Scooby Wright and Cayleb Jones have underwhelming NFL Combine performances
Feb 29, 2016, 3:25 PM | Updated: 3:25 pm
Arizona Wildcat prospects had a rough weekend in Indianapolis.
Former Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright and wide receiver Cayleb Jones participated in the NFL Combine last weekend and both had their struggles.
Wright’s handle of “TwoStarScoob” tells the tale of how Wright was graded as a two-star prospect out of high school. Undersized for his position and not popping with athleticisim, Wright battled through that stigma and became one of the best players in all of college football.
The questions about his size and athleticism all came back, however, after he had some of the lowest scores in many categories for linebackers at the NFL Combine.
His 4.90 40-yard dash time was the fourth lowest among linebackers and a 31-foot vertical jump had him near the bottom of the pack.
Scooby Wright’s first attempt at the 40-yard dash today in the NFL Combine pic.twitter.com/k8jWYsn6Mm
— Matt Moreno (@MattGOAZCATS) February 28, 2016
Wright did do well in the bench press, with 22 reps, tied for fifth out of the 28 linebackers who participated.
While he didn’t impress in the drills, Wright is arguably the one player in the draft process that can point to his production on the field as opposed to how fast or strong he is.
That’s well documented among NFL scouts.
Mayock: Arizona LB Scooby Wright is a 3rd-rounder. Instincts and toughnes will make him NFL starter eventually.
— CollegeFootball 24/7 (@NFL_CFB) February 23, 2016
On the other hand, Jones’ position and his particular skill set is far more demanding of a good day at the combine and he did not have that.
Cayleb Jones was one of my favorite under-the-radar WRs on tape, but had a really disappointing Combine. Expected a better athletic profile.
— Shane Alexander (@Shane1Alexander) February 27, 2016
Known for his size at 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds, Jones ran the seventh slowest 40-yard dash time among wide receivers at a 4.65 and the second worst amount of bench press reps with only nine.
Players at Jones’ size are producing much better numbers. 6-foot-3 212 pound Ohio State product Michael Thomas ran a 4.57 40-yard dash and had 18 reps at the bench press with a 35-inch vertical jump as well.
Jones had a 33.5 vertical jump, also one of the worst among wide receivers.
Jones is currently projected as a fifth-to-sixth round prospect by CBS Sports.
