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Offense: QB | RB | FB | WR | TE | OT | G | C | K/P
Defense: DE | DT | OLB | ILB | CB | S
The NFL combine doesn't really make you change your mind on players, but it can be a step in the process that makes it happen. It makes you go back to the tape to see if the measurements -- the speed, the power, the height, the leaping ability -- that come out of Indy match what you see on tape. For instance, when I saw Kevin White run a 4.35 and Amari Cooper run a 4.42 in Indy, one of the first things I did was go back to a game when both were on the field, Alabama vs. West Virginia, one of the first big games of the season. It wasn't science; it was an eye test, one of many. On that day, Cooper looked faster. Maybe it was confidence in his route-running, and maybe it was who was defending. And maybe it's that seven hundredths of a second is hard to decipher.
More importantly, it was just another starting point. There were other games to re-watch, and that's just the point. The times make you take another look to see what you missed. They don't just make you change things.
Remember: Prospects are listed under my projected NFL position, and that can be a little tough with some of the more versatile players, even before you get into schemes. A college tackle could be listed at guard, a college defensive end listed at linebacker, and so on.
* Denotes junior
** Denotes third-year sophomore
Offense
1. **Jameis Winston, Florida St.
2. *Marcus Mariota, Oregon
3. Bryce Petty, Baylor
4. Garrett Grayson, Colorado St.
5. *Brett Hundley, UCLA
6. Sean Mannion, Oregon St
7. Bryan Bennett, Southeastern Louisiana
8. Brandon Bridge, South Alabama
9. Shane Carden, East Carolina
10. Grant Hedrick, Boise St.
Not many changes here since the NFL combine. The notable drop is Hundley from No. 3 to No. 5. I love the raw tools, but there's a lot of work to be done there. The two new names who weren't on the previous ranking are Bridge and Carden. Bridge I haven't had in this ranking going back to August, whereas Carden is a returning name. Bennett is still something of a wildcard, because there's a lot of natural ability; but he's just a terribly difficult projection at this point.
