Oklahoma WR Marquise Brown, projected first-round pick, to miss NFL combine after surgery

The 2019 NFL draft isn’t thick with skill-position players near the top of the first round, and one of the best receivers in the class now has some question marks.

Oklahoma receiver Marquise Brown, projected as the top receiver in the draft by many, won’t be participating at the NFL scouting combine due to surgery, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The surgery is for a lisfranc injury suffered in January, Schefter said.

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Schefter said Brown should be ready for an NFL team’s training camp, but now there’s some risk involved.

Marquise Brown is a top receiver prospect

Brown is coming off a fantastic season as Kyler Murray’s top target. He had 1,318 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Brown was already a bit of an anomaly as a top receiver prospect. He is listed at 5-10, 168 pounds by Oklahoma, which is far from ideal size for a first-round pick at receiver. Teams are putting more value on quickness than size at the position, however, which is why Brown was still considered a top prospect.

Brown was considered a first-round pick because of his route running, quickness and straight-ahead speed, and he won’t be able to show any of those skills off in workouts for NFL teams before the draft.

Brown’s injury makes his draft stock more complicated

Brown likely still projects as a first-round pick, since he should be ready for training camp, and there aren’t many other great receiver prospects.

Figuring out his draft stock gets a little trickier, however. It’s not ideal to use a first-round pick on a speedy receiver who just had foot surgery and probably won’t be ready until July. Brown suffered the injury in the Big 12 championship game in early December, played through it in the Orange Bowl and had surgery Jan. 8, according to Schefter.

It’s always difficult for teams evaluating receivers heading into the draft, and those clubs looking for a top receiver in this year’s draft have an extra challenge with Brown.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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