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The NFL Scouting Combine is underway, and after four days of arrivals, interviews, exams, and meetings, the fun has finally begun.
It's time to watch the athletic testing and positional drills that skyrocket stocks, starting with the defensive linemen and linebackers. Defensive backs and tight ends will perform on Friday, with running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks headlining Saturday's festivities and offensive linemen rounding out the weekend.
For all the turbulence at other positions, the 2026 NFL Draft is strong in the front seven. Several edge rushers stand to be top-five picks come April. It's a preternaturally deep linebacker class, and the interior linemen will have starters drafted into Day 3. Perhaps more than any position, it's important to focus on size. Weight and arm length thresholds are king in the trenches, and many top prospects are fighting against historical precedents on their way to Round 1.
As these prospects vie for draft capital, we'll keep track of the most important performances of the day.
Live winners and losers from the NFL Combine
Winner: Caleb Banks, DT, Florida
At 6062 and 327 pounds, Banks is every bit as big as we thought he was. The rest of his frame was even more impressive, posting 94th-percentile hand size, 94th-percentile arm length, and a 99th-percentile wingspan (via Trevor Sikkema).
Banks is a freak, and ripping off a 5.05 40-yard dash on his first attempt is further proof that he is a different beast than us mere mortals. Banks fought through injuries this season, but if his 61st-percentile 40-yard dash is confirmed, it will be hard to keep that kind of upside out of Round 1.
His second run went for 5.13 seconds, but with 10-yard splits of 1.76 and 1.77 seconds, he's a comfortable winner early on Thursday.
Loser: Cashius Howell, EDGE, Texas A&M
Howell wasn't surprising anyone with his lack of length. But coming in with 30.25-inch arms is confirmation that he's a negative outlier and bound to hurt his stock. No edge rusher in mockdraftable's database (NFL Combine participants since 1999) has that kind of limitation -- by a half-inch.
That's a problem anyway one cuts it, and weighing in at 253 pounds (totally fine!) may not be able to compensate. He might need standout 40-yard dash and three-cone times to limit his fall, and even an optimistic view of his athletic profile is more about damage control than potential.
Howell's film is promising. However, his arm length demands that coaches ask how they can mitigate his biggest weakness. Fair or not, that makes him more difficult to take in the top 50.
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