2025 NFL Scouting Combine: Winners from the DL, Edge, and LB workouts

Who helped themselves with Thursday’s workouts?

The on-field portion of the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine started off with a bang, as we got two of the deepest position groups in the draft on Thursday.

The defensive line and edge defender groups are incredibly deep this year. So it isn’t a surprise that we got some fantastic performances even with top prospects skipping the workouts. The linebacker group was impressive as well, with some great displays of athleticism as well as work in the field drills.

The New York Giants could use a player from each of these groups. Not only could they use a starting defensive tackle, they could use depth at edge and perhaps at linebacker.

This group was already highly regarded, but there were still players who made themselves money today.

Defensive tackles

Alfred Collins (Texas)

Collins’ day started out with the tale of the tape, and it told an encouraging story. Collins officially weighed in at 6-foot 5⅝ inches, 332 pounds, and with 34⅝ inch arms. His ability to extend and control blockers stood out on tape, and his leverage at his size is legitimately impressive.

He didn’t run the 40-yard dash, but he did take part in the field drills. Collins was primarily a run defender at Texas, but he moved like a much smaller defender in the wave and pass rush drills.

Darius Alexander (Toledo)

Alexander has been an open secret among draftnics for a while now. Toledo doesn’t get much national buzz, so it may seem like Alexander is coming out of nowhere, but he’s a guy that’s seemingly had everyone asking “hey, have you got eyes on this guy?”

Thursday afternoon showed why. Alexander is quick, fast, and agile, and absolutely looked like he belonged next to prospects from Georgia, Ohio State, and Oregon.

Joshua Farmer (Florida State)

Farmer didn’t separate himself in the 40-yard dash, but he made his mark in the field drills. He ran one of the smoothest hoop drills of the defensive tackle group, showing some great lower body flexibility. It’s also impressive that he didn’t out-run himself and sacrifice his footing to try and have a faster time. Farmer was impressive on tape, and it isn’t a surprise that he showed up in the position drills.

Derrick Harmon (Oregon)

Harmon has been ascending draft boards since the season ended, and he could be a first round pick before all is said and done. He’s a big man, but he moves remarkably well in addition to running a 4.95-second 40-yard dash. Harmon may not have done the pass rush drills as fast as the edge defenders, but he got low for a 6-foot-4, 313-pound man.

Jared Harrison-Hunte (SMU)

Harrison-Hunte started his day by sending folks back to his tape with his 4.95-second 40-yard dash. The then told them to sit with it for a while with a 4.87-second run, with a 1.69-second 10-yard split. Harrison-Hunte has a good build for a penetrating B-gap defender at 6-foot-3, 290, and he showed some impressive movement skills in the field drills.

In particular, Harrison-Hunte has some surprisingly loose hips and he changed direction exceptionally well.

C.J. West (Indiana)

West started building his resume with a good performance at the Shrine Bowl and he added to it today with a sub-5.00 40 yard dash with a strong 1.73-second 10-yard split. West has a dense physique at 6-foot-1, 316 pounds, which should let him be a rock in the A-gap, but his athleticism could make him a penetrator as well.

J.J. Pegues (Ole Miss)

Pegues looked good in the measurable events, but he stepped it up once he got to the position drills. There’s a reason why Pegues was second on Ole Miss’ offense in rushing touchdowns (7), and it wasn’t his raw speed. Pegues has good movement skills and was impressive in the wave, pass rush, and hoop drills.

It’s also very notable that Pegues also completed a second workout as a fullback. He was asked to run routes and catch the ball out of the backfield, and he looked remarkably comfortable doing so. He has a future as a two-way player in the NFL.

Edge defenders

Landon Jackson (Arkansas)

Jackson entered the season as one of the top DL/Edge prospects in the country, but tumbled down draft boards when he didn’t take the expected step. He took a major step in the right direction with his workout, when he came within half an inch (40.5) of tying Myles Garrett for the record vertical. He backed that up with a strong 4.6-second 40-yard dash.

