The 2016 NFL Scouting Combine had many strong offensive line performances, but Jason Spriggs of Indiana might have had a performance that will guarantee he goes very high in the 2016 NFL draft.
There were lots of offensive line performances that I am salivating to analyze from the Scouting Combine this week, but the one I felt most compelled to write about was Jason Spriggs.
The 6’6″, 301-pound tackle prospect out of Indiana first caught my attention watching him open big holes for Tevin Coleman last year.
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Spriggs’ combine performance was the icing on the cake for me though. He tested like a franchise left tackle prospect, and I will show you why he may go a lot higher than many NFL draft analysts expected him to go.
Physical Measures
The first place to start is purely physical measures. According to Mike Loyko’s Combine spreadsheet Spriggs had 34 1/8 inch arm length and 10 1/8 inch hand size.
Both measures are above average and way above the threshold of long-term starting to quality NFL offensive tackles. And that is in addition to Spriggs being 6-6 which hits the threshold of 6-6 or higher offensive tackles who made up 83 percent of the multiple All-Pro tackles since 1996.
Being long and tall is a must at tackle in the NFL. And Spriggs hit every physical measure for that.
Athletic Testing
Next up is athletic testing for Spriggs where starting with the bench he maxed out 31 reps at 225 pounds. Based on a sample size of over 897 offensive linemen since 1998 Spriggs hit the 20 rep or higher threshold for long-term starters to All-Pro tackles.
And then we get to the explosion/speed/dynamic speed tests where he hit it out of the park. Spriggs hit the 83 percentile in explosive lower body strength that uses the vertical and broad jump measured against mass density.
He also hit the 91.66 percentile in terms of speed for his size measured against offensive line peers since 1998. And he was in the 87.5 dynamic speed percentile against his offensive line peers as well.
All are above average marks and the company of offensive tackles he tested with is very good.
Spriggs in many ways tested like a more explosive version of Jake Matthews.He has high end speed and dynamic speed type of offensive tackle where those two traits perform very well long-term.
The one area where Spriggs needs to improve upon though is inside counters. Spriggs needs to get NFL coaching and all of the issues he has with inside moves can be fixed.
If I’m a team like the Carolina Panthers who suffer from very nonathletic pass protectors. I’m grabbing Spriggs all day long late first, but in a weaker overall class like this year.
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These numbers could propel Spriggs into the upper half of the first. That’s not where I value Spriggs on my board. However, NFL teams often think about upside and potential over the tape at times.
How high do you believe Spriggs will go based on this Combine performance? And where do you have Spriggs slotted in the NFL?