Biggest risers and fallers from the 2023 NFL Combine

Interior O-line

UCLA's Jon Gaines II

Riser: Jon Gaines II, UCLA

There wasn’t really as obvious a choice on interior. I thought LSU’s Anthony Bradford moved around really well during the on-field workout and was tied for the second-best 10-yard split among the interior O-line. Alabama’s Emil Ekiyor continues to have a strong predraft process after showing the flexibility to play C at the Senior Bowl. Just with the burst out of his stance and how well-coordinated he looked in drills, even though he didn’t test at all.

Yet, I would be remiss not to talk about a guy who I haven’t studied yet, but definitely will now, and that’s UCLA G Jon Gaines II.

I’m very familiar with the play of the other Bruin guard Atonio Mafi – who I highlighted after an awesome Shrine Bowl week and I thought was a massive combine snub. But I didn’t actively watch Gaines even, because based on consensus rankings, he’s currently projected to go undrafted. That probably changes after the way he dominated the testing in Indy.

Clemson’s Jordan McFadden is labeled as a guard on NFL.com, but considering he always played tackle in college, I will just count him as such, which would give Gaines the best time in the 40-yard dash among the IOL, just one-hundredth of a second over the 5-second mark.

His 1.73 10-yard split was tops for the group. So were the 32.5-inch vert and 9-6 broad jump, and he also had the best times of all offensive linemen in both the agility drills, with the 4.45 in the 20-yard shuttle in particular being the best mark for any interior guy since James Daniels in 2018.

That explosiveness and ability to change directions also showed up on the field, with an elite mirror drill, and his footwork just looked so well-coordinated. So, I don’t mind at all going back to the UCLA O-line at all, and I’ll have my eyes locked on Gaines this time around before I give out any projections.

Oregon's T.J. Bass

Faller: Oregon’s T.J. Bass

This one was kind of rough to watch. Bass' 5.48 in the 40 was tied for second-worst in Indy, while the 1.86 10-yard split was just one-hundredth of a second better than the worst mark among the interior O-line. And his 28.5-inch vert wasn’t great either.

I thought on the field in what they refer to as the wave drill – where a coach gives him directions – Bass looked clunky in his transitions. You saw his heels click, and he just wasn’t able to move very well with sink in his hips. Turning the corner on pulls, there were some unnecessary steps and a lack of short-area burst that you’d like to see.

He also didn’t look really comfortable stopping his feet to take the direction off a coach, after coming around on lead- and skip-pulls. At least the mirror drill looked pretty balanced, but I’m not sure that if that was a twitchy interior rusher instead of a coach across from him, he would’ve been able to stay square to them with the ground he covers laterally.

He’s just a heavy-footed guy and I haven’t studied individual Oregon O-linemen, but there’s a lot of Day Three interior guys I like quite a bit. So, I have a tough time seeing him be a name that I’ll have high on my final rankings.

Washington’s Henry Bainivalu had the worst mark in the 40 and both the agility drills among players in Indy, but I thought he looked good in the on-field stuff. So, I won’t drag him too much for it.