2020 NFL Draft: Isaiah Simmons leads Combine winners at linebacker

Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons was the big winner of the Scouting Combine among the 2020 NFL Draft prospects at his position. Who else stood out?

The 2020 NFL Draft class has a sneaky-good group of linebackers, and after the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, many of these players are now in the spotlight having showed the NFL world their athleticism and rare physical skills.

One player among the linebacker group, however, stood out as the elite among the elite.

Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons, truly one of the rarest prospects to come along in some time in terms of pure positional versatility, put together one of the most impressive workouts we have seen from a player at the Scouting Combine in the last decade or more.

This tweet does a good job of putting what he did into context:

When a player puts together a workout like this, normally scouts and analysts have to go back to the tape to see if it translates to the football field, but everyone already knows this with Isaiah Simmons.

After his Combine performance, it would be a shocker if Simmons made it out of the top five selections. Both the Lions and Giants have needs at linebacker, and their need for impact players like this is even greater.

Simmons didn’t have to put a workout together like this to solidify a status as a top 10 pick, but he did it and now he’s probably guaranteed to go in the top five.

Other Combine winners at linebacker

Patrick Queen, LSU

Everyone expected Patrick Queen to test well as fast as he plays, but he showed really nice athleticism to confirm his status as a first-round caliber player at the linebacker position.

Queen is going to be highly coveted in this year’s class for his ability to cover and play on all three downs.

Willie Gay Jr., Mississippi State

Perhaps no player at the linebacker position raised more eyebrows than Willie Gay Jr. of Mississippi State, whose overall workout was right up there with the best of the best regardless of position.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1233920474452758528

Some off-field violations academically kept Gay out of all but five games of his junior season before he left school, so there will undoubtedly be questions for him to answer going forward, but his workout was amazing and eye-opening.

Kenneth Murray, Oklahoma

Could we have two years in a row of K. Murray from Oklahoma being a first-round pick in the NFL Draft?

It’s highly likely after the workout the rocked-up and chiseled Kenneth Murray put together in Indianapolis.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1233921101371183104

Murray is going to be a quarterback of some team’s defense and he is one of the safer picks in this year’s draft class from both an on and off-field perspective.