Kansas ILB Ben Heeney Produced Best 3-Cone Drill at 2015 Combine

by Chase Stuart on March 5, 2015

Here’s how NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein described Kansas inside linebacker Ben Heeney:

Undersized inside linebacker with a big motor and willingness to take chances. Lacks the athleticism to recover from mistakes in the running game and is too tight to cover in space against the pass.

But at the combine, Heeney didn’t appear out of his athletic class. He ranked a respectable 49th in the 40 yard dash and 58th in the broad jump, while performing at perfectly average levesl in the vertical jump and bench press.

But it’s the 3-cone drill where Heeney starred. Based on my research from last year, the best-fit formula to project a prospect’s performance in the 3-cone drill is:

Expected 3-Cone = 6.98 – 0.023 * Height + 0.0081 * Weight

For every 12.3 pounds of weight, a player’s expected 3-cone time increases by 0.1 seconds. Height, meanwhile, is positively correlated: taller players tend to perform better in this drill, which is probably due to stride length/having to take fewer steps. Heeney, as Zierlein noted, is a bit undersized at inside linebacker: he weighed in at 231 pounds and stood at six feet even (though that combination has worked out well for other inside linebackers).

Given that height/weight combination, we would expect Heeney to complete the 3-cone drill in 7.20 seconds. But Heeney finished it just 6.68 seconds, 0.52 seconds better than expected. According to NFLSavant.com, Heeney is just the 9th inside linebacker in combine history to break 7 seconds in the 3-cone drill; Prior to Heeney, the top two times came in 2012, when undrafted Chris Galippo ran it in 6.90, and Luke Kuechley did it in 6.92.

The table below shows the results of all 207 participants in the 3-cone drill at the combine. Thanks to NFLSavant.com for the data.

