English
Español
NFL Combine winners and losers: Updates on defensive backs, tight ends in Indianapolis originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The only bad news from Day 1 of NFL Combine drills is that Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Sonny Styles wouldn't be working out for the rest of the weekend. He stole the show on Thursday, setting an exceptionally high bar for the rest of the participants in Indianapolis.
Day 2 of Combine drills helped separate the best defensive backs and tight ends from the pack. This class of defensive backs is defined by its biggest stars. Ohio State safety Caleb Downs is a sure-fire first-round pick, but several top cornerbacks sitting out of Friday's drills open the door for movement in the top 50.
The tight end position is more fluid. Oregon star Kenyon Sadiq is the runaway TE1. While the position is deep, it is far from settled, and strong testing numbers could push under-the-radar names up the board. No player wound up taking advantage of that opportunity like Vanderbilt's Eli Stowers.
We kept track of the best and the worst performances from the evening. Even without Downs or the class's top three cornerbacks testing in Indianapolis, there was no shortage of athletic feats or discussion points.
Winners and losers from Day 2 of NFL Combine drills
Winner: D'Angelo Ponds, CB, Indiana
I was ready to write Ponds off as a loser, having measured in at the extremely small 5085 and 182 pounds. It's an outlier in the wrong direction, but I don't want to double-count it. Everyone knew he was among the shortest players in this class.
Indiana CB D'Angelo Ponds just jumped a 43.50" vertical😳pic.twitter.com/jO08foXmJV
— PFF College (@PFF_College) February 27, 2026
What we didn't know was that he was going to hit 43.5 inches in the vertical jump, the sixth-best mark from a corner since 1999, per MockDraftable's database. That kind of explosion is necessary to buy breathing room, adding margin for error that his frame steals from him. He needs to move exceptionally well to keep his stock in the right spot -- jumping out of the building is an exceptional way to start.
Winner: Tacario Davis, CB, Washington
Frequently, prototypical Cover 3 corners use their length to mitigate speed concerns. They might not have the quickest feet, but size can keep receivers at bay, too.
Davis checked off both boxes, exceeding many expectations. At 6037, he's a pterodactyl, and the rest of his frame falls in line. A 97th-percentile wingspan and 95th-percentile arm length will have position coaches tripping over themselves until April.
He also ran well, posting an unofficial 4.41-second 40-yard dash. That's an excellent time for anyone, much less one who has some coverage questions to answer at the next level. If nothing else, his physical tools will boost his stock.
Loser: TJ Hall, CB, Iowa
It's not a winner and losers column without the latter, but that isn't fair to TJ Hall. He wasn't expected to run his way up boards on the Indianapolis fast track. He did, however, run slower than every other corner at the event.
Without overwhelming size, Hall's lack of speed makes him a zone corner with mid-Day 3 aspirations. Fortunately, he moved well during the first batch of position drills -- he's not in free fall.
Winner: Toriano Pride Jr., CB, Missouri
The other side of that coin, of course, is the fastest player at one's position. Pride put himself on the map with two blazing runs, the best of which came in at 4.32 seconds.
MORE: NFL Combine 40-yard dash tracker
Pride is undersized at 5'10", 185, but he isn't an outlier in terms of length. He showed off his burst during position drills, too. Speed of Pride's ilk doesn't hide, but showing out on this kind of stage is nice ammo in his argument to be a Day 3 pick.
Loser: Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, SAF, Toledo
A surprising underperformer on Friday was Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, who spent much of the process as a Day 2 pick before the recent wind of first-round rumors spread. Since the Super Bowl, the bar has been set for McNeil-Warren's Combine performance -- Seattle Seahawks rookie Nick Emmanwori.
McNeil-Warren, at 6034, 201, is slimmer than Emmanwori. His arms are slightly smaller, and his testing numbers look like they are going to fall pretty far behind. Seattle's star posted a 98th-percentile vertical jump and 99th-percentile broad jump. The Toledo safety had marks of 35.5 inches and 10'2", far more pedestrian. In fact, 11 safeties had better vertical jumps in Indianapolis.
