Scouting Combine Winners and Losers: DL & LB

Winners

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Shemar Stewart | EDGE | Texas A&M

The “Freak of the Day” Award goes to Shemar Stewart, who had a historic combine performance.

You read that right. As of right now (with 40 yard dash and split time remaining unofficial), Stewart put on the 3rd best combine of any EDGE rusher EVER. His 10 foot 11 inch broad jump is better than Myles Garrett and Montez Sweat. His arm length of 34.125” is insane. His weight caught some notice as it was a 14lb swing from his Senior Bowl weight just a few weeks ago (281 lbs). Clearly he lost some weight to make a statement in testing at the combine and it worked.

The question remains, how would these numbers have looked at closer to his reported playing weight? Elite? Definitely. But Historic? Maybe not.

Stewart has an underwhelming pass rush production, with just 4.5 career sacks at Texas A&M, 1.5 in each of the last 3 seasons. He did increase his pressures every year from 14 to 26 to 39 as his role grew. His run defense also took a huge leap in 2024 with 6 Tackles For Loss, 15 run stops, 31 tackles, and a 88.2 run stop grade, so he will certainly have early down use in his career to start.

But if he ever wants to maximize his athleticism into elite pass rushing, he needs to develop a pass rush plan and technique, as well as lowering his pad level to increase his leverage.

Still, that athletic profile is just so rare, he could be vaulted into Top 10 pick discussion.

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Jihaad Campbell | LB | Alabama

The 2nd biggest riser of the day was Campbell, who had a really strong day both in testing and in drills. The Linebacker-Edge Rusher hybrid player made a ton of plays on the field for the Crimson Tide, and cemented his case for top offball Linebacker in the draft class on most teams boards.

Amongst LBs he was:

• 40 yard dash: Tied 3rd (with Danny Stutsman [233 lbs], behind Auburn’s Eugene Asante [4.48 at 223 lbs] and UCLA’s Kain Medrano [4.46 at 222 lbs])
• Broad Jump: 2nd (behind Georgia’s Smeal Mondon Jr. [10ft, 11in at 224 lbs])
• Arm Length: 4th (behind Rutger’s Tyreem Powell [34.625”], Minnesota’s Cody Lindenberg [32.75”], & South Carolina’s Demetrius Knight [32.625”])

Combine that with a solid size profile at 6’2.875” and 235 lbs and highly smooth drill performances, Campbell has entered the top 20 conversation.

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James Pearce Jr. | EDGE | Tennessee

One of the coolest moments of the Combine: James Pearce Jr. running the 40 in a hoodie. Not only was it cool, it was really fast.

James Pearce Jr. might have had one of the lightest weights of all edge rushers in the combine, but he lit it up with his speed and explosiveness testing near the top of the position.

Pearce is a clear speed runner but needs work on his polish in pass rush arsenal. Unlike Stewart however, he won a lot more with his wide set speed rush. Likely will be a Round 1 pick, but remains a polarizing player for scouts.

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Landon Jackson | EDGE | Arkansas

Landon Jackson had a rough Senior Bowl against some of the top Tackles of the draft, but he reinforced his special athleticism in Indy for teams to take a chance on him.

Size, explosiveness, length are a nasty combo with Jackson, and he has enough speed for some excellent pursuit as well.

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Carson Schwesinger | LB | UCLA

Schwesinger didn’t do much in terms of testing at the combine, but what he did do was very impressive. He already turned some heads by weighing in at 242 lbs instead of his listed college weight of 225. With one of his biggest concerns being his size, weighing that heavy certainly was eye opening.

Afterwards he only did 2 tests: Bench press and vertical jump. In bench press his 20 reps wasn’t too crazy, but he hit a 39.5” vertical, 2nd in the class for linebackers. Showing off elite explosiveness while being at a far higher weight? Yep, thats a winner. Schwesinger opted out of other events, proving all he needed to scouts.

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Demetrius Knight | LB | South Carolina

The 3rd longest arm length for the Linebackers in the Combine, and hit the fastest top speed of all linebackers in the 40 yard drill.

