Laumea and Bishop score well at combine

[ProudUte]

Bishop had a good forty time of 4.45. Vaki did not score well and had a slow forty time of 4.62. This surprised me. I saw Vaki make some great runs this last year where no one could catch him.

Bishop probably helped himself. I see him possibly drafted in the second round.

[MDUte]

Bishop made himself some nice cash yesterday. I saw that draft boards have him projected in the 2nd round.

[The Miami Ute]

What draft boards are you looking at? PFF has him going somwhere in the mid-5th RD or so. By the same token, PFF has Vaki going late in the 3rd RD.

[MDUte]

Sorry, didn’t mean to suggest I’m seeing actual boards. Just articles online (like below) as well as tweets rumoring Bishop shot up draft boards and could go as high as in the 2nd round due to his strong showing at the Combine.
Cole Bishop Skyrockets Draft Stock with Stellar NFL Combine Performance

[MDUte]

And this article on Rivals suggest Cole has risen to the 2nd round to no later than an early 3rd round draft pick.
Utah’s Bishop Stars Among 2024 NFL Combine Safeties

[The Miami Ute]

I’m not saying that Bishop hasn’t improved his draft stock but I’d be leery of using this article as the source. I mean, it identifies some unknown player in a photo as Bishop and the article, by some guy I’ve never heard of, reads like it’s been written by Chat AI. What draft report on a safety have you ever read that positively gushes about the player’s catching ability as if he was a WR?

[krindor]

PFF tends to operate quite differently from the consensus at times. Which can absolutely be useful – nice to get a different perspective instead of just a thousand voices rehashing the same info – but I’d also be careful taking them as representative

[Uteanooga]

Bishop is made to play safety and is going to have a long career. Vaki is going to be a steal for someone. He is just as explosive as ever despite the combine numbers.

[UtesRule]

What did Laumea do? You mention him in the title but nothing in the body of the message.

[Utah]

Man, I didn’t think Bishop would fly up the boards, but with his speed, he will go a lot higher than we think. Especially since that white guy from Iowa is looking like he’s a safety at the next level…when you compare DeJean to Bishop…Bishop is clearly the better safety.

Vaki…Vaki, Vaki, Vaki. He killed himself yesterday. He did not test well at all. Holy cow. I thought he’d run a 4.4 and be big…he ended up looking slow and un-athletic. Dude should have 100% come back to Utah. Hopefully he just had a bad day because if that is who he is…he made a big mistake leaving.

[RustyShackleford]

His age is a factor. If he goes undrafted he should have stayed and made a big NIL deal

[RedRocks]

If he goes undrafted, can he come back?

[MDUte]

Vele posted a 4.48 40! He definitely helped his draft stock rise today.

[MDUte]

No, once you enter the draft you lose any remaining eligibility. If you are not drafted or selected by a team you are not able to play another college season.

[Central Coast Ute]

I thought that changed now, or are they just discussing it?

[voxnihili]

My understanding it that players can ask the advisory committee for a grade (either first two rounds or stay in school) but if they go through the full draft process, they will lose their remaining college eligibility. From the NFL Football Operations website:

The NFL encourages most underclassmen to finish their college eligibility and earn a degree while maturing as a professional prospect. Participating in the Draft means that an underclassman loses his remaining eligibility: If he is not selected by an NFL team, he will not be able to play another college season and he will not be able to improve his draft standing for the following year’s draft.

[//r00t4Utes]

Vaki did well on the bench, i think he had the 3rd most reps.

I also wonder if he’ll run the 40 at Pro Day to try and improve it cause game tape shows he is faster than that. Watching the replay, it looked like he was slow getting out of the blocks.

[HATUman]

I wish Vaki would have stuck around for one more year. I think he could have used a little more development before heading to the league.

[Uteanooga]

This article about the waning importance of the 40 is interesting. Puka ran a 4.57 but logged the fastest top speed by GPS.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39632786/xavier-worthy-nfl-combine-40-yard-dash-becoming-obsolete

On the other hand- there is no denying that a player can move quickly when they post a fast 40. Looking at the safety results- everyone faster than Cole is significantly lighter than him. Interestingly the prospect with the highest NFL-player grade did not run the 40 and the #2 player was pretty slow at 4.65.

https://www.nfl.com/combine/tracker/participants/saf/all-colleges/

It is easy to see why Cole’s performance is generating buzz. We all know his is a fantastic player and I expect his NFL production to be very good.

[highlandute7]

The 40 is also straight-line speed. Vaki proved during the season that he is faster than that with his quick cuts and breaks. I would assume NFL scouts would understand and see this as this is not just about straight-line speed.

[Utegator]

Yes, its the underwear olympics. Vaki has great vision, and can break ankles. Thats why he’s so great.

[DataUte]

He’s got the circle, triangle, AND flick left/right moves.