The NFL Scouting Combine is a week long event that is considered the holy grail of draft scouting, including all the top draft prospects as selected by NFL personnel. The event contains medical testing, position drills, and athletic measurable tests like the 40 yard dash.
On Wednesday the NFL officially released the list of 324 prospects who were invited to Indianapolis, including all the biggest names in the draft.
Since the event is invitation-only and highly selective, a number of well known prospects had to be left out. We’re taking a look at some of the biggest NFL Combine Snubs this season, along with some of the lower ranked players who were invited.
Unlike other websites, all 324 prospects who were invited to the 2022 NFL Combine were previously ranked by BNB Football’s Prospect Rankings, and we have a good idea of who is and isn’t a surprise to be invited.
NFL Combine Snubs by Position Group
Quarterback
Snubs: None.
Surprise Invites: None.
15 QBs were invited to the combine, and it surprisingly included the entirety of my Top 15 Quarterbacks Prospects at the time of writing this. That seriously never happens.
If I had to choose a name here, it would be Chase Garbers from Cal.
Garbers is my 16th ranked QB, and had a good showing at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl back in January.
Wide Receiver
Snubs: Jaivon Heiligh, Jaquarii Roberson, Jequez Ezzard, Tay Martin
Surprise Invites: Isaiah Weston, Johnny Johnson III
People will always have a variety of opinions about wide receivers, so I included a pretty long list of snubs here.
The biggest snub without a doubt was Coastal Carolina’s Jaivon Heiligh. I triple checked the list to make sure I wasn’t mistaken, as he was consistently in the top-25 WR list for everyone I saw online.
The 4th year player was 1st Team All-Conference this year, totaling 1128 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns, while also providing value as a return man.
Jaquarii Roberson was a dominant player at Wake Forest who totaled over 2000 yards across the past two seasons, and performed fairly well at the East-West Shrine Game.
He isn’t a big time athlete, nor does he have a particularly imposing build, but he was so consistent that many gave him a draftable grade. With ~256 players drafted each year and over 300 players at the combine, a draftable grade should be enough for an invite.
Jequez Ezzard of Sam Houston State had twitter ablaze with his performance at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, and looked absolutely impossible to tackle. While he’s undersized, his performance there seemed good enough to grab a combine spot.
Tay Martin from Oklahoma State had a 1000+ yard, 10 touchdown season which led up to a very solid performance in the East-West Shrine Game. He’s a willing blocker with a tall frame (6’3″) and plenty of productivity.
As for the surprises, I’m not exactly shocked by either Weston or Johnson making the Combine, but there were my lowest rated WR prospects who were invited.
Isaiah Weston had a great season for Northern Iowa and had a good week of practices at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, but didn’t appear to get as many positive reviews as Combine Snub Jequez Ezzard did during that game.
Johnny Johnson III meanwhile was an early bloomer for Oregon who really didn’t do anything these past two seasons, and again didn’t turn any heads at the NFLPA bowl.
Running Back
Snubs: TJ Pledger, Master Teague
Surprise Invites: Greg Bell
TJ Pledger wasn’t heavily used at Utah, but played very well when his number was called. As an Oklahoma transfer, he’s a high-pedigree player with a small but strong frame and good hands.
Pledger was a late addition to the Senior Bowl, and is the only offensive player at the Senior Bowl who wasn’t invited to the combine.
Master Teague isn’t overly surprising given the season he had, but considering he left Ohio State with two years of eligibility remaining, I’m sure he’s surprised he didn’t make the cut.
The 5’11” 225 pound running back is a bruiser who ran for 789 yards in 2019.
There were a couple running backs I personally am low on who made the invite list, but the only player I was really surprised to see was Greg Bell from San Diego State.
Bell has some athletic traits, but has an unusual frame for a running back at 6’0″ 200 pounds. He also benefitted from a great interior offensive line at SDSU, but only averaged 4.4 yards per carry.
Tight End
Snubs: Derrick Deese
Surprise Invites: Chigoziem Okonkwo
I had to double and triple check that Derrick Deese of San Jose State wasn’t on the invite list. The 6’4″ 235 pound isn’t a perfect prospect by any means, but I had seen him crack some top-5 tight end lists.
