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Ogbah Rises, Spence Falls on Day Three of the NFL Combine

Ogbah may have blazed a trail to the Top 10 of the NFL Draft.

With the outright dominance that Denver Broncos edge rusher Von Miller displayed in the playoffs and Super Bowl 50, you can’t blame teams for coming into this draft looking for that kind of impact player. Eastern Kentucky’s Noah Spence was supposed to be that guy, but a lackluster Sunday at the NFL Combine may have cost him a spot in the first round.

Instead, Spence was overshadowed and outperformed by Oklahoma State defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, who not only could have solidified his first-round status, but also vaulted himself into a Top 10 pick.

Spence entered the combine with plenty of character questions and his 4.80 40-yard dash raised some eyebrows. Those are fine numbers for a bigger guy, but Spence is 6-foot-2 and 254 pounds. Draft scouts and general managers were looking for Von Miller or Khalil Mack-type number from him and they didn’t get it.

Contrast that to Ogbah who, at 6-foot-4 and 273 pounds laid down a blistering 4.63 40 and the idea of a guy that size coming around the edge at over 18 mph has got to be appealing to plenty of teams. Ogbah was one of the best performers in the vertical jump and the broad jump so there’s athleticism to go with his size and speed.

Spence was kicked out of Ohio State after two failed drug tests for ecstasy, of all things, and was banned for life from the Big Ten conference. A terrific Senior Bowl seemed to open up the possibility that NFL GMs could look past it and take a gamble on Spence in the first round, but according to the NFL Network’s Kimberly Jones, that’s all but over.

“Perhaps now we can stop the narrative that he (Spence) is going to be a first-round pick,” the NFL source told Jones. “(I) don’t see anything special.”

Spence didn’t help himself in interviews with teams, with Jones saying he came off as “very shaky.”

On the plus side for Spence, he’s not failed a drug test since getting out Ohio State 18 months ago and he’s been tested plenty, including at the combine. He claims he was never an addict and that makes sense. The idea that someone could get addicted to ecstasy is ridiculous.

“It was a group of people I can’t hang with,” Spence said at the combine concerning the failed drug tests. “I had to be more to myself and stay away from that party scene. I have a girlfriend now. We chill. We go to the movies and stuff like that. I don’t do much partying these days.”

Darron Lee suddenly in the linebacker conversation

Coming into the combine the big three outside linebackers were UCLA’s Myles Jack, Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith and Georgia’s Leonard Floyd, but a rocket went off Sunday and it was named Darron Lee. Lee, from Ohio State, ran a 4.47 40-yard dash to go with a 35.5 inch vertical jump and a 133 inch broad jump.

At 6-foot-1, 232 pounds, Lee might be a little small for your average NFL linebacker, but with teams like the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals both starting hybrid safety linebackers last season, Lee not only improved his draft stock, he might have snuck into the first round. This year for the Buckeyes Lee had 66 tackles, 11 for a loss and 4.5 sacks so the production is there on the big stage to go with the combine measurables. Lee made himself some money Sunday.

Jack will still be the first linebacker taken and, in fact, there’s murmurs that he might be the best player in this draft, period. Floyd didn’t hurt his status at all either, running a 4.60 40-yard dash and putting down a 10-foot, seven inch broad jump to go with it.

The missing man is Smith, of course, and the news continues to get worse on the knee he injured in the Fiesta Bowl. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport three teams have completely removed Smith from their draft boards. There’s little doubt at this point that Smith will miss all of 2016 recovering from his injury. But, saying that, some team may just win the lottery grabbing Smith later in the draft in hopes he’ll be ready in 2017.

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Written by Adam Greene

Adam Greene is a writer and photographer based out of East Tennessee. His work has appeared on Cracked.com, in USA Today, the Associated Press, the Chicago Cubs Vineline Magazine, AskMen.com and many other publications.

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