{"id":502003,"date":"2026-02-25T00:15:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T00:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502003\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T00:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T00:15:07","slug":"albert-breers-players-to-watch-at-the-nfl-combine-include-only-one-qb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502003\/","title":{"rendered":"Albert Breer\u2019s Players to Watch at the NFL Combine Include Only One QB"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jump to a topicOregon TE Kenyon Sadiq<\/a>Linebackers to watch<\/a>Jeremiyah Love<\/a>Wide receivers to watch<\/a>Offensive tackles to watch<\/a>Running backs, defensive backs to watch<\/a><\/p>\n

CINCINNATI \u2014 That dateline \u2026 long story. Getting out of a storm that hit my town, bringing with it over three feet of snow, was pretty complicated. Getting a flight to the Midwest was even more challenging. So I didn\u2019t fly to Indy (my 1:15 p.m. ET Tuesday was canceled, the third flight I\u2019ve had canceled this week), but to Northern Kentucky instead, and now I will make the 90-minute drive North.<\/p>\n

The good news is I\u2019ll make it to my 18th NFL combine.<\/p>\n

And to get our coverage from the ground kicked off, let\u2019s start with some guys who will be the ones to watch this week, once the workouts get going. With one quick caveat: I had one team tell me that more than three-quarters of the players that they did formal interviews with on Monday night said they planned to bow out of the athletic testing. So whether these guys take the field is a moving target until they\u2019re actually out there.<\/p>\n

Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq<\/p>\n

Sadiq has a chance, if he goes through the physical testing, to be what Nick Emmanwori was a year ago\u2014the prospect who proves too much of a physical outlier for anyone to ignore. Some expect that Sadiq, at about 6′ 3″ and 240 pounds, will run in the 4.3s and jump 40″, which would be outstanding numbers for a receiver half his size. And the bonus with Sadiq (who did have a little issue with drops) is that, within his Shannon Sharpe-type skill set, there is a real willingness to block as well.<\/p>\n

Linebackers to watch<\/p>\n

Some view Arvell Reese as the draft\u2019s best prospect, with size, length and freakish range that would be confirmed if he decides to run and jump (his 40 time could be pretty eye-opening, I\u2019ve heard). Similarly, Sonny Styles\u2014a 6′ 4″, 250-pound converted safety who doesn\u2019t have the pass-rush value that Reese does\u2014is believed to have the potential to test like Tremaine Edmunds in 2018, and show to be the class\u2019s most well-rounded athlete. If you want to have fun with that one, you can Google Styles\u2019s high school hoops highlights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Two other linebackers to watch: Alabama\u2019s Justin Jefferson (yes, that\u2019s his name) and Cincinnati\u2019s Jake Golday. Both are expected to tear up the 40.<\/p>\n

Jeremiyah Love<\/p>\n

The other first-rounder who has a really good shot at crushing everything from a testing standpoint is Love. The Notre Dame standout borders on 220 pounds, and is fully capable of checking all the boxes when it comes to running, jumping and lifting.<\/p>\n

Wide receivers to watch<\/p>\n

A few receivers should tear up the 40. A record-breaker might be Mississippi State\u2019s bite-sized burner Brennan Thompson. He is expected to land somewhere in the 4.2s, which (obviously) would give him a great shot at being the fastest in this class. Georgia\u2019s Zachariah Branch should land somewhere in the 4.3s, with Kansas\u2019s Emmanuel Henderson Jr. comfortably in that group as well.<\/p>\n

Offensive tackles to watch<\/p>\n

Among the big guys, Utah\u2019s Caleb Lomu might be the one scouts are most intrigued to see test. The \u201cother\u201d tackle for the Utes, Lomu, is the reason likely top-10 pick Spencer Fano played right tackle\u2014he has the look of a player built in a lab to play left tackle. So teams are anxious to see whether what he showed on tape translates into how he runs, jumps and lifts. He\u2019s raw, and the confirmed numbers will, for sure, give GMs and coaches a little more confidence that the development they\u2019d expect will come for a guy that\u2019s projected to go somewhere in the top 40 or so picks.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Three other tackles to keep an eye on would be Alabama\u2019s Kadyn Proctor, Georgia\u2019s Monroe Freeling and Arizona State\u2019s Max Iheanachor. Proctor was the bluest of blue-chip recruits and has freakish athleticism that will surface if he works out (though many NFL folks project him to flip to the right side or inside to guard). Freeling, meanwhile, has risen fast through this draft cycle, and a good couple of days in Indy could push him even further up in the first round, as teams continue to get to know more about him. And Iheanachor might be the class\u2019s most interesting man\u2014a Nigerian immigrant who starred in hoops as a high schooler, played soccer before that was convinced to pursue football, and went from community college to ASU and now the draft. He\u2019s raw. He\u2019s also wildly athletic.<\/p>\n

\u2022 One other big man to watch would be Iowa C Logan Jones, who, with a good performance, would follow in a long line of Hawkeye linemen to show well at the combine. He\u2019s not quite the athlete Ravens C Tyler Linderbaum was coming out of Iowa City, but he\u2019s close. He should run well, jump high and, as many from that program seem to do, crush the shuttles.<\/p>\n

Running backs, defensive backs to watch<\/p>\n

And, finally, there are two positions that, to me, are more wide open than others: running back and defensive back. On the former, Nebraska\u2019s Emmett Johnson and Arkansas\u2019s Mike Washington Jr. are expected to test really well, and both sit on that Day 2\/Day 3 fringe, where a great couple of days might push one or the other into the bottom of the third round. And on the latter, both Purdue S Dillon Thieneman and Tennessee CB Colton Hood can make a move within the top 50 or so.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll notice there isn\u2019t a quarterback in here, and that\u2019s probably indicative of the class. But one, I believe, that has a chance to merit attention is North Dakota State\u2019s Cole Payton, who\u2019s rugged as a runner and can help himself by showing that his game in that area will translate to the pros athletically.<\/p>\n

And with that, I\u2019m off for the last leg of my trip to Indy.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d say I\u2019ll see all of you from there, but I\u2019m not about to jinx anything.<\/p>\n

More NFL on Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jump to a topicOregon TE Kenyon SadiqLinebackers to watchJeremiyah LoveWide receivers to watchOffensive tackles to watchRunning backs, defensive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-502003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}