Nolan Smith had a historic day on the NFL Draft Mix

Watching the NFL Mix from inside Lucas Oil Stadium is a fairly surreal expertise.

As a substitute of the raucous ambiance you normally see in an NFL stadium, it’s a far more subdued, even sterilized surroundings. The one sounds you actually hear are the directions from the NFL coaches and scouts operating the drills, and typically the exasperated exclamations of the prospects after a dropped go, a sluggish 40-yard sprint time, or one thing else. There have been moments when a formidable drill drew the eye of the followers in attendance, and even the journalists within the constructing, however for essentially the most half, Thursday afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium was extra subdued than your traditional NFL surroundings.

That close to silence, nonetheless, couldn’t overshadow the day that Georgia go rusher Nolan Smith had on Thursday afternoon.

Smith posted a blazing-fast 4.39 40-yard sprint, and while you added within the 41.5-inch vertical that he posted, it added as much as a little bit of NFL Mix historical past. As famous by Wealthy Eisen throughout the broadcast, Smith grew to become the heaviest participant in Mix historical past to submit a sub-4.4 40-yard sprint, together with a vertical of greater than 40 inches.

Smith weighed in at 239 kilos earlier than testing on Thursday.

Each his vertical, and his 40-yard sprint, had been the quickest of the defensive linemen who examined on Thursday. He additionally posted the third-best broad soar of the group, which measured in at 10’8:

That is the type of efficiency that may see a participant drive their method into the primary spherical of the NFL draft. Coming into the 2022 season, Smith was thought-about a possible first-round prospect, however a torn pectoral muscle suffered in November value him the remainder of his season for the Bulldogs.

That noticed his draft inventory, which in keeping with the mock drafts accrued by NFL Mock Draft Database had been inside the primary spherical, begin to slip in the direction of the second:

Nevertheless, a efficiency like this doubtless sees that inventory take one other flip, this time larger into the primary spherical.

It’s price noting that Smith’s dimension makes him undersized by defensive finish requirements. As famous by Kent Lee Platte and his Relative Athletic Scoring, Smith’s testing was within the elite vary, however his weight is undersized for a pure defensive finish:

Another person that posted related measurables? Somebody that Smith is drawing comparisons to. Haason Reddick, he of the 16-sacks season this previous 12 months for the Philadelphia Eagles:

Maybe essentially the most notable facet of Smith’s day? How his 40-yard sprint in comparison with some NFL vast receivers:

Nevertheless you slice it, a really robust day for the Georgia go rusher.