INDIANAPOLIS — Though the top 30 of Dane Brugler’s Big Board is dominated by defensive front prospects, offensive linemen still put on quite a show at last week’s NFL combine in Indianapolis.
This proved to be the fastest group of O-linemen the scouting combine has ever had, according to the NFL Network. Five linemen clocked 4.98 seconds in the 40-yard dash or faster, including a 4.84 for Georgia’s Jared Wilson. Several scouts I visited with during the week were excited about this group, and their top prospects really delivered.
Five of my top 40 Freaks List guys from last season are O-linemen who were in Indy: Minnesota’s Aireontae Ersery (No. 25); Ohio State’s Donovan Jackson (No. 26); LSU’s Will Campbell (No. 32); Arizona’s Jonah Savaiinaea (No. 37); and Missouri’s Armand Membou (No. 39). Jackson didn’t test, but the other four did, and they were excellent. Jackson, though, shined in his interviews, I’m told.
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Campbell is one of the surest things in this draft. At 6 feet 6, 319 pounds, he ran a 4.98 40, had a 32-inch vertical jump and went 9 feet, 5 inches in the broad jump. Coaches I spoke to love his heavy hands and think he is excellent in the run game. Despite questions about his short arms (they were measured at 32 5/8 inches), they felt like his feet were quick enough to pass block on the edge in the NFL. He hit the top speed of all O-linemen in Indy when he went 16.47 mph at 10 yards, according to Next Gen Stats.
Membou’s stock should surge after this week (although it’s already very high). Scouts love his upside because he’s so athletic and explosive; they think he will be elite in an outside zone scheme. A lot of people talked about how they projected him as a guard in the NFL, but NFL personnel I spoke with think he can excel at tackle. At 6-4, 332, he vertical jumped 34 inches and broad jumped 9-7 (tops among all offensive linemen). He also ran a 4.91 40. All of those are truly elite numbers. Savaiinaea, at 6-4, 324, moved a little better than many expected, running a 4.95 40, and was tied for the second-fastest 10-yard split at 1.72.
Ersery is an intriguing talent. He’s enormous at 6-6, 331. He didn’t come close to matching the 1.52 10-yard split the coaches at Minnesota had him running last offseason. He ran 1.75 in Indy, but his 5.01 40 time is still very impressive for a guy that size. Only two other OT prospects of 330-plus pounds produced a sub-5.05 40 time and jumped over 9 feet in the broad jump in the past decade: Membou and Darnell Wright in 2023. Ersery broad jumped 9-3 and vertical jumped 29.5 inches.
The other O-lineman I hear has a lot of love from NFL coaches is North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel. Even though the 6-6, 312-pounder was the left tackle for the Bison, he’s expected to slide inside to center or guard. His arm length of 32 inches isn’t ideal for playing outside, but coaches love his versatility and think he has great balance and toughness. He rarely seems to get in a bad position. His work during the week at the Senior Bowl turned heads. Hitting 36 1/2 inches in the vertical jump at the combine only helps boost his stock. There have been only two other offensive linemen since 2013 (when the NFL began tracking the official jump numbers) who have jumped higher than Zabel.
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Who is QB3 in the draft?
Without Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders throwing in Indy, it created an opportunity for one of the other quarterbacks to generate some buzz. It feels like Ole Miss’ Jaxson Dart is the best bet to become the third quarterback. I know coaches love his toughness. He was sharp Saturday, letting it rip. He looks very comfortable. I don’t know if someone jumps up to take him in the first round, but in a weak QB crop, it seems like there’s plenty of interest in him. Louisville’s Tyler Shough is another who intrigues a lot of NFL folks because of his physical skill set. He has a live arm, runs really well and has good size. But Shough will be 26 in the fall and has a lengthy injury history.
As for the chatter on the top QB: All of the NFL coaches I spoke to who had an opinion on Ward or Sanders were more interested in Ward. He has a bigger arm, is more of a playmaker and gets the ball out quickly. His turnover issues are a concern, as is his penchant for looking nonchalant at times, but one coach said he also sees a QB playing with extreme confidence.
One NFL coach I talked to gave credit to Sanders for playing in Colorado’s bowl game against BYU, but it was not a good showing for the Buffaloes QB as his team got blown out in the Alamo Bowl.
Two wildcard QBs who will be interesting to follow in the draft: Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Notre Dame’s Riley Leonard. Milroe is blazing fast. (Watch him in 2023 against LSU to witness some spectacular acceleration). He told an NFL coaching staff in one of his meetings last week that he thinks he’d run the 40 in 4.3, but that he wasn’t going to run it in Indy. The staff was curious why Milroe wouldn’t run, because they told him, if he did run that, he’d wow scouts and might boost his stock by a round. Milroe also has a powerful arm, and coaches in the NFL have heard great things about his work ethic, but his consistency is a concern.
Leonard is the other dual-threat QB who might go higher than some predict. “He’s a lot bigger than you think, and a lot faster than people think,” said an NFL offensive coordinator. “Is he accurate enough to eventually be an NFL starter? That, I’m not seeing, but maybe he can get there.”
Texas standouts in Indianapolis
Kelvin Banks Jr. is another projected first-round offensive lineman. He did not put up eye-popping testing numbers, but he was mentioned by a few personnel people for his work in the run game and for his quickness. But it was a trio of other Longhorns products that I want to spotlight.
Matthew Golden has average size for a wideout at 5-11, 192, but he turned heads running a 4.29 40 with a 1.49 10-yard split. One NFL coach texted me saying he is a big Golden fan and was hoping he wouldn’t run that fast because he thought Golden was being undervalued in the draft community: “He’s razor-sharp getting in and out of his cuts and he plays a lot bigger than his size. I like him more than their two WRs last year (Xavier Worthy and AD Mitchell). He’s the best route runner in this draft. He looks like one of those Ohio State (receiver) products.”
Jahdae Barron, at 5-11, 194 pounds, doesn’t have ideal length (his arms measured 29 5/8 inches), but he ran well with a 4.39 40 and 1.5 10-yard split. His name came up a lot with the coaches I talked to. The book on him: “Excellent ball skills … instinctive… very savvy. Gritty in the run game. Lots of versatility in the secondary.”
Quinn Ewers came out of high school as the top-rated quarterback in the history of the online recruiting rankings. Ewers had a solid career at Texas but is a polarizing prospect. He’s not in Brugler’s top 100 prospects, but he had a good week in Indy as he tries to show that he’s better than he looked after returning from an oblique injury that he played with for much of 2024. His ball had some good zip on it Saturday in his throwing session, and he also showed the ability to fire the ball downfield.
Travis Hunter didn’t test in Indianapolis, but he still left some great impressions. (Photo: Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Hunting for Travis
Colorado star Travis Hunter didn’t test, but he still made a big impression. One veteran NFL coach came away a big fan after meeting him in interviews. The two-way star was told in the meeting with that team that he probably wouldn’t be there when it was their turn to pick. Hunter smiled back and said, “You know, if you trade up into the No. 1 spot, then you can get me.”
One NFL DB coach I spoke to said he expects Hunter to play defense: “I think he’d be a good NFL receiver. I think he can be a great NFL corner because he’s so instinctive and so quick and has great ball skills.”
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Quick hits
• By now, everyone knows I’m the biggest Nick Emmanwori fan in the country. The South Carolina safety was my No. 1 combine Freaks guy, and he made me look less stupid. At 6-3, 220, he ran a 4.38 40 with a 1.49 10-yard split that was tied for the fastest in Indy. He jumped better than everyone there, going 11-6 in the broad jump and 43 inches in the vertical. But he is much more than just a freak athlete, his tape is good. NFL coaches are getting increasingly impressed. He can play in the box and has good ball skills. He does miss some tackles, but the Derwin James comparison comes up a lot now.
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Going into Indy, an NFL DBs coach told me he thought Emmanwori would go in the bottom of the first round or top of the second round. After this week, I’ll be stunned if he’s not grabbed in the first round.
• Another freaky DB who helped himself a lot in Indy is Iowa State CB Darien Porter. He’s almost 6-3, weighs 195 pounds and ran a 4.30 40 with a 1.49-second 10-yard split and a 10-foot, 11-inch broad jump. Tony Villani from XPE Sports, who has trained more elite football players than probably anyone in the last two decades, told me before the workouts that he was expecting Porter to put on a show, and he did just that.
• It was also a great week for the two Iowa State receivers, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. Higgins at 6-4, 214, is the tall one, but he was faster than many expected, going 4.47 in the 40 with a 1.53 10-yard split. He also jumped 39 inches. His teammate was even faster, going 4.39 with a 41 1/2-inch vertical jump. The 5-10, 192 Noel also broad-jumped 11-2. He’s an explosive, strong dude who did 23 reps on the bench press and crushed the on-field drills.
• Tennessee’s James Pearce and Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart also showed up in Indy. Pearce ran 4.47 in the 40 at 6-5, 245. That’s special. He has nice moves as a pass rusher. He’s not just a pure speed guy. There’s some concern about his maturity, but his talent merits first-round consideration.
Stewart, at 6-5, 267, is much bigger and every bit as explosive. He had a 10-11 broad jump and a 40-inch vertical. Spectacular numbers to go with a 4.59 40 and his 10-yard split was just a shade behind Pearce’s 1.56, at 1.58. The question with Stewart: He managed only 4 1/2 sacks in 37 games in college.
“He’s more disruptive than that, but he still should’ve made a lot more plays,” said one NFL D-line coach. “I think he has the tools to be pretty special. (But) can you get it out of him?”
• Oregon’s Derrick Harmon was the most impressive of the three Ducks D-linemen in Indy, but it’s a strong trio. At 6-4 1/2, 313, Harmon ran a 4.95 40 and was exceptional in the on-field drills.
• It may not have been a good year for Alabama, but don’t blame Jihaad Campbell. NFL coaches were very high on him coming into the combine based on his film, and his stock should only continue to rise. He ran 4.52 40 at 235 and broad jumped 10-7. He looked exceptional in the on-field drills. The only question with him seems to be if he is more of a fit as an off-ball linebacker or as an edge rusher.
• Everyone I talked to seems to be very high on Malaki Starks. His film is good but his on-field workout in Indy was probably even more impressive. It was a disappointing year for Georgia, but the Bulldogs defense will be well-represented in the first round of this year’s draft. Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams also are viewed as elite talents.
(Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
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