2024 NFL Scouting Combine: Which DBs and TEs showed up on Friday?

Wrapping up Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine

New York Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson was in his element on Friday.

The Giants’ coach is one of the best at what he does, so it’s small wonder that he was a frequent presence in the cornerback and safety workouts at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine.

Friday also featured a very solid, and interesting, tight end group as we got started on the offensive side of the ball.

Unfortunate injuries

Nate Wiggins

Clemson cornerback Nate Wiggins is in the conversation to be the first corner off the board thanks to his college tape. It seemed like he was on his way toward cementing that with a fantastic 4.29-second 40 yard dash.

Unfortunately, he was soon spotted being helped into the back for medical attention after suffering a groin injury during the run. He later said that he suffered a hip flexor injury that he believed to be a strain.

Tyler Owens

The big (6-foot 2 3/8 inch, 216 pound) safety from Texas Tech was set to have an exciting combine that could have made him a lot of money. He got started with a 41-inch vertical an absurd 12-foot-2 broad jump, which was only just behind Byron Jones’ 12-foot-3 for the longest in Combine history.

Owens might have had a blazing 40 as well, but he suffered a groin injury about half-way through his first 40 and was done for the day.

We always hate to see players get injured, and that’s doubly true during the Combine. Hopefully neither injury is serious and they’ll be able to have good rookie seasons. This also makes me wonder just how fast both could have been if they hadn’t gotten hurt during their runs

Cornerbacks

Toledo Rocket-ing draft stock

Quinyon Mitchell was one of those guys during the season where scouting community whispered amongst itself “have you gotten eyes on this guy yet?”. Well, Mitchell isn’t a secret any more. He got on everyone’s radar at the Senior Bowl, when he proved tat he could hang with — and beat — the big school prospects.

Mitchell has good size at 6-foot, 195 pounds, with 31-inch arms, and showed some great explosiveness with a 38-inch vertical and 10-foot broad jump. He backed that up with a great 4.33-second 40 yard dash which was the fastest so far this weekend until Wiggins ran his.

Jersey Boy

Rutgers cornerback Max Melton wasn’t exactly off people’s radar, but he might have been in danger of getting lost in the shuffle of a deep class. Melton is ever-so-slightly undersized for an NFL corner at 5-foot-11, 187 pounds, but he likely raised his profile with a great workout. Melton proved to be fast (4.39 seconds), explosive (40.5 inch vert, 11-foot-4 broad jump), and has excellent feet.

Cam Hart had a good day

Notre Dame receiver-turned-corner might be one of the big sleepers in this cornerback class. He hasn’t been playing corner for very long, but looked at home at the position among some very experienced corners at the Combine.

Hart has fantastic length at 6-foot-3 with 33-inch arms, and while his 40 time was “only” 4.50 seconds, he has some very quick feet and smooth hips. His background as a wide receiver was also on display throughout the field drills. Hart made himself some money today and

will likely intrigue a lot of teams on the second day of the draft.

We should probably keep an eye on Mike Sainristril of Michigan and Daequon Hardy out of Penn State. Both are undersized and will likely be slot corners in the NFL, but they also proved to be great athletes with fantastic ball skills.

Safeties stay muddled

The safety class in the 2024 NFL Draft isn’t a poor one. It many ways, it’s very similar to the linebacker class in that there are good players, but no stars and the depth chart is

Cole Bishop made some money

Draftnicks were intrigued by Bishop for his versatility and play around the box, but there were some questions regarding his athleticism. Bishop answered those questions (at least in part) with a 39-inch vert, 10-foot-4 broad jump and a 4.45 second 40-yard dash. Few really expected him to have that strong of a workout, or show enough fluidity to be a coverage option.

Unfortunately, Bishop is another player who pulled up. In his case, it was at the very end of an impressive workout.

USC’s best defender?

USC’s defense wasn’t good the last couple years. Caleb Williams has been criticized for trying to doing too much on the field, but he also knew there was a good chance that his defense would give up 40 points in a given game.

Safety Calen Bullock, however, wasn’t part of the problem. He’s long and lanky (6-foot-2, 188 pounds, 32 ¹⁄₂ inch arms) but rangy, and has some definite “ballhawk” in his game. He showed the kind of athleticism teams like to see from potential Cover 1 free safeties. Bullock also had some of the quickest feet among the safety group — and would have placed well among the corners as well.

Run Rabbit Run

Texas Tech safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (nicknamed “Rabbit” is another one who climbed draft boards today. He may only be 5-foot-10, 197 pounds, but he paced the field with a 4.41-second 40, but he also had a 38-inch vertical and 10-foot-3 broad jump. He also had some great tape in the field drills, including the highlight catch of the defensive back groups.

Tight ends

No Bowers
Brock Bowers is the no-doubt top tight end on the board and could well be a Top-10 selection come April. He’s been one of the best playmakers in college football over the last couple years, but we didn’t get to see him on the field working out.

Some did note that Bowers measured in at 6-foot 3 1/8 inches. However, that height is becoming increasingly common among tight ends who double as receiving threats. It didn’t seem to impair him on the field at Georgia.

The Tip Reiman fan club forms

The tight end from Illinois was one of the surprise performers on Friday night. He looks every bit an NFL tight end at 6-foot-5, 271 pounds, and he certainly blocks like a classic tight end.

But what wasn’t expected, and could well move him up draft boards was his impressive 4.64-second 40 yard dash, 10-foot broad jump, and smooth hands as a receiver. That last part was particularly surprising, given that he caught 41 passes for 420 yards and 5 touchdowns in 38 games.

Ben Sinnott is making waves
As mentioned above, the tight end class is pretty much Brock Bowers and everyone else. The question is who will separate from the pack and be the second tight end off the board.

Kansas State’s Ben Sinnott is certainly making a case to be TE 2. He did just about everything for Kansas State’s offense, so we knew he could block and catch. But his athleticism — and lower-body explosiveness in particular — was on display. Sinnott led the tight end group with a 40-inch vertical and 10-foot-6 broad jump, and his 4.68-second 40 at 250 pounds was impressive as well.

Dallin Holker improvising
The shoe-top catch from Dadrion Tyler-Demerson was impressive, but Dallin Holker improvised for what might be the most entertaining moment of the evening.