His first 40-yard dash clocked in at 4.55, albeit with what looked like a slow start. The sequel wasn't much better -- 4.53 seconds. Perhaps the Emmanwori hype was unfair, but this was a letdown, and it might push him back into Day 2.
Winner: Lorenzo Styles Jr., SAF, Ohio State
Ohio State is taking over the NFL Combine. Thursday, Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese were headliners. On Friday, the other Styles brother was even faster, laying claim to the fastest man at the 2026 NFL Combine (at least for now).
Two 4.28-second runs are a "call the family" performance. Styles made himself money on the fast track and had the football world waiting on his second run. He delivered!
Winner: Genesis Smith, SAF, Arizona
There's an argument to be made that no safety moved better than Smith on Friday. One of the class's only true free safeties, he showed the kind of dynamism necessary to take on that role at the next level.
Smith had the best vertical jump (42.5 inches) of the group, the eighth-best mark for a safety since 1999. He's explosiveness personified, and it showed in his position drills, too. He was smooth, twitchy, and fast, making little of his 40-yard dash absence.
Smith is a Day 2 centerfielder, a point he proved at the Combine.
Winner: Dillon Thieneman, SAF, Oregon
There weren't any questions about whether Thieneman was fast heading into the Combine. The Oregon standout has plenty of explosiveness in his game, giving him range as a single-high and the burst to click-and-close underneath.
There's a difference between running a 4.45 40-yard dash and a 4.35 40-yard dash, though. His 41-inch vertical jump was the second-best mark among safeties. The 10'5" broad jump was less imposing, but there was enough to hang his hat on for a positive day. Throw in position drills that saw Thieneman show off fluidity and footwork, and there was certainly a lot to like.
It wouldn't be all that surprising if Thieneman's testing puts him further into the Round 1 conversation, especially if others lose ground.
Winner: Eli Stowers, TE, Vanderbilt
We have history in Indianapolis. No tight end in the history of the MockDraftable database (since 1999) has cleared 43.5 inches. Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq hit that mark. Moments later, Stowers beat it. By two full inches.
With a 45.5-inch vertical, it might not matter what Stowers runs. That short-area explosiveness defines his game and makes him one of the twitchiest athletes in his class. He's slot-bound, sure, but we learned with Evan Engram that being a tight end in name only is still a path to production in the NFL.
In the race for TE2, Stowers just took a massive leap.
Oh, and he also set the Combine record for a tight end broad jump (11'3") before posting a 4.51-second 40-yard dash. Nice day at the office!
Loser: Max Klare, TE, Ohio State
Klare had an argument for TE2, and it didn't disappear just because he didn't test at the Combine. However, in a class with athletic freaks like Sadiq and Stowers, it isn't clear whether sitting out was ideal.
Perhaps Klare running in the 4.60s (or worse) with average jumps would have sunk his stock as his peers test the limits of their position's athletic ceiling. If nothing else, it seems like he's losing ground, especially as John Michael Gyllenborg tests well and early Day 3 options attempt to boost their stock.
It's not worth making overly declarative statements as the Combine bullets are flying, but other prospects are actively making arguments to be drafted earlier. Klare will wait until his pro day to do the same, at least on the field. In fairness, he looked the part during the position drills.
Loser: Miles Kitselman, TE, Tennessee
At 251 pounds, Kitselman was never going to compete with the pseudo wide receivers cosplaying at tight end. Yet, his Combine performances remained underwhelming. His 4.91-second 40-yard dash was the worst of the testing tight ends, as was his 9'8" broad jump. At 34.5 inches, his vertical was better (fifth-worst among TEs) but still unimpressive.
Kitselman isn't an athlete, but he doesn't have the size to be a standout blocker. As such, it's a little harder to see Kitselman being drafted than it was entering the event.
Winner: Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon
Everybody knew Sadiq was going to test like a freak. That didn't stop him from putting on an absolute show to cap off Friday's festivities.
He tied the TE Combine record for the vertical jump (43.5 inches) before Stowers broke it. If that was all, it would've been a successful outing. But the nation's best tight end ran a 4.39 40-yard dash, setting his own record for fastest tight end in Combine history.
Sadiq was excellent on the field in 2025. At the Combine, he seemed to ace his interviews before reminding the football world why he's far and away the best tight end in this class.