The 2025 NFL Scouting Combine officially began Thursday, which means draft season is here!
The 329 NFL prospects who were invited to the combine take center stage this week in Indianapolis as they aim to raise their draft stock. The players started trickling into Lucas Oil Stadium earlier in the week, but the drills — that is, what most fans look forward to every year — started Thursday.
Here’s a quick look at the schedule for each position as they participate in workouts that include the 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump and 3-cone drill:
- Thursday, Feb. 27: Defensive line and linebackers
- Friday, Feb. 28: Defensive backs and tight ends
- Saturday, March 1: Quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers
- Sunday, March 2: Offensive line
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Not every future draft pick will be active in these exercises, however. Most notably, Colorado product Shedeur Sanders will follow the latest quarterback trend and wait to throw at his pro day. His college teammate, Heisman Trophy winner and two-way star Travis Hunter, revealed earlier Thursday that he won’t work out at the combine.
Perhaps the question on everyone’s mind, though, is this: Will any records be broken this year? Last year, Xavier Worthy, now a receiver with the Kansas City Chiefs, ran the combine’s fastest 40-yard dash with a 4.21-second time.
If that happens, we’ll be here. Follow along with us as we track all the top performers and best moments from now until March 2.
Standouts Safety
Nick Emmanwori may have created a whole new archetype of athlete with his performance and measurables at the NFL scout combine on Friday. The strong safety out of South Carolina graded out as “elite” in every category including hand size and arm length, composite size, composite explosion and composite speed.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Emmanwori ran a 4.38 40-yard dash, which was the second fastest time of any safety behind just Kansas State’s Marques Sigle.
The best fashion moments
South Carolina linebacker Demetrius Knight II didn’t just rock custom-made Adidas cleats during his 40-yard dash. He rocked custom-made Scrooge McDuck-themed cleats.
And with a time of 4.58 seconds, he finished in the top third at his position in the drill. Guess you could say (or sing): “Race cars, lasers, aeroplanes, he’s a duck blur!”
The top 40-yard dash times
Big fellas running
James Pearce Jr., an edge rusher from the University of Tennessee, posted the fastest 40-yard dash of any defensive lineman on Thursday, finishing it in 4.47 seconds. For edge rushers, anything sub-4.50 is impressive. Montez Sweat of the Washington Commanders ran a 4.41 in 2019, Odafe Oweh of the Baltimore Ravens ran 4.36 in 2021, as did Amare Barno of the Carolina Panthers in 2022.
Pearce’s time is faster than Super Bowl LIX Champion skill players Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown, as shown below.
Derrick Harmon, a 313-pound defensive tackle from Oregon, also impressed with a 4.95-second time — so much that he drew comparisons to Chiefs star Chris Jones.
Dashing Defensive Backs
Maxwell Hairston posted the fastest 40-yard dash time of the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine so far. The defensive back out of the University of Kentucky posted a 4.3 on his first attempt and then broke that threshold on his second go. Hairston is coming off a junior season that was shortened due to a shoulder injury, so his 40-time could help boost his draft stock.
The longest broad jumps
Shemar Stewart put together a terrific overall performance. The Texas A&M edge rusher wowed with a 40-inch vertical, 4.59-second 40 time and a Relative Athletic Score of 10.00 (unofficially anyway). The 6-foot-5, 267-pound Stewart became just the fourth player in two decades to reach 40 inches in the vertical jump after weighing in at 260 or more pounds.
His best drill was in the broad jump, though. He led all participants Thursday with a 10-foot, 11-inch jump and showed off his perfect form.
Stay tuned for updates.
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