The 2026 NFL Scouting Combine is in full swing.
Defensive linemen and linebackers completed their on-field workouts and measurements Thursday. Several top prospects, including Georgia's CJ Allen, Miami's Akheem Mesidor, and Clemson's Peter Woods, did not work out.
Here are noteworthy players from Day 1:
LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State
Coming into the Combine, expectations were already high for Styles, one of the most athletic prospects in this year's draft. Styles still managed to blow onlookers away.
Styles led all prospects by a wide margin in the vertical jump with a 43.5-inch leap, the best result of all-time by a linebacker at the Combine. He also led all prospects with an 11-foot, 2-inch broad jump, which was the fourth-best all-time result among linebackers. He topped that off with a 4.46-second 40-yard dash, tied for the fastest among all participants Thursday.
Styles led the Buckeyes in tackles this past season and appears to have only elevated his draft stock.
EDGE Rueben Bain Jr., Miami
Bain generated the most buzz of any prospect who didn't participate in an on-field workout. The potential top-five pick was among the most productive edge rushers in the nation last season, but his sub-31-inch arms were a topic of conversation online.
Bain, who has a mentor in Ray Lewis, said Wednesday that the supposed concern about his arm length hasn't been a talking point with teams. He could be one of the first few players off the board in April after recording 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss to help guide the Hurricanes to a national championship appearance.
DT Caleb Banks, Florida
Banks' physical traits were on full display in Indianapolis.
Banks missed the vast majority of the 2025 season due to a foot injury, but his combination of size and athleticism could lead to him being a Day 1 selection. At 6-foot-6, 327 pounds, Banks measured in with a 7-foot wingspan and 35-inch arms.
That giant stature didn't prevent him from running a 5.04-second 40-yard dash and leaping 32 inches in the vertical jump. He also landed an impressive 9-foot, 6-inches in the broad jump (tied for second among all defensive tackles).
EDGE David Bailey, Texas Tech
Widely considered a future top-five pick, Bailey turned heads with a 4.5-second 40-yard dash, the fastest among all defensive linemen. He also had the third-best broad jump among his position group.
EDGE/LB Arvell Reese, Ohio State
The only person to run as fast as Styles was his college teammate, Reese.
Reese finished the 40-yard dash with a 4.46-second time. Reese could play as an on- or off-ball linebacker but views himself as an edge defender.
DT Gracen Halton, Oklahoma
The 6-foot-3, 293-pound Halton led all defensive tackles in the vertical jump, leaping 36.5 inches, the third-best vertical jump by a defensive tackle in at least 20 years. He also ran a 4.82-second 40-yard dash, the third-fastest among this year's crop of defensive tackles and tied for the second-best broad jump at 9 feet, 6 inches.
Halton finished his senior year with the Sooners with 33 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and one forced fumble.
DT Zane Durant, Penn State
Durant led all defensive tackles in the 40-yard dash, clocking a 4.76-second time, faster than Patrick Mahomes and Dak Prescott's times. He also tied with Clemson's DeMonte Capehart for the third-best vertical jump among defensive tackles at 33.5 inches and was fifth in the broad jump.
Standing at 6-foot-1, 290 pounds, Durant had the second-most sacks on Penn State last season with four.
EDGE George Gumbs Jr., Florida
Banks wasn't the only Gator to make a splash Thursday.
Gumbs jumped 41 inches, the same vertical jump that Myles Garrett had in 2017, to lead all of Thursday's defensive line participants. Gumbs was half an inch short of former Eagles first-round pick Nolan Smith, who set the record at 41.5 inches in 2023.
EDGE Malachi Lawrence, Central Florida
Lawrence's testing numbers were off the charts.
The 6-foot-4, 253-pound Lawrence had a 40-inch vertical jump and 10-foot, 10-inch broad jump, both of which were second among EDGE rushers.
Lawrence compiled 19.5 sacks over the last three years at Central Florida.
EDGE Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State
The only edge defender to beat Lawrence in the broad jump was Dennis-Sutton, who went 1 inch further. Penn State's sack leader in 2025, Dennis-Sutton was also fourth in the vertical jump (39.5 inches) and ran a 4.63-second 40-yard dash.
DT Kaleb Proctor, Southeastern Louisiana
Proctor had the second-fastest 40-yard dash time among defensive tackles with a 4.79-second sprint. He also had a top-five result in the 10-yard split, vertical jump, broad jump, and 20-yard shuttle.
DT DeMonte Capehart, Clemson
Capehart had a solid day overall, finishing fourth in the 40-yard dash (4.85 seconds) and third in the vertical jump (33.5 inches) among defensive tackles.
