4 high-profile players falling down NFL Draft boards

The NFL Combine has caused many draft analysts to make edits to their evaluations. Here are four players falling down boards leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft.

Some talent evaluators like to pretend that the NFL Combine has very little to no bearing on their evaluation process. However, as we have seen over the years, that is not the case.

Each year following the NFL Combine, we see some pretty drastic changes to the big boards of draft experts. Many of these are players on the rise after spectacular performances, while others tend to slip if they don’t impress in shorts in Indianapolis. Here are four players who are currently sliding down boards prior to the 2022 NFL Draft:

EDGE George Karlaftis, Purdue

Most evaluators still think George Karlaftis is a first-round talent, but he’s hardly a lock top-10 player like some thought they would be early in the process. As smoother, more athletic players like Travon Walker, Jermaine Johnson, and David Ojabo continue to impress, Karlaftis becomes a bit of an afterthought.

The Purdue star was remarkable impressive as a freshman a few years back, but the hip stiffness we saw on tape showed up at the NFL Combine this year. Karlaftis is still a quality athlete, but dominant showings by a strong edge defender class have caused him to slip a bit.

WR Treylon Burks, Arkansas

Treylon Burks was in contention for WR1 this year entering the Combine, but he didn’t put up the impressive numbers talent evaluators were hoping for. Despite hitting remarkable top speeds on the radar gun, Burks ran an official 4.55 40-yard dash this year, and his vertical (33″) and 3-cone (7.28) were both underwhelming.

Burks could still be an excellent football player at the next level and I would be very surprised if he fell out of the first round, but he’s not going to be that top-10 pick that some thought he would be.

DT DeMarvin Leal, Texas A&M

DeMarvin Leal is a player who has really been talked up over the past few years, but he certainly didn’t help his stock in Indianapolis. If you didn’t already know the name, Leal was just another face in the crowd during workouts and drills at the NFL Combine.

Leal was very productive as an interior pass rusher in college. However, running a 5.00 40-yard dash at just 283 pounds isn’t exactly the results scouts were looking for. Leal has a decent frame, but the former four-star recruit is just a very average athlete by NFL standards.

QB Matt Corral, Ole Miss

Matt Corral obviously did not work out at the Combine this year, but I think his stock may have dropped a bit because of that. In an unspectacular quarterback class with 5-6 players in the same range, Corral would have had a chance to separate himself from the pack.

However, Corral has now missed the Senior Bowl and the Combine this offseason, and he will need to have a strong showing at his Pro Day if he is to give teams a good enough reason to select him over the other similar QB talent that will be available.

There are other players dropping in this list as well, but these high-profile players were all considered elite prospects at one point. It will be interesting to see what their stock looks like just before the start of the 2022 NFL Draft.