Ole Miss Football: Recap of each Rebels’ performance at the NFL Combine
Ole Miss Football had five players invited to this year’s NFL Combine, while only four participated due to an injury sustained by running back Zach Evans prior to the event.
The 2023 NFL Combine took place this past weekend in Indianapolis. Beginning last Thursday it started with the defensive linemen and linebackers going through measurements and drills and concluded on Sunday with the offensive linemen and running backs.
Ole Miss football had five players represented although only four took part in the events after running back Zach Evans sustained an injury. Here we will list how each player measured up and if they helped or hurt their draft stock.
Jonathan Mingo, WR
Jonathan Mingo is one of the typical wideouts many have come to know from Ole Miss, cut from a similar cloth, at least athletically, as players such as DK Metcalf and AJ Brown.
A big, physical receiver he is more athletic than he should be for his size, and NFL scouts have come to love those types of receivers over the last few years.
Mingo didn’t disappoint in his combine performance and likely helped his draft stock mightily, running a 4.46 40-yard dash and posting a 39.5-inch vertical.
He followed that up with an impressive 10’ 9” broad jump and 22 reps on the bench press which was good enough for second overall amongst the wide receivers. Overall Mingo had one of the better showings in his position and his physical traits will likely take precedence over his lack of career production with NFL scouts.
Malik Heath, WR
In contrast to the impressive showing by fellow wide receiver Jonathan Mingo, Malik Heath didn’t do much to raise his draft stock this weekend.
Heath’s showing was slightly disappointing although his production will hopefully keep his draft stock from plummeting. Heath posted a 4.64 40-yard dash, 34” vertical jump, and 10’4 broad jump.
Most of these numbers were towards the bottom for the wide receiver position but the good news for Heath is football games aren’t won in tights.
Tavius Robinson, DE
At 6’6, and 257 pounds, Robinson has the size that NFL scouts will no doubt love. He didn’t hurt himself either with a strong combine performance this weekend.
Robinson ran a 4.66 40-yard dash with a 33.5-inch vert and put up 23 reps on the bench press. While those numbers may not jump off the page, his 40 time was better than expected, just .02 off of Malik Heath’s time who is significantly smaller in size and it was one of the better times of the day for his position.
Nick Broeker, OL
Measurements like the 40-yard dash or the broad jump aren’t great tools to measure the offensive line position, but the 10-yard split and bench press are better indicators of an offensive lineman’s athleticism.
Broeker ran a rather average 10-yard split time at 1.84 seconds and he did not participate in the bench press. The Ole Miss football offensive lineman prospect is still expected to be a mid-round pick.
Zach Evans, RB
Running back Zach Evans was the last Rebel invited to this year’s NFL Combine but the top prospect did not participate in any events due to an ongoing injury issue.
Evans will also not participate in the Rebels’ pro day on March 23rd. While Evans was expected to be a second-day draft prospect, his chances could be slipping with injury concerns.