A safety who worked his way from an undrafted rookie to a starter in Minnesota, Abdullah surprised many in NFL when he hit the pause button on his football career at the age of 27 to fulfill a spiritual and family commitment last year. He is back in the NFL after signing with the Kansas City Chiefs in February.

"It was totally worth it," Abdullah said in a phone interview this week. "It was life-changing, energizing and spiritual ... Now I am back and I feel great about everything moving forward."

I think there’s another potential test case in the draft this year, but on the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to the dilemma of prototypical skills vs. prototypical measurements. The lead actor in this draft-day drama could be Knile Davis. If an NFL team selects Davis in the first three rounds of this draft, it will be a telling indication that they relied more on Davis’ Combine performance –- and to some degree sabermetrics –- than the opinions of scouts and draft analysts who lean hard on the game tape.