Quarterback
Winners:
Quinn Ewers (Texas) had an incredible performance once they got into the route trees. His touch, ball handling, and accuracy to all levels were almost enough to make you forget he was poor this past season and comes with significant durability concerns. There was a reason why he was the number one recruit over Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and JJ McCarthy in 2021. He has always looked outstanding in these drills.
Riley Leonard (Notre Dame) just won’t turn off. After playing through the National Championship and then going to Mobile right after for Senior Bowl week, Leonard seemed to get better and better at every step. His desire to compete is attractive but the way he threw the ball looked very NFL-caliber and remember, he is one of the best athletes at the position in this class.
Needs Work:
Jalen Milroe (Alabama) did clear up the hand size problem that arose at the Senior Bowl. What did he not clear up? The erratic ball placement. There was not a quarterback that threw more incompletes (against air) and some of them were wide misses. In addition, he didn’t run the forty which was a questionable decision considering how much he stands out in that area.
Running Back
Winners:
Omarion Hampton (North Carolina) came into the weekend as the number two back behind Ashton Jeanty, who did not work out. It’s been that way all season. As we enter the final phase of the grading process, the gap may no longer exist between the two. His 4.46 forty at 221 pounds with a 10’10” broad jump complemented how smooth and elegant he moved in position drills. You won’t get an argument from me if he is your RB1 after this weekend.
Quinshon Judkins (Ohio State) has been checking boxes since entering Herschel Walker territory as a true freshman in the SEC in 2022. One of the most physical backs in the class, Jenkins tested exceptionally well at 221 pounds. He ran a 4.48 forty and his 11-foot broad jump ranked number one among all backs (and third among all backs and receivers).
Needs Work:
Ulysses Bentley (Mississippi) weighed in at just 201 pounds with arms well under 30 inches and small hands. Simply put, he is almost off-the-chart small for the position. A guy like this needs to have a standout athleticism profile. He ran a 4.62 forty and his 32” vertical was second worst at the position.
Wide Receiver
Winners:
Matthew Golden (Texas) would not have been by guess to run the fastest forty in Indianapolis. In fact, I would not have pegged him as the fastest receiver from his college team in Indianapolis. Golden went on to run a 4.29 and called it a day. His tape earned him a first-round grade from Ourlads and this number can bump him up a few spots and contending for WR1.
Jordan Watkins (Mississippi) is a name nobody talks about. He ran a 4.37 forty with a solid 36.5 vertical. It was the repeated quality reps in workouts that drew me in. There was not a receiver there that adjusted to the ball in the air as well as him and he caught everything. By the way, this is a guy that led all of FBS in passer rating when targeted in 2024 with a stunning 153.8.
Needs Work:
Josh Kelly (Texas Tech) needed a solid workout to get his name into the middle round discussion. While speed wasn’t his calling card, the sixth-year senior measured in smaller than expected at 6005 / 186 pounds. His 4.70 forty was by far a position-worst and he jumped just 33”. The combination of those numbers is all-but-guarantee to bring him to undrafted territory.
Tight End
Winners:
Terrance Ferguson (Oregon) has a lot of impressive tape that centers around his ability to catch the ball clean with an immediate burst upfield. His footwork in drills looked excellent and the workout beefed up his status. He ranked first among an impressive group in the forty, ten-yard split, and vertical. All of that with a prototype NFL frame.
Harold Fannin Jr. (Bowling Green) led the nation in yards and catches by a tight end and he did it lining up all over the place, performing well against top competition, and with a unique style of play. I care much less about the forty at this position (4.71) and much more about the 10-yard split (1.56) and 3-cone (6.97). Both elite numbers.
Needs Work:
Bryson Nesbit (North Carolina) entered a tier of combine performance that is never good. He was the second lightest tight end there (238 pounds) and he ran the forty slower than everybody (4.88) besides blocker-only Robbie Ouzts and the injured Gunnar Helm.
Offensive Line
Winners:
Jonah Savaiinaea (Arizona) has had an up and down process since the start of the season, but his movement traits have been the alarm for me. He proved me wrong in the positional drills as I graded him among the top five athletes in that portion of the day. Throw in the comfortable 324 pounds with just under 34” arms and a broad wingspan, he has the look of a guy that could sneak into the first round.
Armand Membou (MissourI) is going to create discussions in draft rooms around the league to be considered the top tackle in the class. On a day that LSU’s Will Campbell impressed with movement traits, it was Membou that looked more athletic and proved to be with his numbers. He ran the fastest forty, had the best broad jump, and the third best vertical. And he isn’t one with length concerns, as his arms measured in at 33 and a half inches.
Needs Work:
Tyler Booker (Alabama) has been getting a tremendous amount of attention ever since Daniel Jeremiah lifted him up. I was not there on him following film study, but the poor workout further cemented that notion. While offensive linemen are not going to win or lose a lot of rows on the position stack from a workout, there is something behind being underwhelmed by his movement on tape and the poor ten-yard split, forty time, jumps, and agility scores. None of his scores are even halfway decent.
Edge
Winners:
Shemar Stewart (Texas A&M) fully delivered on our “look out for” list from last Wednesday’s combine preview. He dropped about 15 pounds (still weighed in at 267) and ran a blazing 4.59 forty with a 40” vertical and 10’11” broad jump. Not only does that create the best physical profile in Indianapolis among defensive linemen, he approached Myles Garrett territory with those numbers. It will be fascinating to see how much the physical upside overshadows the lack of production he had draft weekend.
