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The NFL world is certain Myles Garrett is the top player in the draft after he put up freakish combine numbers

Scott Davis   

The NFL world is certain Myles Garrett is the top player in the draft after he put up freakish combine numbers
Sports2 min read

myles garrett

Gregory Payan/AP

The NFL Draft combine can sometimes change the narrative around a prospect's draft stock.

However, for Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett, the combine only confirmed what many in the NFL world believed - he's the top player in the draft.

On Sunday, Garrett, already believed to be a top pick, blew away spectators with freakish numbers in several tests.

He ran a 4.64-second 40-yard dash, quite quick for a player who weighed in at 272 lb. As Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith noted, Garrett's 1.63-second time in the first ten yards may be even more impressive, since explosion matters more for defensive ends than straight-away speed.

Garrett also benched 225 lb. 33 times, second most of any defensive linemen. He measured in with a 41-inch vertical, best of any defensive linemen, and a 10-foot, 8-inch broad jump, second best of any defensive linemen.

Garrett's explosion is unreal:

He measures up well with other defensive linemen who have been taken first in the draft, via MMQB's Albert Breer:

 

2017 03 06_11 28 22

ESPN

Garrett is also one of the fastest linemen to weigh over 270 lb.

defensive linemen

ESPN

Our consensus mock draft already had Garrett going No. 1 to the Cleveland Browns. After his combine performance, he may have made any other decision even more difficult for Cleveland.

Writes Breer, "Like everyone else, Jackson was impressed with what he saw from Garrett on Sunday. And though neither he nor anyone else in Cleveland came out and said it, it sure looks like it's Garrett vs. the quarterbacks for the first overall pick..."

ESPN's Pat McManamon said of Garrett's combine, "Myles Garrett did his part. Now it's up to the Cleveland Browns. Garrett's NFL combine experience validated all the pre-combine analysis that he deserves to be the draft's first pick."

As SB Nation's Ryan Van Bibber noted, the NFL world compared Garrett to just about several successful pass-rushers - Jadeveon Clowney, Mario Williams, Khalil Mack, Vic Beasley, and more. According to McManamon, Garrett did say at the combine that he's not quite at the level of Von Miller, to whom he also earned comparisons. But if Garrett becomes any of the above players, he'll have a good, long career.

Teams tend to become enthralled with quarterbacks in the draft, but Garrett seems to have made his case as the best player. 

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