NFL Combine has ASU’s Brandon Aiyuk rising, says Todd McShay

Scouts and NFL executives were already high on Arizona State receiver Brandon Aiyuk heading into the Senior Bowl, a month before the NFL Draft Combine.

A minor injury shelved him for that pre-draft event, but it didn’t ding his stock heading into the combine.

A healthy Aiyuk went through the combine field drills in Indianapolis on Thursday, and his performance supported all the expectations about him as an athlete and football player.

The ASU receiver was named by ESPN draft analysts Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. as one of four risers from Day 1 of the on-field drills selected. Writes McShay:

He ran a decently quick 4.5 in the 40-yard dash, and his overall workout was really strong. Aiyuk has plenty of explosion in his game, and it showed up in a 40-inch vertical jump … I love his after-the-catch potential, and he looked natural running his routes and plucking the ball on Thursday night. He is my No. 25 prospect overall and No. 7 receiver, and his performance in Indy solidified his serious Round 1 consideration. In fact, he’s going to be in the mix for fourth receiver off the board with Jefferson and a handful of others behind (Jerry) Jeudy, (CeeDee) Lamb and (Henry) Ruggs.

It should be noted that McShay has long been touting Aiyuk as a first-round prospect.

But in a class of wide receivers that could be the deepest we’ve seen in some time, few can say they’ll help themselves more this week than Aiyuk.

“I get a lot of calls from people, and rightly so,” ASU head coach Herm Edwards told reporters on Feb. 20. “I think after Week 4, he kind of established himself as an explosive guy with the ball in his hand. He always coming to me my first year, talking about, ‘Coach, you know I can play corner.’ And I said, ‘Stop.’ And he probably could, because he’s got good skill.

“But I think he developed himself by the Michigan State game (in Week 3), I think he hit a plateau where all of a sudden he just started ascending.”

At a shade under 6-foot and weighing in at 205 pounds, Aiyuk has large hands (9 and 3/4 inches) and a freakish 6-foot-8 wingspan. While the 40-time wasn’t earth-shattering, the vertical and a 128-inch broad jump were some of the top marks among the receivers participating in the combine.

.@ASUFootball WR Brandon Aiyuk with a 40" vertical! @THE2ERA

📺: #NFLCombine on @NFLNetwork pic.twitter.com/rDntR5sekW

— NFL (@NFL) February 27, 2020

Aiyuk’s 2019 season of production provided evidence that the physical measurements translate to the football field as well.

The senior caught 65 passes for 1,192 yards and eight touchdowns, and he probably looks a little faster with pads on than his 4.5 40-yard dash speed suggests.

“I told him the biggest thing is this: It’s the interview,” Edwards said of the combine process for Aiyuk. “It’s not so much what you do. Those are just numbers, man. Your film is your resume. Don’t lose sight of that. The numbers are the numbers. Don’t worry about the numbers. You don’t get drafted on those numbers. You’re not going to fall.

“Some guys get a little tweak, they get a little higher, they run faster. But it’s what you did on tape and they can’t take that away from you.”

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