INDIANAPOLIS -- Wednesday marked the first day of prospect press conferences at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, with defensive linemen and linebackers leading off the podium proceedings. Here are six things we learned from their sessions with reporters on the eve of their workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Programming note: Tune in for live coverage of the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine beginning Feb. 27 on NFL Network and NFL+.
1) Carter wants to be No. 1. All options appear to be on the table for the Tennessee Titans and the first selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. They’ve not indicated their plans at No. 1 overall and could be willing to move the pick. But if it were Abdul Carter’s decision, he’d be headed to Nashville on April 24.
"I feel like I'm the best player in the country," Carter said on Wednesday, "and the best player should be selected No. 1."
The Titans have some interesting options. They need a quarterback, which could put Miami’s Cam Ward in play. They also might view Colorado’s Travis Hunter as a once-in-a-generation type of prospect. But Carter is trying his best to campaign to be the first name called.
“They have the No. 1 pick, and I want to be the No. 1 pick,” Carter said.
Tennessee won’t be able to see Carter perform this week -- he’s not working out until Penn State’s pro day on March 28. Carter said he’s “90 percent” recovered from his late-season shoulder injury.
That’s among the few knocks on Carter, who was a first-team All-America selection last season for the Nittany Lions after racking up 12 sacks, 23.5 TFLs and two forced fumbles. Another tiny quibble might be that Carter is slightly undersized to rush the passer full time in the NFL. But Carter flatly denies this claim.
"I've never been too small for anything my whole life," he said. "It's all about heart for me."
Now we wait to find out if Carter can win over the Titans’ hearts and minds.
-- Eric Edholm
2) Versatile defender plans to attend draft. There has been a lot of chatter about whether Georgia’s Jalon Walker will fit better as an edge rusher or off-ball linebacker at the next level. He split his time almost evenly between the two spots during his college career and won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top LB in 2024.
As for which spot Walker envisions playing in the NFL, he’s not sure he’ll have to choose between the two.
“I feel like I’m better at being that chess piece,” he said. ‘I feel like playing multiple positions and being an inside ‘backer, outside ‘backer and sometimes playing in the middle, that increased my value and increases the team value, as well, just because you never know where I’ll be at for the game plan for that week.”
Based on Walker’s conversations here at the combine, it seems there are NFL teams that agree with him.
“A lot of teams want me to still be in that position of playing multiple positions for their club,” he said. “I’m excited.”
NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks ranks Walker the No. 1 linebacker in the draft, and Brooks projects him to go ninth overall to the Saints in his most recent mock draft. There’s a long way to go between now and the start of Round 1 on April 24, but it appears Walker won’t be waiting long to hear his name called in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the host of this year’s draft.
Walker said he plans to be in attendance for the event.
“I feel like that opportunity for me and my family is very big, especially because many players don’t get that opportunity to do so,” he said. “Sitting there, going to Green Bay, having the opportunity to walk out there and greet the commissioner is like no other.”
-- Dan Parr
3) Williams will wait to work out, "loved" meeting with the 'Boys. NFL teams will have to hold on for a few more weeks before they get to see Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams run through a full pre-draft workout. Williams told reporters on Wednesday he played at 60 percent last season while dealing with an ankle injury, and he will hold off on completing the full battery of athletic tests until the Bulldogs’ pro day next month.
The physically gifted defender suffered the injury in the season opener but played through it (recording five sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss in his 12 games), something Williams said NFL teams are keenly aware of.
“They love it,” Williams said of the toughness he displayed. “They see I got that dog in me.”
The Cowboys, who could be in the market for defensive line help this offseason, are among the teams Williams has met with at the combine.
“I loved that meeting,” he said.
-- Dan Parr
4) Massive DT aims to blaze 40-yard dash. Famously called a "gift from the football gods" by Jim Harbaugh, Michigan DT Kenneth Grant offers extraordinary athleticism in an enormous frame. Nothing showcases that better than a play that went viral during the Wolverines’ national title run two seasons ago, with the hulking defensive tackle hawking down Penn State running back Kaytron Allen.
