Previewing The Oregon Ducks At The NFL Scouting Combine

Oregon quarterback Bo Nix (10) tosses the ball to Oregon running back Bucky Irving (0) during the first half on the NCAA Fiesta Bowl college football game against Liberty, Monday, Jan. 1, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

By 750 THE GAME STAFF

The NFL Scouting Combine starts on Thursday. It’s always a fun time of year to see how some of the best stack up with other great college players.

For the Ducks there are numerous players that can make a gigantic impact on their draft stock depending on how they perform in the tests.

Fox NFL Draft Analyst Rob Rang was previewing the NFL Combine and mentioned a lot of Oregon Ducks and how they could improve their stock.

Bo Nix is expected to throw at the NFL Combine on Saturday along with numerous other top quarterback prospects. It’s not too surprising considering Nix participated in the Senior Bowl in January. A good showing at the combine is vital for the for the former Duck. Nix is a bubble first round pick according to a lot of the mock drafts with some having him in the first round and some having him in the second round.

Ducks receiver Troy Franklin will be at the combine as well and many scouts are expecting Franklin to run one of the top 40-yard dash times at the event. Franklin had maybe the best season a Ducks receiver has ever had and was recently included on The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman’s Freak List heading into the NFL Combine.

According to Rang, a lot of talent evaluators put more stock into shuttle times than the 40-yard dash when it comes to grading running backs. This could come into handy for Ducks running back Bucky Irving according to Rang.

“Oregon’s Bucky Irving and TCU’s Emani Bailey should excel in the three-cone and short-shuttle drills. Failure to do so could hurt their stock more than a slower-than-expected time in the 40-yard dash.”

A big riser on draft boards for the Ducks has been center Jackson Powers-Johnson. Rang says that Powers-Johnson is a guy to watch when it comes to the bench press. Rang also says that the bench press can be misleading. Players with longer arms have to push the bar further than those with shorter arms, and Powers-Johnson is likely to have shorter arms which will help him put up some good numbers in the bench.

The NFL Scouting Combine starts on Thursday with live drills for the defensive lineman and the linebackers on NFL Network.

Check out the entire NFL Scouting Combine preview by Rob Rang by clicking here.

@750TheGame