Landon Jackson (Arkansas) has had stretches of complete dominance over multiple SEC opponents. When people talk about “grading flashes”, Jackson’s four-sack performance versus Alabama in 2023 and seven-pressure game against Mississippi in 2024 are enough to put a day two grade on him. Add in the 6060 /264 frame with an 8358 wingspan (best among edge defenders) and 40.5 vertical / 4.68 forty and you have the profile of a first rounder. No question.
Needs Work:
Ethan Downs (Oklahoma) was a cusp prospect entering the weekend and in such a star-filled group, he had to do something that would stand out. He responded with poor agility scores and below average jumps at 269 pounds. His lack of burst showed up in drills as well.
Defensive Tackle
Winners:
Ty Robinson (Nebraska) made money both with his workout and position drills. For a 6051 / 288-pound stout run defender, his 4.83 forty and elite jumps gave some hope to him tapping into a pass rush skill set at the next level that he occasionally flashed in college.
Jamaree Caldwell (Oregon) is going to prove I do not obsess over the numbers that come out of combine weekend. He measured in with 32” arms and did not have any impressive workout numbers. However just as he did in Mobile during Senior Bowl practices, I was overly impressed by his positional drills. He has a unique blend of bend, mass, and quickness.
Needs Work:
Deone Walker (Kentucky) has been intriguing since the day I started watching him. While I still like what I see on paper, I have a hard time getting behind his potential when watching him move. He is so upright, and he has the legs of a receiver. The-top heavy 331-pounder had very poor jumps and lacked body control in drills.
Linebacker
Winners:
Jihaad Campbell (Alabama) entered the weekend as my top linebacker, and he reinforced that notion with his homerun combine workout. His 3248” arms were the fourth longest and the 4.52 forty was third best. The quick start to his movement showed up in drills as he seemed to hit that top speed in a blink. The one word that came to mind when watching him move was versatile and that carried over from his film.
Kain Medrano (UCLA) was a guy that caught my eye last year when scouting defensive end Laiatu Latu. While his tape lacks consistency, the athleticism and violence stood out. He ran a position-best 4.46 forty with excellent jumps and smooth movement in drills.
Needs Work:
Jay Higgins (Iowa) had a weekend to forget. While the tackle numbers and intangibles are all impressive, he needed a better workout for a guy that was one of the smallest guys in the group. He weighed in at 224 pounds with short arms and ran a position-worst 4.82 forty. In today’s NFL, those are numbers teams just don’t want to draft anywhere before the sixth round if at all.
Cornerback
Winners:
Darien Porter (Iowa State) built off his impressive week in Mobile at the Senior Bowl. He measured in at 6027 / 195 pounds with 33+” arms. He then proceeded to run 4.30 (second best) and jumped out of the building. Usually, long-limbed athletes with straight line speed struggle in agility drills. Not Porter. His 6.71 three-cone and 4.04 short shuttle complete the elite pre-draft process he has had.
Maxwell Hairston (Kentucky) walked away with the fastest forty at the position it matters most. Back in August, I put him in the preseason top 32 and injuries did slow him down during the fall. But coming back strong with this kind of speed and his excellent footwork in drills put him right back in the conversation.
Needs Work:
Trey Amos (Mississippi) will get you a lot of different opinions around the league. Some say round one, others day late day two. Ultimately, he had a solid 4.43 forty but both his 3128 arms and 1.60 ten-yard split are cause for concern. No corner ran a slower ten-yard than him.
Safety
Malaki Starks (Georgia) was the anomaly among both top prospects overall and his college teammates. He did almost everything combine weekend and that feeds into how much of a competitor he is. Starks ran a respectable 4.50 with a standout 1.51 ten-yard split. What he did in drills, notably when making plays on the ball, strengthened my belief how much of a playmaker he can be at the next level. He catches the ball like a receiver.
Nick Emmanwori (South Carolina) may have won the freakiest performance of the weekend award, all positions. He measured in at an oversized 220 pounds but still ran a 4.38 forty with a stunning 43” vertical (best of the weekend) and 11’06” broad jump (best of the weekend). And as the tape has already showed us, he is more than just an athlete.
Needs Work:
Dante Trader Jr. (Maryland) weighed in below the desired threshold of 200 pounds but did not make up for it with a poor 31” vertical or 9’09” broad jump. Those would be below average for a linebacker. Trader also did not look smooth in drills, showing rigid lower body joints.
All Combine Team
These are not the best prospects at each position – just the ones that had the most influential weekends in Indianapolis to improve their stock one last time.
QB: Riley Leonard / Notre Dame
RB: Trevor Etienne / Georgia
WR: Isaac TeSlaa / Arkansas
WR: Jimmy Horn Jr. / Colorado
WR: Jordan Watkins / Mississippi
TE: Terrance Ferguson / Oregon
OT: Armand Membou / Missouri
OT: Jonah Savaiinaea / Arizona
OG: Tate Ratledge / Georgia
OG: Marcus Mbow / Purdue
OC: Eli Cox / Kentucky
ED: Shemar Stewart / Texas A&M
ED: Antwaun Powell-Ryland / Virginia Tech
DT: Ty Robinson / Nebraska
DT: Warren Brinson / Georgia
LB: Demetrius Knight Jr. / South Carolina
LB: Teddye Buchanan / California
DB: Caleb Ransaw / Tulane
CB: Darien Porter / Iowa State
CB: Maxwell Hairston / Kentucky
S: Andrew Mukuba / Texas
S: Nick Emmanwori / South Carolina