Listed at 6-foot-3, Grant said on Wednesday that he played this past season at 345 pounds and currently weighs 332. Make no mistake, though, the big man can move -- and he aims to put that on display in the 40-yard dash.
“Trying to get in that 4.9s, 4.8s, somewhere around there,” Grant said.
That would be a spectacular feat. No, Grant isn’t a threat to break Xavier Worthy’s 40 record of 4.21 seconds, but he still could do something quite rare in the combine’s signature event. According to NFL Research’s official data (which goes back to 2003), only four prospects have cracked five seconds at 330-plus pounds:
- 4.78: Georgia DT Jordan Davis (341 lbs) in 2022
- 4.92: Auburn OT Greg Robinson (332 lbs) in 2014
- 4.94: Arkansas OT Jason Peters (336 lbs) in 2004
- 4.98: Memphis DT Dontari Poe (346 lbs) in 2012
Could Grant become the fifth member of this exclusive club? He'll have a strong cheering section in the pursuit: The Gary, Indiana, native said a bunch of family members are making the trip to the center of the state for Thursday’s field workout at Lucas Oil Stadium.
-- Gennaro Filice
5) Former Tide star debuts moniker. Alabama linebacker Jihaad Campbell gave himself a new nickname at the NFL Scouting Combine, one that highlights his rare versatility as a player.
“I feel as though I am Mr. Can Do It All,” Campbell said on Wednesday. “I'm a Swiss Army Knife.”
Over the past two years, Campbell has developed into one of the more well-rounded playmakers in college football. He was as adept dropping into coverage (two INTs, five passes defended) as he was rushing the passer (5.5 sacks), and Campbell ties it all together as an excellent pursuer against the run (15.5 tackles for loss).
Campbell said he has tried to play up his versatility as a big selling point for NFL teams, expressing that he's ready, willing and able to take on virtually any assignment they throw at him.
“I could blitz through the A-gap. I could come off the edge. I can play middle run in Tampa 2. I could drop strong, hook/curl, match -- whatever you want me to do. I can play man-to-man on the receiver, tight end, running back, anything,” Campbell said.
At 6-3 and 244 pounds, Campbell has ideal size for linebacker. But he doubled down on the idea that he can still move around well enough at that weight to stick with some of the best pass catchers in the NFL.
“They think a big guy like me can’t cover those guys going down the field vertically, but I think that’s one of my biggest strengths, along with rushing the passer,” he said.
It has been a busy week so far for Campbell, who turned 21 years old on Monday. Asked how he celebrated, Campbell said with a smile: “Meetings!”
-- Eric Edholm
6) Stewart dismisses production concerns. Standing 6-foot-5 and 281 pounds, Shemar Stewart is the quintessential “first guy off the bus” prospect. And with a traitsy game to complement his imposing frame, the defensive lineman entered the combine with plenty of first-round hype -- despite lacking typical first-round production.
In 37 games as an edge defender at Texas A&M, Stewart produced a grand total of 4.5 sacks, logging exactly 1.5 in each of his three seasons. This is the blot on his draft résumé, something he’ll have to answer for throughout the pre-draft process -- including on Wednesday in Indianapolis, where Stewart was asked what he’d say to teams wondering about his low sack total.
“Sometimes, the stats don’t tell the whole story. It’s all about the film. And when you look at the film, you can really see what was going on, for the most part,” Stewart said. “But I’ll say production is a little bit overrated.”
That last sentence could be a spicy sound bite in a vacuum, but Stewart was deriding the tendency to derive value from one simple statistic.
“I wasn’t a sack-chasing warrior,” Stewart said. “I just wanted to become the best player for my team. And sometimes the stats don’t show that.”
NFL Network draft guru Daniel Jeremiah agrees. With Stewart at No. 28 overall in his pre-combine prospect rankings, our resident scout says the sack figures are misleading because “he still impacts the game, even without major sack production.” This is true. By Pro Football Focus’ count, Stewart led the Aggies with 39 pressures in 12 games this past season.
Stats aside, Stewart boasts the kind of freakish athleticism that plays well in draft season. After putting on a show in Senior Bowl practices, he plans to provide an encore in Thursday’s workout at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“I got something in the bag for y’all,” Stewart said with a smile.
-- Gennaro Filice