Deese recorded 730 receiving yards, which accounted for over 1/4 of his team’s production through the air. He attended the East-West Shrine Game and showed good athleticism over the middle.
Chig Okonkwo is someone I’ve seen quite a bit of, and he just hasn’t impressed me. He isn’t necessarily a shock to be included at the combine, but I thought a number of players such as Deese, Lucas Krull, Trae Barry, or even Andrew Ogletree would be better additions.
Offensive Line
Snubs: Jean Delance, Josh Sills, Nick Ford
Surprise Invites: Andrew Rupcich, Obinna Eze, Ja’Tyre Carter
Jean Delance isn’t someone I’m super high on, but the former Florida Gator performed very well at the East-West Shrine Game. The right tackle showed good power and a powerful grip, while having enough length to stick on the outside.
Josh Sills is probably my favorite guard who was snubbed from the NFL combine. The 6’6″ 325 pounder played multiple positions for Oklahoma State, and was a two time 1st Team All-Conference selection.
He played solid at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, and has enough size to be a versatile reserve at the next level.
9 centers were invited to the combine, and Nick Ford was my 5th ranked prospect post-Bowl season. I knew I had him ranked higher than mot, but I didn’t expect him to fail to get an invite.
The 6’5″ 315 pound lineman played every position, and like Kirkland, was also a 1st Team All-Pac12 selection.
Only one offensive lineman was particularly surprising to me, but I’ve included 3 names here.
I watched quite a bit of Andrew Rupcich at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, and he looked fine. Rupcich played left tackle at an NAIA school called Culver-Stockton. At 6’7″ 305 pounds, he primarily played left guard at the NFLPA bowl, and showed decent mobility and strength.
Still, I hadn’t heard much buzz around his name, and NAIA players are extremely rare in the NFL. In fact, only 2 of the 2583 active NFL players are from NAIA schools. By comparison, 4 current players went to schools who didn’t even have a football program at the time they attended (they all played basketball). I’m rooting for him, but it was surprising.
Obinna Eze has intriguing physical tools and quite a bit of experience, he just has really bad technique which hurt him at TCU and at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl.
Finally, I’m really not too surprised Ja’Tyre Carter made the Combine considering he was at the Senior Bowl. He was one of the least impressive players all week, and didn’t seem to have the technique or power to play in the NFL.
I’ll admit it though, offensive line isn’t my strong suit. But I definitely thought the 4 combine snubs listed above were more worthy of an invite.
Defensive Line
Snubs: Eric Johnson
Surprise Invites: Marquan McCall, Kalia Davis, Jonathan Ford
They say that NFL Draft evaluation has multiple stages: All-Star Games, the Combine, and then Pro Days. Eric Johnson of Missouri State was as dominant as anyone in the All-Star Game stage, and shot up everyone’s boards. Apparently the NFL was late to the party.
Johnson put up a dominant performance in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, and was a late Senior Bowl invite who also performed very well during practices there. He has the size and athleticism needed to be a productive interior defensive lineman in the NFL.
I’m not the biggest fan of the defensive tackles this year, and I would have rather McCall, Davis, and Ford be left out in exchange for some prospects at stronger position groups.
Marquan McCall (Kentucky) was my lowest ranked player at the combine, but will definitely be interesting to watch. The 6’3″ 380 pound nose guard is the definition of a space eater, but that’s about it.
Kalia Davis of UCF showed a lot of potential early in his career, but has only played 5 games over the past two seasons. He suffered a knee injury in October, and likely won’t be available for drills.
Jonathan Ford from played decently at the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, but was very unproductive for Miami this past season. While he has a big frame at 6’5″ 315 pounds, his lack of production is a major concern.
Edge
Snubs: Owen Carney?
Surprise Invites: None.
The group of edge rushers this year is very strong, and there wasn’t anyone I was surprised to see get invited. I also wouldn’t really consider anyone a big combine snub.
Owen Carney (Illinois), Tyler Johnson (Arizona State), and Tomon Fox (North Carolina) were my 3 highest rated edge rushers without an invite, but all of those guys I have rated higher than most, so I can’t be too surprised.
