On-field workouts at the NFL Scouting Combine officially kicked off Thursday in Indianapolis with the linebackers, edge rushers and defensive tackles taking their turns in front of scouts, coaches and general managers.
In all, 319 NFL draft prospects were invited to the combine — the most important of all pre-draft showcases where players can dramatically swing their draft stock with field work, testing numbers and meetings with NFL teams.
The combine continues through the weekend with defensive backs and tight ends taking the field Friday, quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs going Saturday and offensive linemen wrapping it up Sunday.
The event is televised on NFL Network starting at 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. the next two days, but make sure to get plenty of rest before locking in for the action — as New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn learned Thursday, it can make for a long day.
Thursday’s action was actually more interesting than that would indicate, though. Here were the five most notable takeaways from the day.
1. Ohio State LB Sonny Styles Sets Records
It’s fairly common for top draft prospects to bypass the testing and field work at the combine when they’re already considered locks to be selected early in the first round of the draft.
The thinking being that further exposure or a slip-up could only ding a player’s draft stock in that case.
But Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles had no such concerns.
While fellow top linebacker prospect CJ Allen, from Georgia, took the other route and opted out of workouts in Indianapolis — along with other notables like Miami EDGEs Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor and Clemson DT Peter Woods — Styles may have somehow vaulted his already sky-high draft stock even further with his performance Thursday.
It started with historic testing numbers.
Per ESPN, Styles’ 43.5-inch vertical jump was the highest by an off-ball linebacker at the combine since 2003 and the second-highest by any linebacker in that span behind Cameron Wake’s 45.5-inch jump in 2005.
That set the football world abuzz as comparisons started flying on social media trying to put Styles’ vertical jump in context, with many noting that it was better than even freakish 6-foot-5 Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson’s 42.5-inch vertical at the 2007 combine.
That wasn’t all, though.
Styles’ 4.46-second 40-yard dash time tied his Ohio State teammate Arvell Reese for the fastest among all players Thursday, and his 11-foot, 2-inch broad jump was the best of the day as well.
According to NFL.com and NFL Research, the only better broad jump performances by linebackers at the combine in recent history were Jamie Collins (11-7 in 2013), Bud Dupree (11-6 in 2015) and Willie Gay Jr. (11-4 in 2020), while the 6-foot-5, 244-pound Styles is the only combine participant to run a sub-4.5 40-yard dash with a vertical of 40+ inches and a broad jump of 11+ feet at 230 or more pounds since 2003.
Again, the comparisons to players at other positions were rampant on social media in trying to contextualize just how elite Styles’ performance was Thursday.
Styles totaled 117 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, an interception, 8 passes defended and 2 forced fumbles over the last two seasons for Ohio State.
He was already expected to be one of the first defensive players drafted, with ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. projecting the Buckeyes star No. 7 overall to the Washington Commanders. It’s possible he goes even higher now.
2. Size Matters
Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. and Texas A&M’s Cashius Howell were two of the most productive and decorated defensive ends in college football this past season.
Bain, a second-team AP All-America selection, was the star of a defense that led the Hurricanes to the national championship game, posting 54 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and 83 total pressures, per PFF. That last number led all college defensive ends, albeit in 16 games played.
Howell was a first-team AP All-America pick, meanwhile, with 31 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, 6 pass deflections, a forced fumble and 41 total pressures (per PFF) while helping the Aggies to the College Football Playoff.
Unfortunately for both, the biggest buzz they generated at the combine this week was for the length of their arm measurements.
NFL talent evaluators tend to get hung up on prototypical standards and put weight on such things as unusually short arms, so it will be interesting to see how this impacts Bain and Howell in the draft.
In his pre-combine mock draft, Kiper projected Bain to the Cincinnati Bengals at No. 10 overall with Howell falling out of the first round.
Arm length for linemen became a prominent talking point last season with offensive tackle Will Campbell, whose 32 5/8-inch arm measurement was on the short end for the position. The New England Patriots nonetheless drafted the LSU standout No. 4 overall, but Campbell struggled significantly as a rookie left tackle while having his worst game in the biggest spotlight in the Patriots’ Super Bowl loss.
While they are different positions, the Campbell factor may be applied to the evaluations for Bain and Howell as well.
Bain opted out of combine workouts while Howell helped himself in the testing, running a 4.6-second 40 with a 1.59-second 10-yard split. Per ESPN, that ranks in the 88th and 87th percentile, respectively, for edge rushers since 1999.
3. Top Testing Numbers Thursday At NFL Combine
Styles was the most impressive of any combine participant Thursday, but others maximized the moment as well with strong testing numbers. Here were other notables among the linebackers and defensive linemen.
Top 40-yard dash times Thursday:
T1. Ohio State LB Sonny Styles – 4.46 seconds
T1. Ohio State LB/OLB Arvell Reese – 4.46
3. TCU LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr – 4.47
4. Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey – 4.50
5. Texas LB Anthony Hill Jr. – 4.51
Top vertical jumps:
1. Ohio State LB Sonny Styles – 43.5 inches
2. Florida EDGE George Gumbs Jr. – 41.0
T3. TCU LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr – 40.0
T3. UCF EDGE Malachi Lawrence – 40.0
T3. Wisconsin EDGE Mason Reiger – 40.0
T3. Iowa LB Karson Sharar – 40.0
Top broad jumps:
1. Ohio State LB Sonny Styles – 11 feet, 2 inches
2. Penn State EDGE Dani Dennis-Sutton – 10’11”
3. UCF EDGE Malachi Lawrence – 10’10”
T4. Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey – 10’9”
T4. Pittsburgh LB Kyle Louis – 10’9”
Top bench press reps:
1. Kentucky DT David Gusta – 37
T2. Illinois EDGE Gabe Jacas – 30
T2. Oklahoma DT Damonic Williams – 30
4. Florida EDGE Tyreak Sapp – 28
T5. Texas Tech DT Skyler Gill-Howard – 27
T5. Missouri LB Josiah Trotter – 27
4. Maximizing The Pre-Draft Process So Far
For some prospects, the pre-draft process is more about affirming the profile that had been built over multiple seasons — a final period to adjust the evaluation a little bit one way or the other.
For other NFL hopefuls, the pre-draft buildup is everything, from Senior Bowl or Shrine Bowl opportunities to the NFL Scouting Combine and schools’ own Pro Days.
Pittsburgh linebacker Kyle Louis and UCF edge Malachi Lawrence are those players.
A second-team All-ACC selection in 2025, Louis wasn’t exactly off the radar after two highly productive seasons for the Panthers. He totaled 182 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, 6 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles over the last two years.
But the 6-foot, 200-pound linebacker really vaulted his draft stock through his work at the Senior Bowl last month and a strong showing at the combine Thursday with a 4.57-second 40-yard dash, a 39.5-inch vertical jump and a 10’9” broad jump.
Louis looks set to be a second-day draft pick — it just remains to be seen how high he climbs.
As for Lawrence, the 6-foot-4, 253-pound edge rusher totaled 72 tackles, 28 tackles for loss and 20 sacks over the last three seasons for UCF, perhaps flying under the radar with the Knights posting three straight losing seasons in that span.
But Lawrence’s combine performance Thursday has his draft stock soaring.
5. Hidden Gem No More
In the transfer portal era of college football, it’s far more likely a player shines at a lower level and then transfers up to the FBS spotlight to boost their draft potential rather than being drafted directly from the FCS level.
But eight FCS players were selected in the 2025 NFL Draft and more will follow this year.
Once such prospect who shined Thursday was Southeast Louisiana defensive tackle Kaleb Proctor.
The 6-foot-2, 291-pound FCS standout may be a gem but he’s no longer hidden. Coming into the combine, Kiper ranked him the No. 10 overall DT prospect in this draft class, after a career-best season in which Proctor put up 13 tackles for loss and 9 sacks in 13 games.
He generated positive buzz at the Shrine Bowl and then on Thursday ran a 4.79-second 40 — the second-best by a DT behind Penn State’s Zane Durant — with a 33-inch vertical jump and 9 1/2 foot broad jump, which were both top 5 among DTs.
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