NFL Combine Injuries
With the NFL Combine all wrapped up the prospects for the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft will now look forward to each of their pro days. Coming out of the combine, there may be a few names to watch out for at those pro days as a total of five players were removed from the combine due to injuries, two big-name receivers, and three offensive linemen.
Jalen Hyatt
Tennessee speedster Jalen Hyatt suffered a right hamstring pull when running routes during position drills on Saturday. The 6’0” 176-pound receiver showed off his athleticism in the testing portion Saturday. His 4.40 forty-yard dash was ranked sixth, his 40-inch vertical jump was ranked fourth, and his 135-inch broad jump was ranked first out of all wide receivers.
.@Vol_Football WR Jalin Hyatt is showing out at the NFL Combine!
💨40-Yard Dash: 4.41 (4th, WR)
⚡️10-Yard Split: 1.50 (4th, WR)
🐇Vertical: 40.0 (2nd, WR)
🦘Broad Jump: 11'3" (1st, WR) pic.twitter.com/xjxBcHu4vn— Bleacher Nation NFL (@BN_Touchdown) March 4, 2023
Tennessee’s pro day is scheduled for Wednesday, March 30th so it will be interesting to see if and how he can perform after this setback.
Richard Gouraige
The Senior offensive lineman out of Florida took himself out of the combine Sunday after he woke up with an ankle injury after a pain tolerance test, he took on Saturday. This injury is disputed though by the NFL as they stated, as reported by NFL Networks Ian Rapoport, that “there is no pain tolerance test. The player underwent a typical physical exam.”
An NFL spokesman is clarifying my use of the term “pain tolerance test,” saying: “There is no pain tolerance test. The player underwent a typical physical exam.” https://t.co/8O31ovspK4
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 5, 2023
Gouraige dominated at the Senior Bowl in early February and has had a rising draft stock as of late and is a projected third-round pick in Pro Football Focuses’ latest mock draft.
Florida’s pro day is also March 30th.
Wanya Morris
The most controversial of all the injuries were sustained by offensive tackle Wanya Morris. Morris suffered a Grade 2 hamstring injury when running the forty-yard dash on Sunday. Ian Rapoport reported that the injury should keep Morris sidelined for up to four weeks.
This is terrible news for the projected fifth-round pick (Sports Illustrated) as this will most likely keep him out of Oklahoma’s pro day later this month but he should be available for private workouts for teams heading into the NFL Draft.
This is exactly why Olinemen shouldn’t have to run the 40. This situation would never consistently happen in a game. pic.twitter.com/WsqMdoUdIg
— Billy 🏈 (@Billyhottakes) March 5, 2023
The issue here is why you need linemen, especially offensive linemen to be running forty yards dashes. The case to be made for it is the ten- and twenty-yard splits respectively, so why not just have the lineman run 20-yard dashes instead? These stats are mainly used to see how fast a lineman can get downfield when blocking but how often is a lineman running forty yards downfield as fast as they can, rarely if never.
Morris’ injury occurred right after the thirty-yard mark into his second attempt. Thankfully the injury is not as significant as another offensive lineman from Sunday.
Andrew Vorhees
Andrew Vorhees, according to multiple reports, suffered a torn ACL in lineman drills Sunday. The Tackle/ Guard was the number seventy-seven prospect on the PFF big board and will likely drop now. Vorhees, the Morris Trophy winner in the Pac-12 and first team All American, went on to continue the combine after his injury.
Andrew Vorhees tore his ACL at the combine on Sunday
He opted to do the bench press afterwards anyways and pumped out 38 reps. The most by any player at this years combine👑
— PFF College (@PFF_College) March 7, 2023
The 6’6” 310-pound former Trojan went onto bench 38 reps on the 225-pound bench press, which led all players at the combine and was four more than LSU’s Anthony Bradford who was second.
Vorhees will most likely miss his entire rookie season.
Jordan Addison
Vorhees college teammate, Jordan Addison, took himself out of the combine after waking up with what was described as a tightness in his lower back. The 2021 Biletnikoff winner is expected to go in the first round and truly was already slated there.
not enough people talking about jordan addison coming out of the combine. 4.49 + how smooth he was in the on field drills >
this is what it looks like. pic.twitter.com/LtkVMFaHOr— Kyron Samuels (@kyronsamuels) March 6, 2023
His 4.49 was middle of the pack for the receivers who participated in the combine but led all receivers in production score at the combine, which is how a wide receiver ranks in position-only drills. Addison should be ready to rock and roll on March 21st for USC’s pro day.
The pro day schedule kicks off today with Indiana hosting their prospects.
