2022 Combine Risers & Fallers

The 2022 NFL Combine arrived with little fanfare and ended with a healthy amount of buzz.

Identifying rising and falling players at any given time can be a subjective and difficult exercise. As always, I try to steer clear of popular opinion and fear of backlash and, instead, focus on not only my own objective analysis but also insight from trusted sources around the league. It's not always easy to remove bias, but it's so essential so as not to create our own reality, as I like to say.

Prior to this year's underwear Olympics, dynasty coaches were down on the incoming rookie class. Quarterbacks and tight ends are far from inspiring or intriguing, the running back group was seen as thin beyond the top two names and while the receivers had created some excitement, the position was also seen as generally weak. Following the Combine, some measure of enthusiasm and intrigue has returned.

I would be lying if I said I, also, wasn't down on the 2022 class. But I'm also a realist. Fully understanding that, despite the perceived weakness when compared to recent draft classes, this class is certain to have difference-making players who will become some of tomorrow's superstars.

My thoughts haven't changed related to tight end and quarterbacks but part of that is based upon my normal operating M.O. of tight ends - I nearly always fade the position. As far as the quarterbacks, I'm still much lower on the position than previous years but as we're speaking about a position which normally doesn't leave the board until the middle of the second-round outside of the superflex format, I'm not overly concerned.

Let's turn our attention to those players who turned in notable performances during the 2022 NFL Combine.