Written by Chip Patterson at CBSSports.com
The 2017 NFL Combine — or the “underwear Olympics,” if you prefer — will be the talk of the sports world over the next handful of days. Some of the top prospects will be in Indianapolis getting measured, timed and interviewed by the coaches and team officials that are responsible for making a selection in the 2017 NFL Draft. For a college football fan, it’s a teary-eyed weekend watching your favorite players move on to the next stage of their careers.
Every year, a few college football stars benefit from the NFL Combine’s focus on pure athleticism. Who could forget former UConn star Byron Jones setting a broad jump record in 2015 or Chris Johnson, then a star running back coming out of ECU, setting the 40-yard dash record in 2008 at 4.24 seconds, a mark that still stands today.
Fans of those schools probably saw it coming, but NFL fans surely didn’t. So with that in mind, we’re going to take a college perspective to breaking down the players to watch in this year’s combine.
Takk McKinley (UCLA DL): McKinley arrived at UCLA in 2014 after one season in junior college but didn’t start to break out until the middle of 2015. He finished this season as a first-team All-Pac-12 pick by the coaches. A former high school track star, McKinley started jumping up NFL Draft boards in October when scouts started to recognize his potential as a speed rusher from the outside.
Taywan Taylor (Western Kentucky, WR): Taylor’s straight-line speed made him one of the best deep threat wide receivers in college football over the last two years. He put up 1,730 receiving yards and totaled 17 touchdowns in WKU’s wide-open offensive attack this season and will be one of the players to watch for the 40-yard dash.
Kermit Whitfield (Florida State WR): Whitfield is probably the best bet to run the fastest 40-yard dash. I don’t know if the former Florida State speedster will be able to break Johnson’s time and win his own private island in the process, but his breakaway speed in special teams has been known to college football fans since this game-changing return against Auburn in the 2013 BCS Championship Game.
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