3 winners from Day 1 of the NFL Scouting Combine

With Day 1 of the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine in the books, we take a look at three winners from the first day of on-field drills.

The first night of the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine is in the books with the tight ends, quarterbacks, and wideouts having completed their testing and on field drills. There were plenty of guys who improved their stock, and those who had a rough go, and that will loom large when the 2020 NFL Draft rolls around.

There were many standout performances throughout the night.  In some cases are beliefs were confirmed from what we see on tape and in other cases we saw some things that we didn’t expect to see.

Here are my three big winners from day one of the combine.

Quarterbacks not named Burrow or Tagovailoa

With Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa on the sideline as spectators, day one of the combine was an opportunity for some of the other quarterbacks to take center stage.

The three signal callers in particular who helped there cause were Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, and Jalen Hurts.  Ironically enough these are the three men who are considered to be next in line after Burrow and Tagovailoa.

Justin Herbert who was named Senior Bowl most valuable player turned in another solid performance at the combine and continues to check all the boxes.  Measuring in at 6 foot 6 inches, 236 pounds, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.68 seconds which is impressive considering his size.

His big arm talent was on display in the throwing session.  Routinely delivering tight spirals that were on time and on point.

Jordan Love, also made himself some money Thursday night with an excellent combine.  Love, out of Utah State is bit of a mystery player in this draft because scouts are unsure if you are getting the 2018 or 2019 version of Jordan Love.

The upside that Love possess was on display in throwing drills.  You can see his ability to spin it and deliver an accurate deep ball.  I was also impressed by his smooth footwork in his drop backs, a skill that college quarterbacks often lack do to the amount of time spent in shotgun.

And finally, we have Jalen Hurts who many consider to be a day two pick. Hurts might be pushing himself into the conversation to be a sure fire round two pick.  He ran the fastest forty time of any quarterback (4.59) and helped answer some questions about his ability as a passer.

These three quarterbacks will continue to jockey for position over the next two months.