As one of the bigger linebackers of the Combine and with a huge frame, to run like that is a big stock boost for him.

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Teddye Buchanan | LB | Cal

Buchanan is another LB who was reportedly undersized but was able to move the scales a bit more than expected and tested very well at the Combine.

The Golden Bears’ LB is a pass coverage maven with a fun profile, and recorded high explosion and speed scores. This helped reinforce his range to cover in man and zone, pursuit very fast, all at a bigger frame than expected. He could rise on Day 3 boards.

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CJ West | DT | Indiana

Local product CJ West from the Hoosiers showed out in a big way at the combine, posting top notch speed and acceleration at a very stout frame. The Big 10 star was very impressive throughout the season and was a key part of their surprise playoff run.

Underestimate this Hoosier at your own risk. He will likely be a Day2-early Day 3 pick.

Losers

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Abdul Carter | EDGE/LB | Penn State

Abdul Carter unfortunately suffered a shoulder injury and was not fully recovered by the time of the Combine, which made him miss the athletic testing and drills. He should be recovered within the next few weeks to month, so it is unclear if he will be good to go for the Penn State Pro Day.

He should be ready to go for actual NFL organized team activities, but the injury lingering this long into the pre-draft process is one to monitor. For a player in contention for the 1st overall pick, it is unclear how much this will affect his draft stock at the top of the draft.

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Mike Green | EDGE | Marshall

Mike Green was another top EDGE rusher in this draft who was withheld from drills, in his case due to hamstring tightness. Hamstring injuries can linger and reinjure for a while, so it was wise to avoid any aggravation.

Green also had 2 old sexual assault allegations emerge during the Scouting Combine, which he addressed to the media and confirmed had occurred. This will cause a lot of NFL teams to launch investigations, and could take him off of a few boards.

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Deone Walker | DT | Kentucky

Walker is known as a more raw but freakier athlete in this class at DT, with his 6’7 imposing frame with 340 lbs of power behind it and a lot of twitch for a man of his stature on tape. However his Senior Bowl while having some highlights also had a lot of inconsistency, with his high pad level often letting other players get easy leverage on him.

For the Combine, he needed to show his elite athletic profile to help ease some concerns, and unfortunately he tested amongst the lowest of the DT group in both vertical (25”) and broad (8’8”) jumps. He showed off his strike power in drills, but needed more of an impact in displaying his lower body explosion to help his stock.

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Jay Higgins | LB | Iowa

Higgins is a undersized coverage linebacker who needed to show his ability to work in space and make an impact as a fluid athlete.

Unfortunately he turned in a pretty dismal Combine Performance, severely hurting his stock.

Thankfully he is a high IQ player who has good instincts and can make plays with his anticipation, but his athletic limitations were clearly highlighted in Indy.

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Smael Mondon Jr. | LB | Georgia

You already read Smael Mondon Jr.’s name in the Jihaad Campbell section with the best broad jump of all of the LBs in Indianapolis. He followed that up with a 4.62u 40 yard dash and had a RAS score of 8.7.

So why does Smael fall under the this category?

Because of an unfortunate accident that happened during the on the field drills.

Smael is hopefully okay after that incident, as it did not look pretty. There was an audible gasp from the crowd at Lucas Oil watching that happen, so hope for the best for him.

Still, despite that occurring, he is certainly a player to keep an eye on in the draft with his athleticism and his excellent 2024 tape.

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Starbucks | Coffee Shop | JW Marriott

FOX Sports insider Jordan Schultz and NFL Network’s insider Ian Rapoport got into a kerfuffle at the Starbucks inside the famous JW Marriott hotel in downtown Indianapolis, after they both offered conflicting reports on the Matthew Stafford and Tom Brady meeting at a ski resort for potential trade.

Schultz, son of former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, was the confronter of this incident as he approached Rapoport over the NFL Network’s insider countering his claim that Brady hosted Stafford, potentially in violation of NFL tampering policy now that Brady is a part owner of the Las Vegas Raiders. Rapoport, feeling threatened by Schultz’s confrontational demeanor, had to alert NFL security to the incident. While no physical altercation occurred it was not a good look for all involved.