2025 NFL Scouting Combine: Top Draft Takeaways from DL & LB On-Field Workouts

The NFL Scouting Combine often serves as a reminder. Even with multiple high-level prospects choosing not to participate in on-field workouts, a handful of names reasserted themselves as as top options, starting with Tennessee's James Pearce Jr., Oregon's Derrick Harmon and Arkansas' Landon Jackson.

The combine is meant to serve as confirmation for what everyone saw throughout an individual's collegiate career. Outlier performances force evaluators to go back to the tape and reconcile a surprise athletic profile, good or bad.

Yes, Texas' A&M's Shemar Stewart is an exceptional athlete. But he was expected to be long before he stepped onto the field at Lucas Oil Stadium. Concerns found within his assessment didn't change simply by a good workout.

The Bleacher Report Scouting Department's Matt Holder was in the stadium to break down Thursday's workouts. He highlighted prospects at defensive tackle, edge and linebacker who either impressed or fell short of expectations. For all stats from the Combine, check out the NFL's Next Gen Stats.

Defensive Tackles

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Oregon defensive tackle Derrick Harmon

Derrick Harmon, Oregon

An argument could be made that Harmon emerged as the biggest winner among the defensive tackles in Indianapolis. He started by clocking a 4.95-second 40-yard dash (with a 1.74 10-yard split), while weighing 313 pounds.

A sub-five-second 40-time is impressive at that size, and he consistently looked good in the untimed position-specific drills. The performance should solidify the former Duck as one of the best defensive tackles in this year’s class and firmly place him in the draft's first round.

Darius Alexander, Toledo

Alexander has been on the rise since putting together an impressive performance at the Senior Bowl, which continued at the combine. He recorded the fifth-best 40-time (4.95 seconds) at his position and was fourth-best in the 10-yard split (1.72).

On top of that, the former Rocket looked smooth and quick during the position drills to continue building the momentum he created last month.

CJ West, Indiana

West tied for the second-best Athleticism score (86) among all defensive linemen, per Next Gen Stats, which included a 4.95-second 40-yard dash (1.73 10-yard split) and 33-inch vertical. He also looked smooth and quick during the untimed position drills to build up some stock heading into April.

Jordan Phillips, Maryland

The combine isn’t exactly built for nose tackles to shine, but Phillips showed some impressive quickness and movement skills to potentially turn some heads. However, that didn’t come to fruition as he stumbled several times and didn’t look nearly as fluid in the position-specific drills.

These missteps shouldn’t impact his draft stock much given his position, but it was disappointing not to see the Maryland product stand out as much as he could have.

Edge-Rushers

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Arkansas defensive end Landon Jackson

James Pearce Jr., Tennessee

Pearce was the only defensive lineman to run a sub-4.5-second 40-yard dash, leading all edge-rushers by a full tenth of a second at 4.47. Even better, his 10-yard split topped the position group at 1.56 seconds.

The Tennessee product also had an impressive 10’3” broad jump and consistently stood out in the untimed position drills, showing off his smooth movement skills. For someone whose draft stock has been sliding recently, this was the exact performance Pearce needed to help his cause.

Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M

Stewart weighed in significantly lighter than what he was at the Senior Bowl. Still, a a 4.59-second 40-yard dash with 1.58-second 10-yard split at 267 pounds is very impressive. He also jumped out of the building with a 40” vertical (second-best among edge prospects) and 10’11” broad jump (No. 1 among his position group).

The Texas A&M product also looked good in the position drills before tweaking a hamstring.

Landon Jackson, Arkansas

Questions about Jackson’s athleticism existed in the past. However, he made tremendous strides toward killing that particular narrative. He clocked a solid 4.68-secodn effort in the 40-yard dash, while weighing 264 pounds. More impressively, the Arkansas product led his position with a 40.5-inch vertical and ranked second in the broad jump at 10’9”.

Those numbers earned an 86 Athleticism score, the top mark among edge defenders, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

Princely Umanmielen, Ole Miss

Umanmielen had an impressive 10’6” broad jump and 38-inch vertical, but his performance skewed toward disappointing. He’s shown the ability to win with speed around the edge as a pass-rusher but clocked an underwhelming 4.72-second 40 time. Also, the Ole Miss product was up and down in the untimed position drills.

Kyle Kennard, South Carolina

Kennard had a productive campaign by winning with speed and athleticism around the edge. However, the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year had an underwhelming performance in Indianapolis, highlighted by a 4.73-second 40-yard-dash timing and a 69 Combine IQ athleticism score, which ranked 19^th among edge defenders.

As such, Kennard's draft stock should take a hit.

Linebackers

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Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell

Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma

Stutsman has almost become a forgotten prospect among this year’s linebacker class. But he reminded people why he should be considered one of the top prospects at his position in the 2025 class, with a 4.52-second 40-yard dash and a 78 athleticism score, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

Speed and athleticism were potential concerns for the Oklahoma product, but he did a great job of destroying those narratives with the above efforts.

Jihaad Campbell, Alabama

Campbell's ability to run was never in doubt, but assigning a number to his speed places everything into context while ranking third among linebackers with a 4.52 40-yard dash confirms the narrative.

The Alabama product also ranked second with a 10’7” broad jump to help tie for the second-best Athleticism score (82).

While the combine just affirmed preconceived notions about Campbell, he managed to check the box, which in turn likely earns him a spot in April's first round.

Jay Higgins, Iowa

Higgins’ tape is a lot of fun to watch, as he’s an impressive downhill run defender. However, questions remain about how his game will translate to the next level due to a lack of speed and athleticism, which were both confirmed in Indy. 

The former Hawkeye had the lowest combine IQ athleticism score among linebackers by nearly 10 points, with a mark of 52 while clocking a 4.82-second 40-yard dash, the slowest time of the position group.