NFL Combine 2019: Draft prospects who stood out

Noah Fant, TE, Iowa

As far as comparisons to his peers at the position go, Fant dominated the combine more than anybody this weekend. He led all tight ends with a 39.5-inch vertical and a 10’7” broad jump, he was two-tenths of a second fast than anybody else in the three-cone drill and he put up a blazing 4.5 flat 40-yard dash at 250 pounds.

That was right on par with the average number wide receivers ran, even though they were 45 pounds lighter on average. Outside of those mind-boggling numbers, Fant also had an excellent on-field workout, in which he moved around easily and caught the ball very well. I would probably still go with his teammate T.J. Hockenson as my tight-end number one at this point, because he is a badass in-line blocker who showed good athleticism in space as well in Indy, but those teams who are looking for somebody to play detached from the O-line and be a big slot receiver or even race past corners when split out wide, Fant is a really intriguing prospect.

In the end I see both those Iowa guys get selected in the first round and even Alabama’s Irv Smith could sneak into there, considering that he had a pretty good day as well and the clear drop-off after those three guys.