2021 NFL Draft: Biggest winners, losers from Pro Days

It is the year of freak athletes, apparently. We’ve seen so many lights-out Pro Day performances ahead of the 2021 NFL Draft that it was impossible to include all of them in this list.

LSU wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, Northwestern offensive tackle Rashawn Slater, Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons and South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn, among others, lit their respective Pro Days on fire but still couldn’t crack the top 10. Let’s look at all the dominant and not-so-dominant showings from draft season.

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Top 10

EDGE Jayson Oweh, Penn State

Oweh’s Pro Day performance was truly an all-timer. He had the single best 40-yard dash time (4.39) as well as broad jump (11-2) of any defensive end ever in our database. And he’s not simply explosive in a straight line; his 6.84-second three-cone is an elite number, as well. He’s raw, but he has everything you could want to work with.

LB Baron Browning, Ohio State

Browning didn’t put up a single below-average testing number compared to linebackers. The biggest number here from a scouting perspective, though, is weight. Browning was at his best at Ohio State while going one on one as a pass rusher. He could easily make the transition to the edge with those numbers.

DI Milton Williams, Louisiana Tech

Yes, Williams is undersized for the position at only 284 pounds, but this is the type of athleticism you need to get by in the league when that’s the case. He didn’t have a single movement drill test out below 90th percentile for the position, with his three-cone figure being the best we’ve ever seen for a defensive tackle.

OT Samuel Cosmi, Texas

If you saw Cosmi run for a touchdown against West Virginia back in 2019, these numbers should come as no surprise. His combination of strength (36 reps) and special change-of-direction ability in the cone/shuttle for a 6-foot-6 tackle is a nice projection.

LB Jamin Davis, Kentucky

While Micah Parson’s Pro Day dominated the headlines, Davis made himself more money with his performance. Thought of as a Day 2 prospect, Davis showed all the athletic traits necessary to feasibly sneak into Round 1. His 42-inch vertical is the best we’ve seen from an off-ball linebacker, and his 11-foot broad jump was up there, as well. That explosiveness shows on tape when he’s coming downhill.

CB Marco Wilson, Florida

Wilson’s issues at Florida were never talent-related. That showed in a big way with his testing. His 26 bench press reps combined with a 44-inch vertical are obscene numbers. He is fully capable of sticking with receivers one on one in man coverage, but how inconsistently he plays with technique is concerning.

WR Elijah Moore, Ole Miss

In a receiver class chock-full of elite athletes, Moore gets the nod in the top 10 here because of his change-of-direction drills. His 6.66-second three-cone and 4-second shuttle show up on tape with how easily he’s able to avoid contact. Those 17 bench reps at only 178 pounds make you think his game can translate to the more physical NFL.

EDGE Jaelan Phillips, Miami (FL)

What an all-around performance from the former five-star recruit. There wasn’t one particular drill for Phillips to hang his hat on, but he ticked every single box you'd want him to at a high level.

IOL Kendrick Green, Illinois

You won’t find better explosive numbers from an offensive lineman. While you may not trust Pro Day 40-yard dash times, there’s no faking a 36-inch vertical and a 9-foot-11 broad jump from a 305-pounder. It shows up on tape when he had the most big-time blocks among Power Five linemen last year.

RB Elijah Mitchell, Louisiana

If you’re going to go for a running back in the late rounds, at least swing for the fences on some athletic traits. No one at the position showed better in that regard than Mitchell. With excellent long speed and explosive numbers, Mitchell proved his production at Louisiana was no fluke.

Bottom 10

WR Tutu Atwell, Louisville

Atwell flunked his Pro Day before he even stepped on the field for a drill. He showed up a slight 155 pounds — the lowest weight recorded for a receiver this century. Then after being rumored to run a 4.2-second 40-yard dash, Atwell managed only a 4.42. That's not quite the elite juice teams were hoping for.

S Paris Ford, Pittsburgh

Ford grossly underperformed. He didn’t escape the second percentile for anything other than his 10-yard split in the 40-yard dash. Those simply aren’t draftable numbers for a safety.

EDGE Gregory Rousseau, Miami (FL)

Billed as a physical freak, Rousseau looked anything but. The only thing freaky was his frame, as his explosive numbers and change-of-direction drills were all below average. That’s not going to help his stock when every other edge outperformed him this spring.

DI Jaylen Twyman, Pittsburgh

Twyman opted out of the 2020 season and quite obviously put an emphasis on adding weight. He racked up sacks in 2019 but was nowhere near the weight he checked in at his Pro Day. His explosiveness quite obviously suffered from that added weight, which is not what you want to see when projecting to the NFL.

IOL Jalen Mayfield, Michigan

Mayfield is being hyped as an athletic project, but those aren’t the testing numbers of a high-end athlete. He failed to crack the 50th percentile in any single measurable. With average grades in his career, we’re not going to be as high on him as others.

DI Marvin Wilson, Florida State

Wilson did not have the senior year he had hoped for, and that continued with his testing. There’s simply nothing he does special athletically, and that matches his tape. At that point, you better perform at an elite level. Wilson didn’t last year.

WR Damonte Coxie, Memphis

After opting out of the 2020 campaign, Coxie’s 4.77-second 40-yard dash and four bench reps bring into question what exactly he was doing for the past year. Those aren’t draftable numbers.

S Jamien Sherwood, Auburn

Sherwood plays an explosive brand of football on tape, but those are not explosive numbers — specifically, his speed and change of direction. Those are box safety-only numbers.

TE Brevin Jordan, Miami (FL)

Jordan was supposed to be the undersized yet athletic project tight end in the class. He quite clearly tried to put on extra weight to get past NFL size thresholds, because he was not 247 pounds last year on tape. That came at the detriment of Jordan's athletic testing, though, as he did not look like a plus athlete.

RB Larry Rountree III, Missouri

Rountree’s lack of juice on contact showed up consistently on tape, and it’s why he is so low on PFF’s board. His athletic testing matched that. Those are undraftable testing numbers even if he were a power back (which he’s not).