HERO Sports is in Indianapolis for the NFL Combine to watch and talk to the 15 former FCS players in attendance.
The Combine is a crucial part of the draft process, especially for FCS prospects who face the level-of-competition question. NFL teams are analyzing how players and their skill sets translate to the professional ranks. While 40 times, cone drill times, and all the measurables may seem overanalyzed, the raw ability and athleticism of prospects are a big part of their evaluation.
We’ve seen FCS guys have their NFL Draft stock explode after their performances at the Combine. We’ve also seen some guys’ stock drop after not running well.
Here are the top five FCS players we’re most interested in watching this weekend who have a prime opportunity to skyrocket their draft stock.
Houston Christian DE/OLB Jalyx Hunt
Jalyx Hunt is a long, athletic EDGE prospect looking to turn heads at the NFL Combine. He’s already quickly rising up draft boards during and after his senior season. Hunt began his career as a safety at Cornell before transferring to HCU and making the position switch as a pass-rusher.
The 6-foot-4 and 240-pounder racked up 133 combined tackles in 2022 and 2023 with 20.5 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks.
Hunt already impressed at the Senior Bowl as part of Phase 1 of the NFL Draft process. Now he looks to prove his athletic measurables back up his impressive film.
“This is huge,” Hunt told HERO Sports at the combine. “This is a level playing field and it’s not about the resources you have or the level of publicity you get. We all get the same publicity here and we’re all working hard. This is huge for me to stack up against all of these amazing athletes. It’s an opportunity for me to explode.”
New Hampshire RB Dylan Laube
Laube is an electric factory with the ball in his hands. FCS and FBS teams struggled to tackle one of the best all-purpose players in subdivision history. The 5-foot-10, 208-pounder rushed for a career 2,773 yards and 29 touchdowns, totaled 1,791 receiving yards with 14 TDs, had 2,207 kick return yards and two scores, and 426 punt return yards and two TDs.
His versatility is an NFL team’s dream. A guy who can run it, catch it, and return it. Expect Laube to test well athletically. And as more teams fall in love with his skill set, watch for Laube’s draft stock to steadily rise.
South Dakota State RB Isaiah Davis
Davis hopes to follow in the footsteps of former SDSU standouts Dallas Goedert (TE), Pierre Strong Jr. (RB), and Tucker Kraft (TE) as an early NFL Draft pick. How he runs will be a determining factor in that. A slower 40 time could see him picked in the sixth or seventh round. While he’s not a burner at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, a good-to-great time relative to his size could vault him into being a Day 2 pick.
Davis is as good of a running back as the FCS has seen. He racked up 4,548 career rushing yards and 50 TDs for the Jackrabbits, and that’s splitting carries most seasons. His size, physicality, vision, and quick feet in traffic, plus seemingly solid speed in the open field made him so dominant. How his game translates to the NFL will be under the microscope this week.
SEMO WR Ryan Flournoy
Flournoy is on Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List and could very well be one of the top WR testers at this year’s combine. As Feldman wrote – Last offseason, the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder vertical jumped 41 inches, broad jumped 10-10 1/2 and ran a laser-timed 4.40 in the 40 with a 4.35 hand time. His shuttle time was 4.22 and his L-drill was 6.66; that’s less than a tenth of a second off of Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s 6.57, which was the quickest time of anyone at the 2023 combine.
Flournoy has been a quick riser during the NFL Draft process after a tremendous two seasons at SEMO where he caught 118 passes for 1,823 yards and 13 TDs. Expect that rise to continue as one of the top athletes at the combine.
Holy Cross WR Jalen Coker
Coker’s draft stock just keeps on moving up. He parlayed a standout Hula Bowl performance into an invite to the Shrine Bowl, which then led to an NFL Combine invite.
Coker is physically impressive at 6-foot-3 and 213 pounds. And he dominated FCS defensive backs, making big play after big play stretching the field. Coker is Holy Cross’ all-time leader in touchdown receptions (31) and receiving yards (2,715). Like the guys above, his testing numbers could accelerate his rising stock even more.
