10 players who bombed the NFL Scouting Combine

A.J. Epenesa, EDGE, Iowa

NFL teams hoping to add an elite edge rusher in next month’s draft may be forced to look instead to free agency or the following year’s NFL draft for their dominant EDGE of the future. Outside of Ohio State defensive end Chase Young and perhaps K’Lavon Chaisson of LSU, the pickings are slim at the position, particularly after Iowa EDGE A.J. Epenesa‘s poor showing at the NFL combine.

Epenesa was a dominant force against college offensive lineman, and entered the combine as the consensus No. 2 edge rusher in this year’s draft class. However by the end of the week, some scouts concluded the defensive end lacks the physical tools necessary to rush the passer from the outside at the professional level.

The low point of Epenesa’s week was his 40-yard-dash time of over five seconds, which ranked last among all participating edge rushers:

Epenesa also lacks the bend of an outside pass rusher and doesn’t have the physical traits to drop back into coverage, so the top college talent should be targeted primarily by NFL teams with four-man defensive fronts — unless a team ignores his mediocre combine bench press number and views him as a potential future 3-4 defensive end.