The amount of players testing and actually doing physical activities at the NFL scouting combine has dwindled in recent years as prospects have attempted to put their best foot forward at the friendly confines of their college pro days and/or private workouts, or they’ve just opted out altogether. Even among players who do test, there’s a decreasing amount of players opting in for every type of on-field drill. This isn’t me being an old man yelling at clouds; it’s just what is happening and something I completely understand from a player’s perspective as they attempt to rein in some control of the biggest job interviews of their lives. The off-field process, which includes the literal interview portion, carries a good deal of weight as potential (and hopefully fruitful) marriages between player and franchise start to form. The NFL combine has always been as much about the player-team interviews and medical testing as it has been about the on-field spectacle that has now become a prime-time event with actual live crowds.
This class has a lot more good than great in it, and it also has a real lack of consensus among evaluators at just about every position. Even the ones with solidified first options, like quarterback and running back, there are plenty of arguments to be made about how the rest of their positions stack up behind them. As the NFL roadshow moves to Indianapolis for this year’s combine and draft season starts ramping up, here are a handful of players whose results I’m keeping an eye on. And that applies whether those results are with their on-field testing, medical testing, or teams making them take character tests about whether they are a cat or dog or reptile person.
Monroe Freeling, OT, Georgia
Freeling was on the fence of even declaring for this year’s draft, but after the combine wraps up, he might be feeling pretty giddy that he did decide to throw his hat into the ring. Freeling’s film in the second-half of the year has had him shooting up draft boards, including my own. He’s a great athlete, at 6-foot-7, with a large frame that hints at his basketball-playing background. It’s a frame that he still has room to continue to grow into, too. Freeling’s strength and ability to anchor against stronger pass rushers greatly improved as the 2025 season wore on, all while he was still able to nimbly move to the second level or as a puller in space. His balance is truly a strong point of his game. In a wide open offensive tackle class that has plenty of interesting names (including another one in a moment), Freeling has been labeled a project by some, but his film is much stronger than that. He has a chance to vault himself to the top of some boards with a strong display of athletic testing and during team interviews. I’m already leaning that way as it is.
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Max Iheanachor, OT, Arizona State
I had to cut myself off at just two offensive linemen because everyone should be watching this whole class, including the Utah duo of Caleb Lomu and Spencer Fano, both of whom could help themselves by showing weight gains. But both are as athletic as they’ve displayed on film (I still prefer Lomu). Kadyn Proctor is a massive tackle prospect out of Alabama, with the typically associated positives (strength and overwhelming defenders in the run game) and negatives (sheer size limits his ability in pass protection against speedier pass rushers) for being so big. He can help himself just by having a good showing at weigh-ins.
Iheanachor is a tackle who was a JUCO transfer and a late comer to football. He had a great week of practices in Mobile at this year’s Senior Bowl, and his film is more polished than you’d assume for a player who can easily get labeled as a faraway project. He has great size with real length and flashes like an explosive athlete. I’m already viewing him as a top-30 player, and if he has a strong week of testing to back up his rise over the past several months, then his stock could keep rising.
Denzel Boston, WR, Washington
I’m a fan of Boston, a big receiver who has the size and catching range of a player who can consistently win in isolated situations at the next level. If he runs well (or at all) at the combine, he can help dispel any concerns about his speed and overall athleticism.
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Makai Lemon, WR, USC
Lemon is a demon from the slot who has question marks on his size and just how consistently he can align and win from the outside at the next level. Lemon shows off plenty of twitch and can play much bigger than his size at the catch point. But how he measures in terms of height, weight, and arm length will do as much to solidify his stock as anything else he does on the field.
Which prospects are going to separate themselves next week at the NFL combine? (Taylor Wilhelm/Yahoo Sports)
Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU
Cornerback is yet another position without a real consensus at this point in time, but Delane has done nothing but help his own stock in 2025. Delane shows off a strong football IQ and understanding for concepts that he had to guard against, especially when passing things off in zone and playing high-low situations. Delane’s main question marks are more physical. He plays with loose hips and gets near the ball constantly, but just how big and athletic he is are the main hang-ups from cementing his place at the top of his position stack. If he goes off in Indianapolis, or at least has a strong showing, Delane could keep rising into the top 10.
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Jermod McCoy, CB, Tennessee
McCoy has been battling to be the first cornerback selected despite not playing a game in over a year. That’s just how toolsy the tools that he flashed in 2024 were in his last season of playing. If McCoy can help assure teams that his knee is A-OK after an ACL injury in January 2025, he could keep his name high on boards. McCoy is supremely talented, but his stock has, and will be, fascinating to keep track of.
Defensive Tackles, in general
There are a heaping of generously portioned defensive prospects for NFL teams to pick in this year’s draft. It’s a good year to need an interior defensive linemen, especially in the back half of the first round and into Day 2. There are a few different flavors — from maulers to run pluggers to oversized gap shooters — that can all show off something this week to get tabbed as the guy to help be a linchpin for defenses that are moving to more top-down play and lighter boxes, thus needing more beef upfront. Prospects like Clemson’s Peter Woods, Ohio State’s Kayden McDonald, Texas Tech’s Lee Hunter, Georgia’s Christen Miller, Florida’s Caleb Banks, Iowa State’s Domonique Orange and Florida State’s Darrell Jackson Jr. can help separate themselves with big weeks.
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Keldric Faulk, Edge, Auburn
Faulk sat atop my midseason big board, but I’ve cooled a little since then as he didn’t quite make the leap I thought he might over the last month of the 2025 season. I haven’t cooled that much, though! And a monster week at the combine will help his case (and my bullishness) on Faulk’s combination of youth, length, and overall athleticism. He projects as a plus run defender with a developing pass rush game, and he has some positional and scheme versatility as a bonus. If he measures well and tests like an upper echelon athlete, teams will stay glass-half-full about how Faulk can develop at the next level.
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Any tight end or running back?
Look for a big week from anybody at this position. Evaluators are all over the place about who are the second-best players at these respective positions. I’m personally interested in seeing how Georgia tight end Oscar Delp and Washington running back Jonah Coleman measure in and test (again, if they do test).
