Stock Up: Former Texas Tech Wide Receivers Impress Scouts at 2018 NFL Combine

By: Jonah Tuls

New beginnings are on the horizon for former Texas Tech football stars.

Standout Red Raider receivers Keke Coutee and Dylan Cantrell took part in the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday in preparation for the 2018 NFL Draft.

Patrick Conn, who covers the Dallas Cowboys for WFAA Sports, said Dylan Cantrell stood out in a deep wide receiver group.

“I thought Cantrell really helped himself,” Conn said. “Those numbers really opened eyes to people oblivious to him.”

According to the combine results page on the NFL’s home website, Dylan Cantrell was the fastest player overall in the three-cone, 20-yard shuttle, and 60-yard shuttle drills at respective times of 6.56 seconds, 4.03 seconds, and 10.85 seconds.

Benjamin Solak, a national NFL draft scout for NDT Scouting, said Cantrell’s numbers are simply unprecedented for someone his size.

“This is a guy who clearly is going to be able to work a route stem and a route tree that he wasn’t necessarily asked to do as much in the Air Raid offense coached by Kliff Kingsbury,” Solak said.

Cantrell also put up a 38.5-inch vertical jump and 130-inch broad jump, ranking near the top among wide receivers in those categories as well, according the combine results on the NFL’s home page.

Solak said he believes these test numbers for Cantrell could translate into a productive NFL career.

“When you come out and you are as explosive as he was, you’re clearly looking at a physical profile that means he should be able to do more than what he showed at Texas Tech on tape,” Solak said. “We call that physical upside, and that potential entices teams.”

Keke Coutee also had a good performance on Saturday, according to WFAA’s Patrick Conn, who said he possibly worked his way into the early fourth-round range for the 2018 NFL draft.

While his times in the agility drills were not as fast as the numbers put up by Cantrell, Coutee ran a 4.43 time in the 40-yard dash, which ranked sixth among wide receivers in Indianapolis.

In his scouting report for Coutee, NFL draft analyst for NFL.com Lance Zierlein said Coutee’s athleticism is comparable to that of John Brown of the Arizona Cardinals, and projected his draft range in the third or fourth round.

Solak said Coutee checked off the boxes because his tape matches up with the athletic testing numbers he put up at the combine.

“Keke Coutee is a guy you watch on tape and see an exceptional deep threat. He’s got that long speed. He tracks the football really well down the field. That’s traits matching skills,” Solak said. “What you saw on tape manifested itself in Indianapolis, so you know you can get him on the field.”