Jackson had a good perfomance in the position drills as well, and even looked good in the linebacker conversion drills. He’s more fluid than you’d expect from such big, long player, but he looked good. Him going up for the ball like an industrial-sized wide receiver doesn’t hurt either.

James Pearce Jr. (Tennessee)

Pearce occupied the same place on draft boards when the season opened that Abdul Carter currently does, and his workout showed why. Pearce set the pace for the edge defenders with a 4.46-second 40 and a 1.56-second 10-yard split.

Once the field drills rolled around, it was clear that Pearce simply moved differently from the rest of the edge group. Every movement looked slow and controlled, even when he was doing it faster than anyone else. Pearce is just an impressively fluid athlete and it shows in everything he does.

There’s been word that there are character concerns with respect to Pearce. He’ll have to answer those questions in private meetings with teams, but a dominant performance on the field could help teams feel better about any risk they could take on him.

Fedil Diggs (Syracuse)

Diggs is another prospect who likely sent scouts back to the film room. He hasn’t gotten much buzz and is currently 227th on the consensus big board. However, he was the first edge defender to break 4.6 seconds in the 40 and 1.6 second 10-yard split. He also looked like he belonged compared to the top prospects in the position drills, with quick, crisp movement and good fluidity when he had to change direction.

David Walker (Central Arkansas)

I can admit when a guy wasn’t anywhere on my radar, and Walker definitely earned a “who?” from me. However, he definitely showed up on the field today. Not only did he put down a 1.66-second 10-yard split, but he was surprisingly bendy in drills despite a dense 6-foot, 263-pound build.

Walker probably won’t be highly drafted due to his level of competition and lack of length, but he could definitely carve out a role on a defense if he gets the chacne.

Ahmed Hassanein (Boise State)

Hassanein might have one of the best stories in this draft class. He’s was born and raised in Egypt and a newcommer to American football, only picking the game up in 2019. Prior to that, he was a Crossfitter, and that athleticism showed up in his workout. Hassanein didn’t leap off the field, but he was among the best in every drill. Most notably, he was both explosive and fluid in the pass rush drills.

He also had one of the biggest personalities on the field, and maintained a high energy throughout the workout. I could see coaches falling in love with him and wanting to develop his potential.

Linebackers

Eugene Asante (Auburn)

Asante may be built like a firehydrant at 6-foot, 223 pounds, but he’s a fast one. He kicked off the linebacker workout with a 4.46 second 40-yard dash.

Asante is a former safety who transitioned to linebacker, and that was apparent from his field workout. He was a bit stiff for a in the field drills, but also showed good change of direction skills for a linebacker. He was physical in the pass rush drill and moved well the coverage drills

Demetrius Knight (South Carolina)

I’ll admit some bias here, Knight is one of my favorite players so far in my study. He’s a pretty complete linebacker who’s smart and instinctive, as well as capable in coverage and run defense.

I had some questions as to whether he has the athleticism to be a sideline-to-sideline linebacker at the next level. Knight showed some good speed and moved very well in space in the position drills. He topped the position group in top speed in the 40-yard dash, and helped to answer several of my questions from from his tape.

Bonus points for the Scrooge McDuck cleats.

Danny Stutsman (Oklahoma)

Stutsman was a physical, downhill linebacker at Oklahoma who can thump in the run game and be disruptive as a pass rusher. People might not have expected him to be among the fastest linebackers on the property, but that’s where we are. Stutsman turned a surprsingly fast 40-yard dash with a 4.52 and while he wasn’t the most fluid linebacker out there, he moved pretty well.

Stutsman doesn’t have the same kind of range or agility as some of his peers, but his feet are definitely quick enough to navigate the trash around the line of scrimmage.

Jack Kiser (Notre Dame)

Kiser didn’t run the 40, but he continued to build on a great Senior Bowl week with a really strong workout.

His agility drill, in particular, was very clean and could be used as teaching tape. He’s a fluid mover and was consistently under control in the field drills. He changed direction well in space and had good technique pass rush drill and did a great job catching the ball on the move.

The linebacker as a group as a whole did a great job catching the ball. Asante wasn’t the only former safety in the group, and it shows.