Winners and losers from the 2016 NFL scouting combine

Now that the combine is in the rear-view mirror, we can take a look at how the 2016 NFL draft and free agency were shaped by what happened in Indianapolis. After talking to teams, taking note of what happened on the field during drills and workouts and what occurred behind closed doors in medical evaluations and interviews, here are our winners and losers from the week that was.

WINNERS

North Dakota State QB Carson Wentz — “A little arrogance … and I loved it,” one personnel director said of interviewing the NDSU prospect in Indy. “It was natural. The kid was who he is. You just could tell we were not scaring him up there.” Strong impressions in interviews combined with a very good on-field workout means that Wentz is the favorite to go to the Cleveland Browns with the second pick in the draft until further notice, although the strong workout of Cal’s Jared Goff will make this a fun derby that will continue to play out over the coming weeks.

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Mississippi State QB Dak Prescott — “Someone is going to love this kid,” a quarterback coach told Shutdown Corner. “Can own the room. He impressed us.” And even with a few errant throws, his performance in the QB drills was considered very good. Combine that with a strong final year in college and a solid Senior Bowl week, Prescott could go off the board as early as the second round. We know of one contender who is very interested in him as a two- or three-year development pick.

San Diego Chargers — Two reasons: One, Florida State’s Jalen Ramsey blew the roof off Lucas Oil Stadium with his workout and UCLA’s Myles Jack gave enough positive hope medically, that it provides two more trade-up candidates for the No. 3 pick, along with Goff. The Chargers could opt to slide down (they’ve made it known they want to), and add more much-needed ammo. The Cowboys pick next and have to be worried that Carson Wentz will go second and that another team could vault them into San Diego’s spot. A defensive starter or offensive lineman should be there for them a few spots lower if a trade market emerges.

Jack — Offered up a college scouting director: “He was awesome. Super serious and businesslike. Grown man, bro.” Jack impressed in interviews and appears to be well ahead of the curve medically after his torn ACL cut short his 2015 season. It would not be a surprise at all if he goes in the top five picks, and there’s little chance he’ll make it past the Miami Dolphins at eight.

[NFL free agency starts March 9. Here are Shutdown Corner’s free-agency rankings for offensive players and for defensive players and specialists.]

Indiana OT Jason Spriggs — He tested through the roof, and in a somewhat crowded OT field Spriggs helped himself immensely. To the right team that seeks long, athletic left tackles with stamina, Spriggs might be assured of being a top-50 pick now, and perhaps a late first-rounder to the right team (Denver Broncos?).

Georgia RB Keith Marshall — As much as running the fastest 40-yard dash for an offensive player, Marshall also did well for himself by showing he had no lingering effects from a 2013 torn ACL. One evaluator compared him to Lamar Miller in terms of pedigree, measurables, speed and limited college opportunities and said Marshall could have a similar profile in the NFL.

Clemson DE Shaq Lawson — It was a good week for Lawson, who tested better than Eastern Kentucky’s Noah Spence, the man with whom he might be competing for top honors among edge rushers. Lawson’s short shuttle (4.21 seconds) is a good indicator of his explosiveness, and he nailed the positional drills, too.

Louisville DT Sheldon Rankins — It has been up, up, up for Rankins since season’s end, parlaying a strong week at the Senior Bowl (he worked over Missouri OG Connor McGovern multiple times in Mobile, and for perspective McGovern earned praise in Indy for his field work and athleticism) into a very good combine. Rankins looks like a sure-fire first-rounder now, even in a deep well of DL talent.

Oklahoma DE Charles Tapper — Turned in some shockingly good workout numbers, to the point where scouts feel they have to go back to the tape to reevaluate him. At 271 pounds, Tapper moved gracefully. Two Sooners teammates, Eric Striker and Dom Alexander, also singled out Tapper as an unquestioned team leader in interviews with Shutdown Corner.

Oklahoma State DE Emmanuel Ogbah — Like Tapper, it’s time to go back to the tape with Ogbah. His sack production was consistent in college, but there were some gaps in his series-to-series effectiveness. Still, with his on-field effort and better-than-anticipated athleticism, Ogbah should be locked into the 25-50 range.

Ramsey — An absolutely stellar workout. “He’s the best DB in this class, and it’s not close,” the college director said. Safety? Corner? He’ll appeal to teams seeking both, with scheme diversity. This was not quite a Patrick Peterson-level combine performance, but it wasn’t far off either.

Houston CB William Jackson III — He might have put himself into the back end of Round 1 with a strong on-field performance, not just with the athletic drills but also with the field work, looking fluid in his backpedal and flipping his hips with ease. After skipping the Senior Bowl, Jackson’s stock is back on the rise.