Rk	First Last	P	College	Height	Weight	Exp	3Cone	Diff
1	Ben Heeney	ILB	Kansas	72	231	7.2	6.68	0.52
2	Derrick Lott	DT	Tennessee-Chattanooga	76	314	7.78	7.3	0.48
3	Jordan Hicks	OLB	Texas	73	236	7.21	6.78	0.43
4	Jake Fisher	OT	Oregon	78	306	7.66	7.25	0.41
5	Xavier Cooper	DT	Washington St.	75	293	7.63	7.23	0.4
6	Jarvis Harrison	OG	Texas A&M	76	330	7.91	7.51	0.4
7	Grady Jarrett	NT	Clemson	73	304	7.76	7.37	0.39
8	Ali Marpet	C	Hobart & William Smith	76	307	7.72	7.33	0.39
9	Frank Clark	DE	Michigan	75	271	7.45	7.08	0.37
10	Henry Anderson	DE	Stanford	78	294	7.57	7.2	0.37
11	Vic Beasley	OLB	Clemson	75	246	7.25	6.91	0.34
12	Preston Smith	DE	Mississippi St.	77	271	7.4	7.07	0.33
13	Jordan Richards	SS	Stanford	71	211	7.06	6.74	0.32
14	Angelo Blackson	DT	Auburn	76	318	7.81	7.5	0.31
15	Tyeler Davison	DT	Fresno St.	74	316	7.84	7.53	0.31
16	Alani Fua	OLB	BYU	77	238	7.14	6.83	0.31
17	Malcolm Brown	RB	Texas	71	224	7.16	6.86	0.3
18	Amari Cooper	WR	Alabama	73	211	7.01	6.71	0.3
19	David Johnson	RB	Northern Iowa	73	224	7.12	6.82	0.3
20	Justin Hardy	WR	East Carolina	70	192	6.93	6.63	0.3
21	Cameron Erving	C	Florida St.	77	313	7.74	7.48	0.26
22	Ameer Abdullah	RB	Nebraska	69	205	7.05	6.79	0.26
23	Eric Rowe	FS	Utah	73	205	6.96	6.7	0.26
24	Mike Hull	OLB	Penn St.	72	237	7.24	6.99	0.25
25	Louis Trinca-Pasat	DT	Iowa	73	290	7.65	7.4	0.25
26	Anthony Chickillo	DE	Miami	75	267	7.42	7.17	0.25
27	Dorial Green-Beckham	WR	Missouri	77	237	7.13	6.89	0.24
28	Kenny Bell	WR	Nebraska	73	197	6.9	6.66	0.24
29	Justin Coleman	CB	Tennessee	71	185	6.85	6.61	0.24
30	Mario Alford	WR	West Virginia	68	180	6.87	6.64	0.23
31	Kyle Emanuel	OLB	North Dakota St.	75	255	7.32	7.1	0.22
32	Bryce Petty	QB	Baylor	75	230	7.12	6.91	0.21
33	Hayes Pullard	ILB	USC	72	240	7.27	7.07	0.2
34	Eli Harold	OLB	Virginia	75	247	7.26	7.07	0.19
35	Zack Wagenmann	DE	Montana	75	247	7.26	7.07	0.19
36	Shaq Thompson	OLB	Washington	72	228	7.17	6.99	0.18
37	Trey Williams	RB	Texas A&M	67	195	7.02	6.84	0.18
38	Jalen Collins	CB	LSU	73	203	6.95	6.77	0.18
39	Bobby McCain	CB	Memphis	69	195	6.97	6.8	0.17
40	Phillip Dorsett	WR	Miami	70	185	6.87	6.7	0.17
41	Geremy Davis	WR	Connecticut	74	216	7.03	6.86	0.17
42	Ty Sambrailo	OT	Colorado St.	78	311	7.71	7.54	0.17
43	Vince Mayle	WR	Washington St.	74	224	7.09	6.93	0.16
44	Ryan Russell	DE	Purdue	76	269	7.41	7.25	0.16
45	Marcus Mariota	QB	Oregon	76	222	7.03	6.87	0.16
46	Mark Glowinski	OG	West Virginia	76	307	7.72	7.56	0.16
47	Cody Fajardo	QB	Nevada	73	223	7.11	6.95	0.16
48	Brett Hundley	QB	UCLA	75	226	7.09	6.93	0.16
49	Javorius Allen	RB	USC	72	221	7.11	6.96	0.15
50	Stephone Anthony	ILB	Clemson	75	243	7.22	7.07	0.15
51	Mike Davis	RB	South Carolina	69	217	7.15	7	0.15
52	Craig Mager	CB	Texas St.	71	201	6.98	6.83	0.15
53	Ty Montgomery	WR	Stanford	72	221	7.11	6.97	0.14
54	Geneo Grissom	DE	Oklahoma	75	262	7.38	7.24	0.14
55	Byron Jones	CB	Connecticut	73	199	6.91	6.78	0.13
56	Jake Ryan	OLB	Michigan	74	240	7.22	7.11	0.11
