushing yards and five touchdowns his final year at Purdue. He was no slouch when it came to his athleticism, but his height and strength were massive question marks heading into the 2001 Draft.

Brees drew several criticisms for being undersized. At just a smidge under 6 feet, Brees drew skepticism from analysts who believed he wouldn’t be able to see over the offensive line. Coupled with his underwhelming arm strength, and it’s a wonder that Brees was drafted as early as he was (32nd overall). Looking back now though, I’m sure every team would change their pick in a heartbeat for an opportunity to have Brees suit up for them. — JH

Despite incredible numbers at Florida State, Boldin slid drastically down NFL draft boards after posting a 4.7 40-yard dash, the slowest among receivers at the 2003 combine. Now, judging someone based solely on their 40 time is never a wise strategy, but Boldin only furthered his poor combine by finishing with similarly slow times in the three-cone drill and shuttle.

Drafted 54th overall by the Arizona Cardinals, Boldin went on to have one of the best rookie seasons of all time. He won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, participated in another with the Arizona Cardinals and was all in all one of the most consistent receivers of the 2000’s and early 2010’s. Boldin never relied on his speed to create separation. If only scouts could’ve seen that at the combine. — JH

Arizona State’s Zach Miller was poised to be a first-round selection ahead of the 2007 NFL Draft…until the combine rolled around and Miller posted a 4.83 40-yard dash. That lack of speed sent Miller plummeting down draft boards. The man who was once considered a challenge for Greg Olsen for top tight end of the class was now viewed in a much harsher light and was not selected until the second round.

Miller went on to have a very productive career. While he never eclipsed 1,000 yards for a season and only recorded 20 touchdowns for his career, Miller ranked top ten among tight ends in catches, top-15 in yards, and top-20 in touchdowns between 2007 and 2013. He was named a Pro Bowler in 2010 and even won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks, although Miller only caught one pass for 10 yards in that game. — JH

When you’re running a draft campaign on being a speed guy as a WR, you might want to, you know, be speedy. Manningham was not able to achieve that, as he ran an unfortunate 4.62 40-yard dash at the 2008 combine and reportedly scored a 6 out of 50 on the now-defunct Wonderlic test.

After a standout career at Michigan, Manningham ended up being drafted in the third round by the New York Giants despite his combine performance, and made a legendary reception in Super Bowl XLVI to help defeat the Patriots. If not an all-career NFL standout, he certainly made sure his name was in the history books with that fourth-quarter catch. — GM

When you’re 6-foot-8, 290 pounds, people expect you to put up more than 16 reps on the bench press, but that’s exactly how many Calais Campbell recorded at the 2008 NFL combine. Campbell was supposed to be a first-round pick in the draft that year, but after his subpar performance on the bench and terrible marks in the 40 (5.04) and three-cone drill (7.45), Campbell’s stock plummeted quicker than the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs.

The Arizona Cardinals were able to snag the Miami product at 50th overall. It took him a while to get going, but Campbell turned into an absolute menace on the defensive front. He was a two-time Pro Bowler in Arizona and was a pivotal piece as part of the 2017 Jacksonville team that reached the AFC Championship Game (he should’ve been the DPOY that year by the way).

Campbell, 36, is clearly in the twilight of his career. In 15 games with Baltimore last season, he was only able to record 1.5 sacks. Still, not a bad career for someone with as horrid a combine as Campbell endured. — JH

Arian Foster was remarkable his junior year at Tennessee, but was…unproductive during his senior season. He recorded only one touchdown in 11 games. Foster didn’t quell the doubters in the combine. Foster ran a 4.68 40-yard dash, slower than kicker David Buehler that same year, and didn’t impress enough on the bench press (23 reps, outside the top-10 at the position) to warrant much confidence.

Foster wound up going undrafted, but was picked up by the Houston Texans hoping that he could thrive in their scheme. All Foster did was lead the league with 1600 rushing yards his first season as the starter. He was a four-time Pro Bowler and reached double-digit touchdowns three times during his tenure in Houston. Guess his speed, or lack thereof, didn’t matter too much. — JH

Joe Haden was the sure-fire CB1 in the 2010 NFL Draft. He ruined that distinction with one of the worst combine performances of all-time.

Haden posted a 4.57 40-yard dash and a less-than-stellar 35-inch vertical. Both of those figures ranked him bottom-10 among cornerbacks, and for someone with as small a frame as Haden possessed (5’11, 143), those did not impose much confidence.

The Cleveland Browns didn’t care, and selected the Florida product seventh overall. Haden was spectacular in his first few years in the league, and while he did start to fall off in the middle of his career, he has never been a liability on defense. He’s earned one All-Pro second team nod and three Pro Bowl selections during his 12-year career with his most recent selection coming in 2019. Yes sir, he may not have shown great physicals at the combine, but Haden proved all the haters wrong. — JH

For all of AB’s latest shenanigans in Tampa, as well as his more troubling history of sexual assault allegations, the former Central Michigan wide receiver undoubtedly made his mark on the league over the last decade, despite a poor combine performance. Undersized for his position at 5-foot-10 and 186 lbs, he ran a 4.56-second 40-yard dash, and was only able to complete 13 bench press reps, well under average. His broad jump was nightmarish.

He turned out to be a seven-time Pro Bowler and led the league in receptions during multiple seasons during his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers. As a sixth round draft pick, Brown’s combine performance certainly did not foreshadow his eventual decade-long career in the league.

Brown has appeared in three of the four Pro Bowls that have been held since he was drafted out of Oklahoma in the third round, which obviously turned out to be a huge steal. Mike Mayock called Brown’s performance at the combine “historically bad” after the offensive tackle put up a 5.85 40-yard dash and finished dead last in the broad jump, vertical jump, and bench press of all the offensive linemen at the combine that year.

While he improved those values at his school’s Pro Day, he never quite climbed back into being a first-rounder, but the Ravens and, later, the Chiefs gained an outstanding tackle from it. Though it was only four years ago, Brown has already more than proved his combine results wrong and has likely made a few teams regret skipping over him because of raw numbers. — GM

Speaking of looking into things that don’t really matter. Remember when Joe Burrow put together the greatest college football season of all-time, but then drew criticism from the media because his hands were too small? Good times, and an exemplary display of how measurables can sometimes overshadow a player’s on-field achievements even when they absolutely shouldn’t.

The LSU product’s hands measured in at nine inches from thumb to pinky. At that point, it was tied for the smallest hand size of any projected first-round quarterback since 2008. It certainly didn’t help Burrow’s draft stock that former number one overall pick Jared Goff also measured in with nine-inch hands four years prior and became one of the most fumble-prone quarterbacks in the NFL. Many skeptics believed Burrow would have trouble holding onto the football, and looking back, it’s astonishing how much media attention Burrow’s hand size received when another top prospect in that class, Tua Tagovailoa, barely received any attention for his lack of height. But hey, at least Tua’s hands clocked in at an adequate nine-and-seven-eighths inches.

Thankfully, the Bengals didn’t fumble the bag and pass on the Heisman winner at number one overall. Even if they only made the selection because of head coach Zac Taylor’s history with Jared Goff in Los Angeles, the Bengals clearly made the right choice and didn’t let all the noise get to them. — JH