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2017 NFL Scouting Combine: Whose Rising, Falling and Final Takeaways

By Eric Gamboa

Mar 2, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch speaks to the media during the 2017 combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 2, 2017; Indianapolis, IN, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch speaks to the media during the 2017 combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports /

Falling: Jonathan Allen

Now, is the part of the article where we focus on those few poor souls that hurt their potential to go higher in the NFL Draft. One such soul was former Alabama standout defensive lineman Jonathan Allen. Coming into the combine, Allen was regarded as a top-three selection due to his on-the-tape athleticism and production as a defensive tackle.

Now, questions loom whether Allen is truly an athletic big man such as Myles Garrett or was his film more a by-product of playing on an outstanding Alabama defensive. Of course, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle but asking general managers drafting at the top of the draft to take a chance on a player who may not be as dominant as expected could cause some to pass.

Related Story: 2017 NFL Scouting Combine: Whose Rising, Falling and Other Early Observations Pt. 1

Making matters worse for Allen is the fact that the medical checks revealed that he has arthritic shoulders. Yes, shoulders. Many have speculated that is the primary reason as to why Allen severly disappointed on the bench press. Many expected Allen to destroy the bench press event.

Instead, he put up a putrid performance testing out as one of the weakest in his class. He then followed it up by running a pedestrian 40-yard dash time. All in all, Allen put in the following combine performance results per BearsWire, 5.0 40-yard dash and 21 reps on the bench press.

Now scouts and sports writers are wondering if Allen will slip towards the middle of the first-round. Take this tweet from Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller who was on hand at the combine and heard it first hand from teams at the event:

Nevertheless, he is a lock for the first-round with game film like this:

Now for some Twitter reactions on Allen’s subpar performance: