The linebackers salvaged what was quickly turning into a thoroughly mediocre opening day at the 2026 scouting combine.

Numerous defensive linemen chose not to run a forty or do drills. The defensive tackles failed to sparkle, with the defensive ends underwhelming with a lack of pure speed, twitch and intrigue.

Then an electric group of linebackers took the field. Explosive testing is critical at this position and many jumped brilliantly. Then they mostly ran solid forty times and 10-yard splits.

Ohio State’s star duo Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles lit up Indianapolis as the headline acts. Along with David Bailey, they also did all of the on-field drills after running a forty.

The fact that so many others stood and watched hinted at an event in crisis. Players are increasingly snubbing this event. Many would rather test and perform in the favourable environment of a pro-day. It’s no longer reasonable to expect them to travel across the country, go through extensive media duties, do long medical checks and then go out and perform late in the day so the NFL can try and make this a ‘prime time’ event.

Meanwhile, for the second year in a row, the turf has had the players slipping around like they’re at the Winter Olympics. We’re a slip away from someone being seriously injured and further damage being done to this under-fire week.

I suspect the combine will just about cling on while some players are prepared to get out there and compete. Some players will always need the boost. Year after year though, the number is decreasing.

The only chance of salvaging things here is to rip up the scheduling plan for players, provide incentives to perform and just rethink things. At the moment this isn’t a scouting event anymore. It’s a legal tampering week, it’s a chance to talk to other teams and you get medicals. Maybe that’s enough to just tick along every year. As someone passionate about this event, having tracked it for nearly 20 years watching every minute of content, it’s sad to see how far it has fallen.

Even John Schneider, for the first time to my knowledge, bailed on the combine before workouts even began. He was back in Seattle today for his radio show on Seattle Sports, appearing from the team facility. More on that in a moment.

Only one defensive end ran a short shuttle. Two others ran a three-cone. Only seven defensive tackles ran a short shuttle.

The following players didn’t run a forty. Those in bold didn’t do any on-field drills:

Keldric Faulk
Rueben Bain Jr
Akheem Mesidor
Zion Young
Caden Curry
Gabe Jacas
Joshua Josephs
Derrick Moore
Keyron Crawford
Peter Woods
Kayden McDonald
Domonique Orange
Darrell Jackson Jr
Zxavian Harris
Rayshaun Benny
CJ Allen
Kendal Daniels
Josiah Trotter
Harold Perkins
Bryce Boettcher
Dontae Lawson
Jimmy Rolder

The lasting thought of the day

Watching the defensive linemen reaffirmed an opinion I’ve had since October. This is not a good draft. People will try and talk it up. I know a highly respected scout who will always say, ‘there’s no such thing as a bad draft.’

In this instance, I beg to differ.

We’ve still got three more days to go and perhaps other position groups will shine? It’s a deeper crop of receivers and there’s some depth at cornerback.

Yet I’m sat here tonight with absolutely no idea what the Seahawks should do at #32. I suspect they’ve been busy checking in on trades and will be more than willing to move that pick. It won’t be a shock if they make a deal in the coming days.

They won’t be alone. There’s a very small pool of worthy first round prospects and by the time you get into the second half of round one, ouch.

With Brady Henderson noting today in a great conversation with Dan Viens that there’s a less than 50% chance of Ken Walker returning, I wonder if they’ll move #32 in a trade and then perhaps the next pick goes on a Walker replacement? Would Jadarian Price last? Probably not. Mike Washington Jr could be in play though in round two. Watch out for his workout this weekend.

Either way, increasingly I think the Seahawks might ‘2021’ this draft. That is a reference to the year they only used three picks and didn’t feel obliged to trade down to acquire more stock. We might see something similar this year.

I would suggest Schneider not being present for the workouts in Indianapolis might be a hint that they don’t intend to be investing much in this class — with attentions turning to retaining their own players and making a significant addition via trade.

Defensive tackle review

Let’s start with the positives. Caleb Banks is a rare human being. You don’t see many people on planet Earth who are 6-6 and 327lbs with 10 7/8 hands and 35-inch arms. He then jumped a 32-inch vertical and a 9-6 broad before running a very reasonable 5.05.

He left positional drills after the opening act (the wave) complaining that his shoes hurt. It summed up the opening session really.

Undersized players with physical limitations in terms of length impressed such as Zane Durant and Gracen Halton yet both have sub-32 inch arms.

Apart from that it was an incredibly average session. The NFL Network focused most of its attention on Lee Hunter — who has bizarrely been promoted way beyond his status after a middling Senior Bowl.

Hunter, who has a top-heavy frame, is carrying a little too much bad weight and has very skinny legs, managed only a 21.5 inch vertical and an 8-4 broad jump. You are not going to win many battles in the trenches with such weak explosive testing results. He doesn’t look the part.

This barely got a mention though, as Hunter played to the cameras and generally seemed to be smiling and enjoying himself. The truth is, Daniel Jeremiah’s ranking of Hunter as the top defensive tackle in the draft was exposed today.

Peter Woods of Clemson robbed us of finding out whether he could put on the show Bruce Feldman’s ‘freaks list’ had been predicting. I have to go back and re-think my view on Kayden McDonald. He didn’t run and I thought during drills he lacked sparkle.

Darrell Jackson looked like he could go out right now and play a game for the ‘Dark Side’ with his frame. He’s 6-5, 314lbs, has nearly 35-inch arms and 11-inch hands. He has minimal body fat for a defensive tackle and looks like a ‘get off the bus first’ type. He didn’t show the best change of direction during drills though and there are some reported character question marks.

The Seahawks will be pleased they don’t desperately need a defensive tackle. The one to covet from today — Banks — surely has no chance of lasting to #32 unless the medical checks are not good.

Defensive end review

There’s arguably no better review of this draft class than the attempt to polish up this group of defensive ends.

It’s a group of non-ideals. Players with incredibly short arms, or a lack of twitch, or poor testing. There’s hardly anyone you’d bang the table for.

I’ve been predicting for two weeks that Miami duo Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor wouldn’t test or compete. The media, and perhaps the league, has settled on their performances being enough within a bad class to think, ‘what the heck, we’ll take one of them’.

Yet Bain is 6-2, 263lbs with 30 7/8 inch arms and 9 1/8 inch hands. Where do you play him? What is he? Some in the league thought he’d need to kick inside. Not at 263lbs. So is he now an EDGE with a preposterous lack of length? Meanwhile Mesidor — who turns 25 this year — has only 32 1/8 inch arms at 6-3, 259lbs.

In most years the NFL would probably let both drop to round two where the risk factor is reduced. They might both be top-20 picks this year, yet the list of players succeeding with their measurables is extremely limited. And we have no testing numbers to ease the size/length concerns.

Cashius Howell is often talked up as a first rounder too. He has 30 1/4 inch arms on a 6-2, 253lbs frame. He is going to find it so difficult to keep blockers off his frame, win with his hands and set the edge vs the run. His 10-yard split of 1.58 is good but he’ll always be relying on quickness. He might be a situational pass rusher. What is that worth in the draft?

Keldric Faulk looked a bit stiff in his movements during drills. Zion Young — who didn’t run, amid concerns about his speed after GPS tracking showed he was slower at the Senior Bowl than LJ Collier, looked so laboured during his pass rush drill through the bags and figure-of-eight.

The whole viewing experience felt like we were going through the motions.

There were some positives. Malachi Lawrence had a great work out. I wrote about the UCF pass rusher in my first batch of scouting notes. Here’s a refresher:

A truly dynamic edge rusher with the skills to get to the quarterback — but there are question marks about his every down viability due to his run defense. Even so, when he attacks the edge he shows a level of dynamism most others don’t in this class — plus he has a good repertoire of moves. He is a skilled and dangerous pass rusher.

He’s 6-4, 247lbs with 33.5 inch arms. He has consistent production with 20 sacks in three seasons, plus 93 pressures. His win rate is 19.2% this season and it was 22.7% last season.

Lawrence knows how to use his length, extending his arms to keep blockers off his frame. He’s very capable of attacking from a wide-9 angle to bend the arc. He also shows signs of an inside counter.

He’s slippery to get around sub-standard college left tackles. When the run game flows wide he can work down the line and positions himself well. However, run defense is not a plus point generally if asked to seal edge or anchor.
When he can run to the ball-carrier he’s a forceful tackler. He’s shown evidence of exploding off the snap and hammering linemen. He has dumped blockers on their back.

Lawrence attacks taller blockers by getting low and driving his arms upwards to gain leverage. His straight arm shows he can drive blockers into the pocket. He can chop away at the arms of blockers to avoid contact and can also rip through. As noted, he has an assortment of moves to attack blockers with and his bend is better than most EDGE rushers in this class.

He plays with a high motor and he lined up everywhere including inside (30 snaps in 2025). There is a player here, he is intriguing. The question is whether his run defense can improve or does he have to be a situational rusher?
There’s a chance with good testing he works into the top-50. I’m surprised he ended up at the Shrine Bowl rather than the Senior Bowl. Even if he does just end up rushing situational, he’s intriguing.

Lawrence might not just go in the top-50 at this rate. In this kind of draft, with so few appealing options, he might go in the late first.

He looked far sharper than most. He managed a good 1.59 10-yard split, he jumped a 40-inch vertical and a 10-10 broad. He’s 6-4, 253lbs and has 33.5-inch arms. He’s one of the few pass-rushers who actually ticks all the boxes for size, length, speed and explosive traits.

Dani Dennis-Sutton had a good day, including a 4.63 forty at 256lbs with a 1.63 split. He jumped a 39.5 inch vertical, a 10-11 broad and ran a 6.90 three-cone. He’s an interesting player for the middle rounds.

David Bailey had a good work out and credit to him — he didn’t have to run and do all of the positional drills but he did. I am still not sold on his body type. He doesn’t look like an obvious elite pass-rusher with that frame. His testing was decent but nothing special — a 1.62 10-yard split, a 35-inch vertical. Is this really your second overall pick as some believe (I don’t)?

It’s very hard to get excited about this group, short of Lawrence who still has flaws against the run.

Linebacker review

This was a lot better. Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles lifted the combine gloom with complete workouts both in terms of actually bothering to do everything on the field and producing excellent results.

Reese — who can play the EDGE or off-the-ball — ran a 4.47 with a 1.58 10-yard split. He looked incredibly smooth, natural and loose with his movements. It’s a shame for him but his reward could be going to the Jets with the #2 pick.

Styles — who is 6-5 and 244lbs — jumped a 43.5 inch vertical and an 11-2 broad. He ran a 4.46 with a 1.56 10-yard split. He also looked great on the field and undoubtedly secured a place in the top-12. He will not get past Dallas as a floor.

Several other linebackers performed well too.

Kyle Louis, just as Drew Fabianich told us yesterday, does not look 220lbs. He is muscular and thick and yet so explosive. Remember — the league sees explosive traits as important for linebackers. Vertical, broad and bench — these are key tests. Louis jumped a 40 in the vertical, a 10-9 in the broad and ran a 4.53. A great day for a quality player.

Kaleb Ellarms-Orr, Jake Golday and Jacob Rodriguez also impressed. There were others I can mention too. The positional drills were far more exciting, quick and dynamic. The linebackers made up for the disappointment of the D-liners.