INDIANAPOLIS — There’s still 53 days until the NFL draft begins on April 27 in Philadelphia, but defensive end Myles Garrett might have solidified his status as the first overall selection with his performance at the Scouting Combine this weekend.
The 6-foot-4 1/2, 272-pound Texas A&M standout registered 33 reps in the bench press on Saturday, then ran the 40-yard dash Sunday in 4.64 seconds with a 1.63 10-yard split, while doing a vertical jump of 41 inches. He also measured in with 35 1/4-inch arms.
Three years ago, Jadeveon Clowney was selected by the Houston Texans first overall, and at 266 pounds ran the 40 in 4.53 seconds, bench-pressed 225 pounds 21 times, had 34 1/4-inch arms and had a vertical jump of 37 1/2 inches.
Understated NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock Sunday, “They’re both freaks.”
Gil Brandt of SiriusXM NFL Radio and nfl.com wrote on Twitter that a scout near him had Garrett’s 40 time at 4.52, and then said, “We can all go home now.”
When asked about comparisons to Clowney, Garrett said on Saturday, “I want to be compared to the greatest. So, I want to have stats and everything I’ve done today and tomorrow compare with the best guys in the league and some of the greatest of all-time. I mean, if he goes down as that, that’s great. He’s an athletic freak just like me, but I’m holding my bar pretty high.”
As for comparisons to former Aggies star Von Miller, now with the Denver Broncos, Garrett said, “You know, he probably has a little bit more skill than me. He’s been doing it for a little bit longer. But I feel like I’m a little bit bigger, little bit stronger and I’ll catch up in that regard to skill.”
Garrett played most of the 2016 season with a bad ankle, and said, “I wasn’t myself throughout the whole season.”
But he garners outstanding supporting from one of his teammates.
“Myles is one of the greatest players I’ve ever played against or with,” Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight said. “He’s a very gifted athlete but also a guy who comes to work every single day and is not going to be an off-the-field issue at all. He’s a guy you definitely want on your team and not rushing against you. Dynamic, explosive and can pretty much do it all on that side of the ball.”
Knight said he has been asked by teams about Garrett, and said, “A few teams have asked me about it, just who he is off the field and things like that. Myles is a guy who I got to go on a trip down to Haiti with and serve for a week. I got to have a locker right across from him and see how he acted day-to-day and he couldn’t be a more upstanding guy. He’s never going to be an issue off the field and kind of keeps to himself. He’s not really involved in social media or anything like that. He just loves football and is really good at it.”
Garrett has had to spend some time addressing a video in which he said he wanted to play for the Cowboys. Saturday, he said, “I didn’t think it would be taken so seriously,” and when asked his biggest regret, responded, “I just opened a can of worms. The Cowboy video.”
Of course, he also has talked about not wanting to play in a cold-weather city (hello, Cleveland?), and also addressed that Saturday.
Garrett said, “Me just being who I am. Joke around, being lighthearted, don’t mean to offend anybody. I crack a joke every now and then but I’ll play for anybody.”
Asked if he believes the cold would bother him, Garrett said, “No. I’ve played in 30 degrees, 20 degrees, out here, down in Texas. It doesn’t really matter to me.”
As for potentially helping the Browns, who pick first in the draft, he said, “I feel like I’m a playmaker so I’m not going to have to worry about that. I feel like I’m going to bring some work ethic into practice and into the weight room that will change things around there, and maybe be a voice of leadership that can help swing things.”
Finally, he was asked to name any current NFL quarterback he wanted to sack, Garrett said, “Tom Brady.”
When asked why, he said, “I’m a Peyton Manning fan.”
Chances are, Myles Garrett will be sacking a lot of NFL quarterbacks beginning in September.