57	Michael Burton	FB	Rutgers	71	242	7.31	7.2	0.11
58	Damarious Randall	FS	Arizona State	71	196	6.93	6.83	0.1
59	Damien Wilson	ILB	Minnesota	72	245	7.31	7.21	0.1
60	Andy Gallik	C	Boston College	74	306	7.76	7.66	0.1
61	Rakeem Nunez-Roches	DT	Southern Miss	74	307	7.76	7.67	0.09
62	Trey Flowers	DE	Arkansas	74	266	7.43	7.34	0.09
63	Martin Ifedi	DE	Memphis	75	275	7.48	7.39	0.09
64	Steven Nelson	CB	Oregon St.	70	197	6.97	6.88	0.09
65	Joey Iosefa	RB	Hawaii	72	247	7.32	7.24	0.08
66	Mitch Morse	OG	Missouri	77	305	7.68	7.6	0.08
67	Kevin White	WR	West Virginia	75	215	7	6.92	0.08
68	Mario Edwards Jr.	DT	Florida St.	75	279	7.51	7.44	0.07
69	Zach Zenner	RB	South Dakota St.	71	223	7.15	7.08	0.07
70	Garry Peters	CB	Clemson	72	191	6.87	6.8	0.07
71	Rannell Hall	WR	Central Florida	72	198	6.93	6.86	0.07
72	Leonard Williams	DE	USC	77	302	7.66	7.59	0.07
73	Tre McBride	WR	William & Mary	72	210	7.03	6.96	0.07
74	Owamagbe Odighizuwa	DE	UCLA	75	267	7.42	7.36	0.06
75	Kevin Johnson	CB	Wake Forest	72	188	6.85	6.79	0.06
76	Bryce Hager	ILB	Baylor	73	234	7.2	7.15	0.05
77	B.J. Catalon	RB	TCU	67	186	6.95	6.9	0.05
78	Darren Waller	WR	Georgia Tech	78	238	7.11	7.07	0.04
79	Kyshoen Jarrett	SS	Virginia Tech	70	200	6.99	6.95	0.04
80	Sammie Coates	WR	Auburn	73	212	7.02	6.98	0.04
81	Troy Hill	CB	Oregon	70	182	6.84	6.81	0.03
82	Danny Shelton	NT	Washington	74	339	8.02	7.99	0.03
83	Tony Washington	OLB	Oregon	76	247	7.23	7.2	0.03
84	T.J. Clemmings	OT	Pittsburgh	77	309	7.71	7.68	0.03
85	Za'Darius Smith	DE	Kentucky	76	274	7.45	7.42	0.03
86	Malcom Brown	DT	Texas	74	319	7.86	7.84	0.02
87	Lynden Trail	DE	Norfolk St.	79	269	7.34	7.32	0.02
88	Gus Johnson	RB	Stephen F. Austin	70	215	7.11	7.09	0.02
89	Nick Marshall	QB	Auburn	73	207	6.98	6.96	0.02
90	Benardrick McKinney	ILB	Mississippi St.	76	246	7.22	7.21	0.01
91	Jay Ajayi	RB	Boise St.	72	221	7.11	7.1	0.01
92	Senquez Golson	CB	Mississippi	69	176	6.82	6.81	0.01
93	Karlos Williams	RB	Florida St.	73	230	7.16	7.16	0
94	La'el Collins	OT	LSU	76	305	7.7	7.7	0
95	Melvin Gordon	RB	Wisconsin	73	215	7.04	7.04	0
96	Nate Orchard	DE	Utah	75	250	7.28	7.28	0
97	Adrian Amos	FS	Penn St.	72	218	7.09	7.09	0
98	Kwon Alexander	OLB	LSU	73	227	7.14	7.14	0
99	Julian Wilson	CB	Oklahoma	74	205	6.94	6.94	0
100	Keith Mumphery	WR	Michigan St.	72	215	7.07	7.07	0
101	Jordan Phillips	NT	Oklahoma	77	329	7.87	7.88	-0.01
102	Jermaine Whitehead	FS	Auburn	71	197	6.94	6.95	-0.01
103	Taiwan Jones	ILB	Michigan St.	75	245	7.24	7.25	-0.01
104	Kenny Hilliard	RB	LSU	72	226	7.15	7.17	-0.02
105	J.T. Surratt	DT	South Carolina	73	304	7.76	7.78	-0.02
106	Kaelin Clay	WR	Utah	70	195	6.95	6.97	-0.02
107	Bobby Richardson	DT	Indiana	75	283	7.55	7.57	-0.02
108	Donovan Smith	OG	Penn St.	78	338	7.92	7.95	-0.03
109	Ronald Darby	CB	Florida St.	71	193	6.91	6.94	-0.03
110	Dante Fowler Jr.	OLB	Florida	75	261	7.37	7.4	-0.03
111	Arik Armstead	DT	Oregon	79	292	7.53	7.57	-0.04
112	Cameron Artis-Payne	RB	Auburn	70	212	7.09	7.13	-0.04
113	Gabe Wright	DT	Auburn	75	300	7.69	7.73	-0.04
114	Tyler Lockett	WR	Kansas St.	70	182	6.84	6.89	-0.05
115	Dean Marlowe	FS	James Madison	73	203	6.95	7	-0.05
116	Da'Ron Brown	WR	Northern Illinois	72	205	6.98	7.04	-0.06
117	Chris Conley	WR	Georgia	74	213	7	7.06	-0.06
118	Jameis Winston	QB	Florida St.	76	231	7.1	7.16	-0.06
119	Josh Shaw	CB	USC	72	201	6.95	7.01	-0.06
120	T.J. Yeldon	RB	Alabama	73	226	7.13	7.19	-0.06
121	Rashad Greene	WR	Florida St.	71	182	6.82	6.88	-0.06
122	Jerry Lovelocke	QB	Prairie View A&M	76	248	7.24	7.3	-0.06
123	DeAndrew White	WR	Alabama	71	193	6.91	6.97	-0.06
124	Laurence Gibson	OT	Virginia Tech	78	305	7.66	7.72	-0.06
125	Christion Jones	WR	Alabama	70	182	6.84	6.91	-0.07
126	Tye Smith	CB	Towson	72	195	6.9	6.97	-0.07
127	John Crockett	RB	North Dakota St.	72	217	7.08	7.15	-0.07
128	James Sample	SS	Louisville	74	209	6.97	7.04	-0.07
129	Amarlo Herrera	ILB	Georgia	73	244	7.28	7.35	-0.07
130	D'Joun Smith	CB	Florida Atlantic	70	187	6.88	6.96	-0.08
131	Obum Gwacham	DE	Oregon St.	77	246	7.2	7.28	-0.08
132	Tevin McDonald	FS	Eastern Washington	71	195	6.93	7.01	-0.08
133	Tony Lippett	WR	Michigan St.	74	192	6.83	6.92	-0.09
134	Deon Simon	NT	Northwestern St. (LA)	76	321	7.83	7.92	-0.09
135	Brandon Bridge	QB	South Alabama	76	229	7.09	7.18	-0.09
136	Deon Long	WR	Maryland	72	192	6.88	6.98	-0.1
137	Ross Scheuerman	RB	Lafayette	72	204	6.98	7.08	-0.1
138	Kurtis Drummond	FS	Michigan St.	73	208	6.99	7.09	-0.1
139	Carl Davis	DT	Iowa	77	320	7.8	7.91	-0.11
140	Leterrius Walton	DT	Central Michigan	77	319	7.79	7.91	-0.12
141	Andrew Donnal	OT	Iowa	78	313	7.72	7.84	-0.12
142	Shane Carden	QB	East Carolina	74	218	7.04	7.17	-0.13
143	Stefon Diggs	WR	Maryland	72	195	6.9	7.03	-0.13
144	Alex Carter	CB	Stanford	72	196	6.91	7.05	-0.14
145	Corey Crawford	DE	Clemson	77	283	7.5	7.64	-0.14
146	Lorenzo Mauldin	OLB	Louisville	76	259	7.33	7.47	-0.14
147	Bryan Bennett	QB	Southeastern Louisiana	74	211	6.99	7.13	-0.14
148	Dezmin Lewis	WR	Central Arkansas	76	214	6.97	7.11	-0.14
149	Dee Hart	RB	Colorado St.	67	199	7.05	7.2	-0.15
150	Durell Eskridge	FS	Syracuse	75	208	6.94	7.09	-0.15
151	Jalston Fowler	FB	Alabama	71	254	7.4	7.56	-0.16
152	Cody Prewitt	FS	Mississippi	74	208	6.96	7.12	-0.16
153	Marcus Peters	CB	Washington	72	197	6.92	7.08	-0.16
154	Clayton Geathers	SS	Central Florida	74	218	7.04	7.21	-0.17
155	Jeremiah Poutasi	OG	Utah	77	335	7.92	8.09	-0.17
156	Quinten Rollins	CB	Miami (OH)	71	195	6.93	7.1	-0.17
157	D.J. Humphries	OT	Florida	77	307	7.7	7.87	-0.17
158	P.J. Williams	CB	Florida St.	72	194	6.9	7.08	-0.18
159	Jacoby Glenn	CB	Central Florida	72	179	6.77	6.97	-0.2
160	Xzavier Dickson	OLB	Alabama	75	260	7.36	7.56	-0.2
161	Justin Cox	FS	Mississippi St.	73	191	6.85	7.05	-0.2
162	Terry Poole	OG	San Diego St.	77	307	7.7	7.9	-0.2
163	Landon Collins	SS	Alabama	72	228	7.17	7.38	-0.21
164	Jeremy Langford	RB	Michigan St.	72	208	7.01	7.22	-0.21
165	Devante Davis	WR	UNLV	75	220	7.04	7.25	-0.21
166	Ellis McCarthy	DT	UCLA	77	338	7.95	8.16	-0.21
167	Al Bond	OG	Memphis	76	303	7.69	7.9	-0.21
168	Darrian Miller	OG	Kentucky	77	307	7.7	7.91	-0.21
169	Trenton Brown	OG	Florida	80	355	8.02	8.23	-0.21
170	Braylon Heard	RB	Kentucky	70	198	6.97	7.19	-0.22
171	Chris Hackett	FS	TCU	72	195	6.9	7.12	-0.22
172	Trae Waynes	CB	Michigan St.	72	186	6.83	7.06	-0.23
173	Aaron Davis	OLB	Colorado St.	72	225	7.15	7.38	-0.23
174	Quandre Diggs	CB	Texas	69	196	6.98	7.22	-0.24
175	Charles Gaines	CB	Louisville	70	180	6.83	7.07	-0.24
176	Ladarius Gunter	CB	Miami	73	202	6.94	7.18	-0.24
177	Chaz Green	OT	Florida	77	314	7.75	8	-0.25
178	Sean Mannion	QB	Oregon St.	78	229	7.04	7.29	-0.25
179	Robert Myers	OG	Tennessee St.	77	326	7.85	8.1	-0.25
180	Edmond Robinson	OLB	Newberry	75	245	7.24	7.49	-0.25
181	Titus Davis	WR	Central Michigan	73	196	6.89	7.14	-0.25
182	Jamison Crowder	WR	Duke	68	185	6.91	7.17	-0.26
183	Austin Shepherd	OT	Alabama	76	315	7.78	8.04	-0.26
184	Ezell Ruffin	WR	San Diego St.	72	218	7.09	7.35	-0.26
185	Anthony Boone	QB	Duke	72	231	7.2	7.47	-0.27
186	Anthony Jefferson	CB	UCLA	73	198	6.9	7.18	-0.28
187	Darius Philon	DT	Arkansas	73	298	7.71	8	-0.29
188	Jamil Douglas	OG	Arizona State	76	304	7.69	7.99	-0.3
189	Laken Tomlinson	OG	Duke	75	323	7.87	8.17	-0.3
190	Josh Harper	WR	Fresno St.	73	191	6.85	7.15	-0.3
191	Brett Boyko	OT	UNLV	79	301	7.6	7.91	-0.31
192	Andrus Peat	OT	Stanford	79	313	7.7	8.01	-0.31
193	Takoby Cofield	OT	Duke	76	310	7.74	8.09	-0.35
194	Max Valles	OLB	Virginia	77	251	7.24	7.59	-0.35
195	Lorenzo Doss	CB	Tulane	70	182	6.84	7.2	-0.36
196	Terrence Magee	RB	LSU	68	213	7.14	7.52	-0.38
197	J.J. Nelson	WR	UAB	70	156	6.63	7.02	-0.39
198	Joey Mbu	DT	Houston	75	313	7.79	8.2	-0.41
199	Martrell Spaight	OLB	Arkansas	72	236	7.24	7.66	-0.42
200	Leon Orr	DT	Florida	77	323	7.83	8.26	-0.43
201	Jahwan Edwards	RB	Ball St.	69	220	7.18	7.63	-0.45
202	John Miller	OG	Louisville	74	303	7.73	8.2	-0.47
203	Rob Crisp	OT	N.C. State	79	301	7.6	8.07	-0.47
204	Donatella Luckett	WR	Harding	72	211	7.03	7.51	-0.48
205	Josue Matias	OG	Florida St.	77	309	7.71	8.19	-0.48
206	Reese Dismukes	C	Auburn	75	296	7.65	8.14	-0.49
207	Rob Havenstein	OT	Wisconsin	79	321	7.76	8.28	-0.52

Some of the more notable athletes from the combine sat out this drill, including Alvin Dupree and Josue Matias.

With Dupree sitting out, perhaps this means Vic Beasley is your true combine champ? Beasley ranked 1st in the bench press, 5th in the vertical jump, 6th in the 40, 6th in the broad jump, and 11th here. Dupree took 1st in the 40 and both jumps, but sat out the bench press and the 3-cone drill.

Otherwise, some players who shined in other drills did not stand out in the 3-cone. Georgia’s Chris Conley dominated the 40 and the jumps, but was actually below-average here. Byron Jones set a combine record in the vertical jump, but ranked just 55th here.

Tagged as: Combine

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