INDIANAPOLIS — For teams in need of wide receivers — and we’re looking especially at you, Jets — Sunday’s proceedings here at NFL Scouting Combine must have felt a bit like Christmas morning.
While 40-yard dash times obviously aren’t the sole measure of a receiver, there were more than enough speedy displays at Lucas Oil Stadium to leave every club with holes at that spot even more confident of filling them in the upcoming draft.
That would seem to be great news especially for the Jets, who have the 18th overall pick and could use an influx of pass-catching playmakers more than just about any team in the league.
This year’s receiver class already was being billed as one of the deepest and most talented in years even before anyone arrived in Indianapolis, and Sunday’s combine workouts merely served to underscore that as disappointing performances were rare and outright flops non-existent.
Much of the attention was focused on Clemson’s Sammy Watkins, who tightened his stranglehold on the top spot in the consensus receiver rankings with a terrific show on the track and in the broad jump.
The 6-foot-1, 211-pound Watkins didn’t “shock the world” as he had promised going in, but scouts were still wowed when he ran the 40 in 4.34 seconds and then a second time at 4.37 seconds.
Combine officials later revised that to an official time of 4.43 seconds, but that didn’t keep the raves from piling up for a player — unfortunately for the Jets — now expected to be a top-five selection.
NFL Network draft analyst Gil Brandt, the Cowboys’ former longtime personnel director, even said Watkins is now good enough to be among seven players in contention for the No. 1 overall pick.
“Sammy Watkins was head and shoulders above every other wide receiver today,” Brandt said, noting Watkins also had the fifth-best broad jump of any receiver at 10 feet, 6 inches.
Two potential impact receivers that could be available to the Jets at No. 18 (or the Giants at No. 12, although Big Blue are expected to go for offensive-line help in the first round) also helped themselves — USC’s Marqise Lee and Mike Evans of Texas A&M.
Lee was slower than expected in the 40 at 4.52 seconds — prompting a look of disbelief from former USC coach and current Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, caught by the NFL Network cameras — but made up for it with a broad jump of 10 feet, 7 inches, third-best among receivers.
“He didn’t run as fast as I thought he might, but I’m still impressed with the USC kid,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said.
The 6-5, 213-pound Evans is arguably the most realistic receiver choice for the Jets at No. 18, assuming they don’t trade up or take pass-catching North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron, who also boosted his stock Sunday with a faster-than-expected 40 time of 4.53 seconds.
There had been fears Evans — Johnny Manziel’s favorite target in college — would run a 4.7 or worse, but he had been working diligently with a speed coach and proved any skeptics wrong.
But even if the Jets miss out on all three, analysts say they will have plenty of chances to make up for it during the draft.
“This is a draft that, truthfully, could go four rounds deep at receiver,” NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said.
A running back — Kent State’s Dri Archer — turned in the fastest 40 time of any player Sunday and nearly broke Titans running back Chris Johnson’s combine record in the process.
Archer clocked an official 4.28 in the 40, just shy of the 4.26 that Johnson ran at the combine in 2004.
Among the quarterbacks that ran Sunday, Manziel’s effort was the most closely watched because of his scrambling style and concerns about his size. He ran under 4.6 seconds twice, although combine officials later revised it to an official time of 4.68 seconds.
Michael Sam got off to a slow start in combine workouts Sunday, managing to bench press 225 pounds just 17 times. That was the third-worst performance by a defensive lineman, and seven receivers lifted more.