Donavin Newsom Beats 40 Time of All NFL Combine Linebackers at Missouri Tigers Pro Day
Mizzou’s Donavin Newsom may not have been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, but he beat the 40 times of all the linebackers who attended the event.
When college football teams have bad seasons, even their best players have a tendency to be overlooked by NFL talent evaluators, just as less talented players on great teams tend to get opportunities. While there wasn’t a ridiculous amount of NFL talent on the Missouri Tigers’ roster in 2016, it’s certainly fair to argue that the program has gotten the short end of the stick in terms of NFL evaluation this year, as projected first-rounder Charles Harris was the only player on the team to get invited to the NFL Scouting Combine.
After Mizzou held its annual pro day on Thursday, it certainly seems that linebacker Donavin Newsom should have been among the invites in Indianapolis last month. Newsom ran 4.50-second 40-yard dash at the event, which would have ranked him first among all linebackers at the combine (unless you’re considering Michigan hybrid linebacker/defensive back Jabril Peppers a linebacker, in which case Newsom would’ve finished second behind Peppers’ 4.46 time).
That time isn’t at all surprising to those who have followed the 6-foot-1, 237-pound linebacker closely throughout his career, but it might come as a shock to NFL evaluators who discounted his performance as Mizzou gave up 480 yards per game, good for 118th out of 128 in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
While Peppers worked out with the linebackers during the event, he’s a 5-foot-11, 213-pounder who primarily played safety in college and will more than likely be a safety in the NFL. Even if you’re classifying Peppers as a linebacker, the fact that Newsom came within .04 seconds of him when he’s two inches and 24 pounds bigger is pretty impressive.
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Newsom led the Tigers with 73 total tackles while collecting 5.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, and four pass breakups, according to Mizzou’s official defensive stats. He wasn’t invited to any postseason All-Star games and obviously didn’t make the cut at the combine, but one would have to think he upped his draft stock with his performance Thursday. He also performed 22 reps in the bench press, which would have been one of the more impressive performances among the linebackers at the combine in that event.