The story of the 2017 NFL combine was the event-record 4.22 40-yard time run by John Ross of Washington on Day 2. While that was an impressive feat, it feels unfair to only call attention to those who happened to do well at the combine. Celebrating diversity means touting the very fast and the very slow; the strong and the weak; the great leapers and the extremely earthbound. Does it not?
Here are the worst performances from the 2017 NFL combine. They all tried.
40-Yard Dash
Worst time: 5.84 seconds
Player: Damien Mama, OL, USC
Will it hurt his draft stock?: It can’t help, but straight-line foot speed is usually not the primary means of evaluating 6-foot-4, 325-pound guards. Mama is projected to be a mid-round pick, but he could drop even farther if he’s too slow to get to his phone when a team calls.
Silver lining: A 5.84-second 40 is not the slowest of modern times. That belongs to former Houston guard Isaiah Thompson, who ran the 40 in 6.0 at the 2011 combine and went undrafted. Even better, Mama’s time creates a new joke to make fun of USC fans: “Your Mama is so fat she got the slowest 40 time at the 2017 NFL Combine.” Zing! Best of all: if Mama can maintain a 5.84-second pace for 40 yards over an entire marathon distance, he could win an Olympic gold medal.
SIMULCAM: @RichEisen (2016) vs. Damien Mama (@usc_athletics).
And it's CLOSE. #NFLCombine #RunRichRun https://t.co/QWOOnByAUv
— NFL (@NFL) March 3, 2017
Bench Press
Lowest number of reps: 5
Player(s): Donnel Pumphrey, RB, San Diego State and Channing Stribling, DB, Michigan
Will it hurt their draft stock?: Probably not too much. Pumphrey is only 5-foot-8, 169 pounds, and his whole thing is being tiny and elusive. If he did 44 reps it wouldn’t make him any bigger. Stribling has a mid-round projection already and at least he can claim he is one of the strongest people named Channing of all-time.
Silver lining: There are no PED whispers around either player.
Vertical Leap
Lowest height: 20.0 inches
Player: Avery Gennesy, OL, Texas A&M
Will it hurt his draft stock?: Gennesy is a later round prospect and if his low leap makes NFL teams think he lacks explosion of the line, it could drop him completely out of the draft. On the other hand, Texas A&M product Luke Joeckel jumped 28.5 at the 2013 combine and he completely sucks. So who knows. Maybe jumping high is bad?
Silver lining: Gennesy weighs 318 pounds and when he landed after propelling himself 20 inches off of the earth’s surface, his knees didn’t immediately explode. NFL teams have to like his durability.
Broad Jump
Shortest distance: 91.0 inches
Player(s): Avery Gennesy, OL, Texas A&M and Stevie Tu’ikolovatu, DL, USC
Will it hurt his draft stock?: Ooof. Avery Gennesy again. If his NFL draft dreams aren’t yet over, his hopes of ever winning a dunk contest probably are. Tu’ikolovatu weighs 350 pounds and ran a respectable 5.45 40, so tell him his draft stock is dropping at your own peril.
Silver lining: These young giants will never be asked to jump again for the rest of their days.
3-Cone Drill
Worst time: 8.51 seconds
Player: Damien Mama, OL, USC
Will it hurt his draft stock?: Possibly, if anyone cares about the 3-Cone Drill.
Silver lining: No one cares about the 3-Cone Drill.
20-Yard Shuttle Run
Worst time: 5.38 seconds
Player: Damien Mama, OL, USC
Will it hurt his draft stock?: USC’s Mama came in dead-last at the combine in three different tests, so his draft stock is not going to go up. However, based on the picture above, like all big Mamas he is very good at giving hugs. Bad NFL teams can use a guy like that in the locker room when the sadness sets in.
Silver lining: Some of the player at the NFL combine do a 60-yard shuttle run. That sounds exhausting.
60-Yard Shuttle Run
Worst time: 12.48 seconds
Player: Charles Harris, DL, Missouri
Will it hurt his draft stock?: No. If a defensive linemen ever has to run 60 yards, a lot of other things have gone very wrong.
Silver lining: Harris is projected by many draft analysts to go in the 1st Round. If he’s lucky, this poor Shuttle Run time will drop him to the bottom of the 1st Round, far away from all the stink teams.