Carney is someone I really like, and he showed his power at the Hula Bowl. He needs some refinement, but the 6’3″ 270 pound outside linebacker has an NFL-ready frame and good athleticism for his size.
Linebacker
Snubs: Diego Fagot, Carson Wells, James Houston
Surprise Invites: Isaiah Graham-Mobley, Jake Hansen
I heard some rumblings that NFL team scouts weren’t too happy with the East-West Shrine Game setup this year, and we’re starting to see the effects here.
Diego Fagot is get another guy who dominated at the Shrine Game, but failed to get an invite. The linebacker from Navy totaled 94 tackles and 11 tackles for loss this past year, and has a strong NFL frame at 6’3″ 240.
He has some scheme versatility, and diagnoses players very fast.
Carson Wells has an insanely productive last two seasons at Colorado. While he’s definitely a tweener, Wells has good strength at 6’4″ 245 pounds. He totaled 29.5 tackles for loss over the past two seasons despite only playing 6 games in 2020.
His production in 2020 was undeniable, yet the NFL has remained pretty cold on him.
James Houston is another guy with insane productivity this past season at Jackson State. The Florida transfer absolutely dominated his competition, totaling 24.5 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks.
He’d need to adjust to a different role in the NFL since he’s undersized to be an edge rusher, but Houston has the athleticism and work ethic to do it.
As for the surprise invitations, Isaiah Graham-Mobley was the main one. His production this past season was very lacking, and he only got to play in 9 games over his 2019 and 2020 seasons combined.
Jake Hansen of Illinois is the type of guy a college team loves, but NFL teams don’t really need. An old school mike linebacker with good tackling ability but a lack of speed.
Hansen was very productive, but doesn’t have the elite physical traits that make you stand out from all the other highly productive inside linebackers.
Safety
Snubs: Sterling Weatherford
Surprise Invites: None.
21 safeties were invited to the combine, and all of them were in my top 25. There wasn’t really a huge combine snub or surprise here.
That being said, hybrid LB/S Sterling Weatherford would be the biggest surprise to most.
While he wasn’t my top ranked uninvited player, Weatherford was extremely productive in college and played at the Senior Bowl.
At 6’4″ 215 pounds, he has intriguing size and a unique skillset.
Cornerback
Snubs: Matt Hankins, Ja’Quan McMillian
Surprise Invites: Sam Webb, Damarion “Pepe” Williams
Matt Hankins was one of the absolute biggest NFL combine snubs in 2022, having received some All-America recognition for this play this past season.
The 5th year corner has three productive seasons at Iowa, including 6 interceptions over that span. He has solid size and enough athleticism to stick outside in the NFL.
Ja’Quan McMillian is also an interesting prospect. While he’s very undersized to stick outside, he was insanely productive with 21 passes defended and 5 interceptions this past season for East Carolina.
McMillian was a 3rd year player who entered the draft early, and also received All-America attention for his play this past year.
He wasn’t considered a big time prospect despite his production, but I’m still surprised he didn’t get the chance to show how he stacks up against the other top players.
As for surprises, Sam Webb was by far my lowest ranked corner to receive an invite. The D2 product didn’t play in 2020, and failed to grab an interception in 10 games this year.
The talent is clearly there, however, and he has size at 6’2″.
Damarion “Pepe” Williams was also a surprise to me. He will likely play in the slot at the next level given his size and tackling ability. I hadn’t heard any significant buzz around his name at the East-West Shrine Game, and he was clearly outplayed this past season by fellow American Athletic cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian.
Specialists
Snubs: None.
Surprise Invites: None.
I was happy with the list of kickers, punters, and long snappers.
If I had to invite one more it would be pnter Ryan Wright from Tulane or Adam Korsak from Rutgers.
At kicker, Jonathan Garibay could have also gotten consideration.
Also congratulations to long snapper Cal Adomitis – as expected he is the only snapper at the combine, so all eyes will be on him!
Let me know your biggest 2022 NFL Combine Snub in the comments below!
