DraftFix: The Combine Snubs (Part Two - Defense)

This week, with the help of mockdraftable.com, we're going to be reviewing the pro day measurables from some of the draft prospect who were not invited to the combine.

With 362 combine invitees and only 256 draft picks, the majority of players selected will come from the pool of players invited to the combine, especially since the list is based entirely on who NFL teams have requested to see.

However, non-combine invitees get drafted every year, sometimes higher than you'd expect. In 2017, Grambling State wide receiver Chad Williams was drafted in the third round.

We looked at offensive players on Monday, but now let's move on to look at some defensive guys:

Poona Ford DT Texas

Ford is one of the most interesting prospects in this year's draft. He's short, but stocky and powerful. His pro day results were somewhat underwhelming, but he was a standout during all-star season. After a great week at the East West Shrine Game, he was also invited to the Senior Bowl and excelled there too:

Ford makes use of his low center of gravity to penetrate and bottle up this run:

via GIPHY

PJ Hall DT Sam Houston State

Hall is another of those short but stocky fire hydrant types who is a disruptive penetrator. One of his most impressive stats is that he blocked 14 kicks in his career. He doesn't have much agility at 308 pounds but his other numbers are tremendous:

Jullian Taylor DT Temple

Taylor's career at Temple was marred by injuries, including an ACL tear. He barely even played until this season, but had a great year against the run and then proved his health with great pro day numbers. With the Todd Bowles/Temple connection, it's no surprised that Taylor is supposedly coming in for a visit:

Tre Flowers S Oklahoma State

Flowers, a defensive leader for the Cowboys, had easily his best season last year, although he regressed somewhat down the stretch. A four-year starter, Flowers averaged over 70 tacklers per year and had four interceptions and four forced fumbles in his career. Some of these numbers are sure to interest teams:

Flowers' athleticism is on display here.

Antonio Simmons EDGE Georgia Tech

Simmons entered the 2017 season with just two career sacks, but racked up 5.5 in 2017. He's not really been on draft radars, though, although numbers like these will have some teams showing interest:

Jeremy Reaves S South Alabama

Reaves had a great game in the senior bowl, impressing with his coverage abilities. However, as the headline act at South Alabama's pro day, his workout numbers were disappointing:

Here's Reaves with an opportunistic interception in the senior bowl, along with an athletic return:

via GIPHY

Jalen Davis CB Utah State

Davis is a playmaker who had four sacks and five interceptions, three of which he returned for touchdowns, in 2017. He's also had success as a slot defender. He ran a good 40-time at his pro day, but the rest of his results were not good, especially his agility numbers, which you'd expect him to be keen to perform well in:

Ben Niemann OLB Iowa

Niemann was a player often employed in the slot by Iowa and there were initial reports that suggested he had performed well at his pro day. As you can see, though, the official numbers, apart from his three cone drill, were disappointing:

Joe Ostman EDGE Central Michigan

Ostman was one of the most productive pass rushers in the country with 19 tackles for loss including 13 sacks and performed well at the East West Shrine Game but didn't get a combine invite. His pro day numbers were excellent:

Ostman shows his relentlessness on this sack:

via GIPHY

Later this week, we'll be looking at some of the combine invitees who either didn't work out or improved upon their combine numbers.