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*****
We knew that there were going to be storylines around the Texas Longhorns at the 2025 NFL Combine because Texas had a school record 14 players in attendance -- the 2nd-most of any school this year.
But what I couldn't imagine is a Saturday afternoon in Lucas Oil Stadium where Isaiah Bond -- who predicted on the podium at his national press media availability of breaking Xavier Worthy's record in the 40 yard dash -- would undergo a self-inflicted face plant.
His prediction went viral. And even though Jaydon Blue said the exact same thing from his smaller table off on the side of the media ballroom, it was the Isaiah Bond quote from his podium that grew legs and picked up steam as a national narrative on Friday and into Saturday.
By the time Saturday afternoon rolled around and it was time to run, the NFL had started to lean into the hype as it is known to do. Their media team had graphics ready for the first group of wide receiver workout participants including a number of social-media-style graphics displayed on the Jumbotrons using Bond's quote that he was going to break the record. You could scan a QR code as a fan and vote on whether or not Bond was going to do it.
Anyone who was at the Combine last year knew what an electric moment it was when Worthy broke the record by running a 4.21-second forty yard dash. I watched Texas beat both Michigan and Ohio State in the Rose Bowl so I've been in attendance for some exciting sports moments and Worthy's 40 was actually way up that the list for me. And for the fans in attendance -- look, these are hardcore people. My kind of people in many ways, but in many ways not. Maniacal people to say the least. Many of them started coming to the combine every year since they opened it up to fans. With the idea percolating around that we might have another explosion like the Xavier Worthy record-breaker on deck, the stadium was frothing with anticipation that burst into cheers and applause as Bond took to the starting line and got into position.
Then, Isaiah Bond went on to run a 4.40. Those cheers of applause, in just 4.4 short seconds, and to my amazement, turned into boos, disgruntled mumbles and jeers. I've never seen anything like it. And I don't think it was just because Bond failed to come through on his outlandish prediction, but rather, because he fell so spectacularly short of it. I think people were more displeased with the idea that someone would go around so loudly proclaiming they were somebody they so clearly weren't.
Then, there was Matthew Golden.
Looking back, we should have taken a lot more from his podium session with the media. Guess what he said he was going to run? Well, he didn't because he didn't make any predictions. But, it was the context that should have given us our big hint: Here's a guy who's still not quite back to 100% from a high-ankle injury that was bothering him through the end of the 2024 season. When I asked him if he was going to participate in drills in Indy he said "just the 40." He was ONLY going to run the 40 and not do any other drills.
At that second, we should have known that the guy had something up his sleeve.
And boy, did he. At 4.29 seconds, he ran the fastest time in Indy this year among all positions. Out of the stone blue. We all knew he was fast -- but that fast? And not at 100%?
Matthew Golden's elevated draft stock through the second half of the Longhorns season came from his clutch gene. His ability to track and frame the football in the mold of prime Odell Beckham Jr. to make the tough catches in gotta-have-it situations. It came from his A+ route-running ability that has, over the course of draft evaluation season, become thought of by many -- myself included -- as the best in this year's draft class upon review and apples-to-apples comparison. No one coveted Matthew Golden for his legitimate, take-the-top-off-of-the-defense, truly elite speed.
But now they do. What's more, they covet that Top 5 in the NFL speed exponentially more when it's coupled with the other observable, film-based traits we just talked about. He's in position to be seriously discussed as the first WR taken in the 2025 NFL draft.
In my wildest dreams I would have never guessed that it was Matthew Golden who would blaze one epic 40 then peace out while Isaiah Bond would be out there having to work through all the receiver drills to show off his route-running skills to scouts.
There's gotta be some kinda lesson there. One guy over-promised and one didn't.
*****
- On Quinn Ewers: I thought he was good during the throwing sessions on Saturday, but he didn't have a day that would lead you to believe that things have fundamentally now changed in his evaluation. With that being said, I've always sort of thought that the evaluation on Quinn Ewers should have his arm talent and general QB skills in a routes-on-air setting baked in. If you have followed Ewers closely through his career, the expectation should have been a solid performance in this type of competition. The one negative I noticed from being there for all the routes from both groups is that receivers were having to hold up on their deep fly routes to track a lot of slightly underthrown balls from Ewers while guys like Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough and Dillon Gabriel probably put a few more long-range zingers on tape overall. (Dillon Gabriel is just so small, by the way).
Ewers will probably be taken on Day 2 of the draft as a developmental QB who'll sit behind a veteran. With Matthew Stafford returning to the Rams, I continue to believe that would be the dream landing spot -- learning under Stafford and McVay as the future Rams QB. Ewers mentioned at his availability that his favorite two QBs to watch are Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff (who've both obviously worked extensively under Sean McVay). I think that Ewers, Jaxson Dart and Tyler Shough are all fine candidates to consider as options for the QB3 spot in the 2025 class after Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders are off the board -- so it's not out of the question that Ewers could go earlier than most expect at this time.
- As for QBs who were actually bad, I would nominate Jalen Milroe and Will Howard. Howard threw some of the worst balls I've seen since starting to attend the combine annually 14 years ago.
- So much for Kelvin Banks being relegated to interior OL dustbin at the NFL level with those mythical T-Rex arms he supposedly has that NFL draft analysts have spoken so much about. His arms measured at 33 1/2". For context, this is slightly below what you would say is ideal (34" or better) and puts him in the 26th percentile among offensive tackles -- not great, but certainly not insurmountable, either.
But, for further context, the better way of measuring the length of an offensive tackle is their wingspan. That is, of course, because it measures the entire span from the tip of one hand to the tip of the other when spread open wide. This allows for the inclusion on the actual trunk of the body and the shoulders to be a part of the "length" equation; and provides the actual distance that defenders will have to navigate around to get by an OL prospect. Per my friend Trevor Sikkema of PFF, Kelvin Banks' 84 3/8" wingspan was in the 82nd percentile!
A team may use him as a guard, but I'd bet against it. Only 6 of the 19 teams he met with in Indy formally even broached the subject of playing guard with Banks.
- I was talking with an Ohio State source about the upcoming Week 1 matchup with the Longhorns and the Buckeyes in Columbus which feels like a lifetime from now, but, in the end, will be here before we know it.
He was talking about how it's going to be tough for Ohio State to replace what they are losing across their defensive front with their starting four across the front all there in Indy and off to the NFL. I told him that it's actually going to present an interesting matchup with Texas' counter to the new-look DL unit, as it will be a new-look offensive line of their own, returning only one starter with four Longhorn offensive linemen from 2024 there in Indy and onward to the NFL themselves.
Ohio State returns pieces in their secondary and linebacker corps that they have high hopes for and who have some great experience while also having young WRs who they've seen begin to turn into legit breakout candidates.
Sound like a team you know?
Both teams will have new QBs that -- for better or for worse -- are less experienced than their predecessors but could still present as legitimate upgrades. It's going to be anything but a rematch of the CFP Semifinal from 2024.
"Whatever happens," he said, "The overreaction is going to be massive."
And how could I disagree?
