Before the NFL Scouting Combine, many analysts were high on the potential of Florida pass rusher Jachai Polite. After his performance on Sunday, that’s a thing of the past.
Polite showed up to the combine with more weight than he probably should and looked a bit on the pudgy side. He also ran an really poor 40-yard dash on Sunday (4.84 seconds) before citing an injury and opting out of the remainder of the drills.
https://twitter.com/_SteveFrederick/status/1102242350074658816
Furthermore, he came across poorly when questioned about a couple of interviews, specifically with the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers.
#Florida EDGE Jachai Polite said that when he met with the 49ers at the Combine, they didn’t even really talk football with him at all. “They just bashed me the whole time… Idk.”
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) March 2, 2019
The full exchange with Florida's Jachai Polite when he was asked about his meeting with the #Packers. pic.twitter.com/OD49VbAx8x
— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) March 3, 2019
Due to these factors, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report says Polite’s stock “is taking a massive tumble.” Miller wrote on Twitter than he had five texts from scouts about how poorly Polite interviewed, and one of them called his injury “bulls***.”
Once projected to be a first-round pick, one wonders what Polite can do to stay in the Day 2 conversation going forward. Potentially a one-year wonder at Florida, Polite racked up 11 sacks last year after posting just four in his first two years at the university.