LOSERS

WR-needy teams — Talking to two different teams in Indianapolis, it’s clear that the league is depressed with the lack of wide receiver talent available this offseason. First, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock asked what many were thinking: Where’s the speed in this draft class? Then, on Monday, the expected happened: Alshon Jeffery was tagged. No shock, but no help for teams looking for anything more than a complementary wideout. This means that the free-agent market for Travis Benjamin and Marvin Jones will be that much stronger and that the draft stocks of Laquon Treadwell and Josh Doctson, who performed well in Indy, are quite stable with teams’ needs at the position likely remaining high in April.

Ohio State QB Cardale Jones — After a solid start to his workouts, he pulled a hamstring in his second 40-yard dash attempt and was unable to complete the workout — including the throwing portion. Jones’ arm strength is unquestioned, but his mechanics and footwork have been parsed by scouts. “If there was one guy who needed a good workout,” the QB coach said, “it was him.” Jones now has until March 13 to get healed up for OSU’s pro day or risk missing out on some scouts getting to see him work out before the draft.

Penn State QB Christian Hackenberg — “I felt bad watching him throw because he’s a competitive guy,” the QB coach said. “You could tell he wanted to go out there and do well. It was just so hot and cold, and that’s what you see [on tape] with him. There were two Big Ten guys [along with Wisconsin’s Joel Stave] who struggled. But this guy, you hear the name [and] you expected better.” Added the college director: “Hack made excuses for bad play [in a team interview]. I didn’t like that.”

San Francisco 49ers — Entering the week they looked to be in good shape with the seventh pick, and they made a strong statement of support for Colin Kaepernick’s return. All signs pointed to Kaepernick and Chip Kelly working together, and it gave hope that the team might actually be in solid hands at quarterback. Then the next day, Kaepernick’s camp requested a trade, throwing everything up in the air again. What in the heck could they get for him? Not much, the league seems to feel. The timing of the whole thing was bad. Combine that with the groundswell for two quarterbacks possibly being drafted in the first four picks, and the 49ers — owners of the seventh overall choice — appear to be in a bit of a pickle here. Tough week for the Niners.

Mississippi State WR De’Runnya Wilson — “That was just rough,” the scouting director said of Wilson’s workout, even while noting his impressive stature at nearly 6-foot-5. With 40-yard dashes of 4.90 and 4.85, Wilson was painfully slow, and his jumping drills were not good either. “His quarterback [Prescott] is faster than he is,” the director said. “He shouldn’t have come out [early].”

Florida WR Demarcus Robinson — Two different teams dinged the receiver for bad interviews. “He was horrible, the worst we had this year” a college director texted. Another added: “We pushed him a little on the suspensions [four over the course of three years under two head coaches], and he pushed right back. Not what you wanted to hear.” Robinson turned in good times in the three-cone drill and the 60-yard shuttle but middle-of-the-pack numbers elsewhere. It’s not the most exciting receiver class in recent draft history, but there’s a solid middle class, and Robinson’s character red flags could get him lost in the shuffle.

Notre Dame LB Jaylon Smith — It’s hard to imagine Smith going in the first round, which is certainly where he would have been drafted without the disastrous knee injury he suffered in the Fiesta Bowl. In fact, he could be pushed down the way South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore was in 2013, sliding to the late fourth round. An evaluator in the room watching Smith’s knee be looked at said it was clearly still in bad shape just from the way he winced and struggled to move it easily. The April medical recheck will be huge for Smith, but at this point it’s becoming more likely that the 2016 season will have to be written off.

Ole Miss DT Robert Nkemdiche — Despite an impressive on-field workout that displayed his athletic gifts for such a big man, Nkemdiche’s troublesome media interview had scouts seeking more information on his background and questioning the player’s honesty and accountability. In it, he admitted to being a lazy player at times despite possessing rare athletic traits and also said that no one took the fall for there being marijuana (which he said he wasn’t using) in a hotel room (that he fell out of) under his name. “Flat out can’t trust him,” the director said plainly.

Tight ends — “It’s a bad group,” the college director said. Although Arkansas’ Hunter Henry might be the best of the group, he opted not to work out. It might actually have helped in that the rest of the group looked so blah. But overall, this is not the year to need a young, developmental tight end, it appears.

Ohio State DT Adolphus Washington — Looked sluggish in workouts and turned in below-average times for a player who marketed himself to the media as an interior pass rusher and gap shooter.Heck, in an amusing moment, even teammate Joey Bosa said he forgot Washington was in Indy last week. Although Washington was up front about his suspension for solicitation, and one scout did indicate that his team’s background work indicated that it might have been an out-of-character incident for Washington, he added that “he did come off as a little coached up on what to say.”

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm