NFL Combine Winners and Losers: Cam Ward Bets on Tape, Nick Emmanwori Bets on Physics

How many times have you texted or told someone to “Have a good workout”?

Unless that person was a participant at the NFL combine in Indianapolis, their sporting livelihood probably didn’t depend on it.

But are things truly so dire at the annual meat market with tape measures and stopwatches? After all, University of Miami quarterback Cam Ward elected not to throw during last week’s event. “Five years of film says everything I can do,” the Heisman Trophy finalist said. The footage won’t lose value even if something during his showcase at Miami’s March 24 pro day goes awry.

Yes, there are reasons prospects get invited to the combine, but that doesn’t guarantee them stardom on Sundays. Even athletes who shine at the combine may boost their NFL draft stock without parlaying that further. Ever had a good workout only to stub your toe walking out of the gym?

There’s an adage in sports that the numbers never lie. Someone aiming to challenge Ward’s decision not to generate impressive data at the combine—he did skip the second half of Miami’s Pop-Tarts Bowl loss to Iowa State to ensure his NFL draft uprightness, didn’t he?—could be stymied by the quarterback himself.

“Five years of film”—that’s a number, a quantifier—“says everything I can do,” Ward said.

Stay tuned on that one. We are living in a material and meme-able world, and Ward’s nine words seemingly scream juxtaposition on an image of him flailing if he struggles out of the chute or doesn’t perform to par with projected fellow Class of 2025 quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders of Colorado or Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss.

Staying with Colorado, the combine produced at least one possible cliffhanger exception to the “numbers never lie” rule. Buffaloes superstar Travis Hunter, who won the Heisman, participated at the combine in an NFL-issued shirt emblazoned with “DB15.” We all know that hardly pigeonholes the aspiring wide receiver-defensive back into playing only on the defensive side of the ball. That’s for the organization that drafts him to decide.

Cleveland, which holds the No. 2 overall pick behind the Tennessee Titans, could be a landing spot for Hunter. If so, the Browns figure to showcase him early and often.

“Well, I’d say this, in terms of Travis Hunter, cornerback or receiver? The answer is yes,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said. “So, he can play both, and I think that’s what makes him special.

“We would see him as a receiver primarily first, but I think part of what makes him a bit of a unicorn is the fact that he can do both at a high level.”

Hunter stumps for his conditioning after averaging 113 snaps per game last season, saying, “I feel like I have put my body through a lot.”

In Indy, he wasn’t alone in that contention. South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori covered the 40-yard dash in 4.38 seconds while registering a 43-inch vertical jump and a standing broad jump of 11 feet, 6 inches. As for personal measures, Emmanwori is 6-foot-3 1/8 and 220 pounds.

Per ESPN, he’s just the fourth player 6-foot-3 or taller since 2003 to run a sub-4.4 40 and surpass 40 inches in the vertical jump.

Emmanwori rightly boasted about those figures, saying, “A safety like me hasn’t come through this league for a long time. My size, my speed, my ability.”

Will that statement stand? Do those numbers ring true? We’ll see.

Of course, Emmanwori already had favor to his ledger before arriving at Lucas Oil Stadium: an All-America season in which he was just one of two players in the nation to return two interceptions for touchdowns.

That film should speak volumes, too.