INDIANAPOLIS — As general manager of the Los Angeles Rams, Les Snead knows his division-champion team does not need an elite running back in the draft. Not when the Rams already have Todd Gurley, the NFL offensive player of the year in 2017.
But that didn’t prevent him from marveling at the performance of Saquon Barkley, a former Penn State running back who easily has been the most impressive player at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“It’s always fun when you’re watching a player and you know there’s no chance he’s getting to you,” said Snead, whose team has the 23rd pick in the April draft. “You sit back and go, ‘Wow, this guy’s just fun to watch.’ He did some amazing things.”
According to NFL Research, Barkley ran a faster 40-yard dash than former special-teams speedster Devin Hester (4.43), did one more rep in the 225-pound bench press (29) than Cleveland Browns’ All-Pro tackle Joe Thomas and had a higher vertical jump (41.5 inches) than Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (38.5).
In fact, he is the only player at the combine to do more than 25 reps on the bench press and have a vertical jump of more than 40 inches, according to NFL Research. The only player to do that a year ago was defensive end Myles Garrett, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
“No surprise,” said former Penn State tight end Mike Gesicki, who is putting on his own dazzling performance at the combine. “I don’t think anybody was surprised. They just wanted to put the video up on Twitter and get some retweets.”
Gesicki has been the Saquon Barkley of tight ends in two days of testing at the combine. A former basketball and volleyball player, he tied for the fastest 40 time (4.54), had the best vertical jump by 3½ inches (41 inches) and was second with 22 reps on the bench press.
He easily outperformed all the other 16 tight ends at the combine in the broad jump (10 feet, 9 inches), three-cone drill (6.76), 10-yard shuttle (4.10) and 60-yard shuttle (11.33).
It was just confirmation of what he did his final two seasons at Penn State when he used his athleticism to catch 105 passes for 1,242 yards and 14 touchdowns, many by going over top of defenders with his great leaping ability. Video of Gesicki jumping over bodies and dunking a basketball have gone viral on social media.
“That’s something that I take a lot of pride in,” Gesicki said. “When the ball’s in the air, I consider it mine. I don’t believe in the whole 50-50 ball. It’s more of, from my perspective, 80/20, in that range.
“Growing up, I played a whole lot of basketball. In high school, I played volleyball. Jumping has always come pretty natural for me, and it’s only improved as time’s gone on. It’s something that I’ve been able to implement into my game on the field.”
Before the injury to Ryan Shazier and the late-season development of Vance McDonald, Gesicki might have been a possible choice for the Steelers in the first round. He could line up inside or outside and give Ben Roethlisberger an athletic deep threat down the field, something they were hoping to add when they signed Ladarius Green two years ago.
The Steelers have more pressing needs now, particularly on defense.
“To be honest, growing up, I thought I would be the next Vince Carter in basketball,” Gesicki said, referring to the former North Carolina star who has played more than 20 seasons in the NBA. “That was my thing — I’m just going to dunk on people, I’m going to keep playing basketball. And my coach told me, ‘Hey, man, let’s try you at wide receiver.’ We were going to a 7-on-7. I was like, All right, yeah, we’ll give it a shot.
“I got there and it turns out I like catching touchdowns. It’s fun.”
First Published: March 4, 2018, 8:14 p.m.
