The biggest winner among the defensive backs who’ve worked out at the NFL Scouting Combine was probably not Alabama’s Terrion Arnold. Hard to beat the showcase that Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell strung together, highlighted by a 4.33-second 40-yard dash.
Under different circumstances, I might’ve put Texas Tech safety Tyler Owens as a bigger winner than Mitchell. Owens is a consensus a Day 3 prospect who recorded the second-longest broad jump (12’2″) in Combine history along with a 41-inch vertical leap. Alas, Owens is off my board after stating Thursday that he doesn’t believe in space or other planets. Although perhaps I’ll go do my own research on those topics, since Owens seems to defy gravity. Might be something to that.
OK let’s cut back to Arnold, who didn’t have too shabby of a showing at his Combine workout at all. The Athletic draft guru Dane Brugler highlighted how favorably Arnold’s testing compared to Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who was PFF’s No. 1 graded player at the position in 2023.
What really should endear Arnold to the masses, though, had nothing to do with what he accomplished in the Underwear Olympics in Indianapolis. Rather, it was the message he sent to his mother, Tamala, in an interview with NFL Network’s Stacey Dales that rendered her on the verge of tears.
The whole dialogue is worth watching, but Arnold begins to address his mom around the 2:32 mark:
“Mom, if you’re watching this right now, your son just wanted to tell you how proud he is of you. You had me at a young age, and you overcame a lot of adversity. People were doubting you. People were counting you out. And honestly mom, like I always tell you, you raised a star… so zoom in right here. Zoom in.
I just want to say, Tamala Arnold, I love you. I’m right here, the whole world is watching, and I’m blessed to have you as a mom. Like I said, you overcame a lot, and with that being said, I’m going to continue to keep shining. Just how you raised me to be.
I’ll never forget where I came from. Tallahassee, Florida, it’s a hard place to make it out of. And everybody watching this back at home, I hope you’re proud of me. Because I gave it my all.”
This is right up there with Kevin Durant shouting out his mom during his MVP speech once upon a time.
I mean, DAMN, Terrion Arnold. As if being a blue-chip player at Alabama and an athletic marvel wasn’t enough. Arnold gassed up his football talents in the interview with Dales, yet he also made it a point to say any team who drafts him is getting an even better person than an awesome football player.
The 2024 NFL Draft is generally loaded at premium positions like offensive tackle, quarterback, EDGE defender, and cornerback. Competition is stiff for Arnold to be the first defensive back to hear his name called on draft night. We’ll see what the odds look like, but it should be a three-horse race between Arnold, Mitchell, and Clemson speedster Nate Wiggins, who blazed a 4.28-second 40 before pulling up with an injury.
Zone-centric teams should look to somebody like Arnold. He’s thicker than the wiry Wiggins, whose skill set translates better to man coverage (not that Arnold is some slouch in that department). To me, Quinyon Mitchell is the best of both those worlds. You just have the concern about the caliber of competition Mitchell faced in the MAC.
All I really know is, I’ll be cheering hard for Terrion Arnold once he hits the NFL, (almost) regardless of where he ultimately lands in the first round.
