Fran Duffy’s NFL Scouting Combine position preview, DL: Peter Woods leads the way inside

I find the NFL Scouting Combine to be a test of expectations. Fast players should look fast. Slow players should look slow. When the results don’t match the expectations, that is when more work must be done. 

Below you’ll find my expectations for this position group this week in Indianapolis. Who do I expect to stand out? Who does this week mean the most for? What are the drills I prioritize most? Here are my thoughts on all of that and more!

Full Scouting Reports on all of these players can be found in the DieHard Draft Guide!

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Workout Warriors

These are the players I expect to perform best in the athletic testing portion of the workout.

Peter Woods (Clemson)

As of this writing I’ve gotten no word as of yet on whether Woods is going to test. If he does, I would expect him to do well. A good athlete with light feet, the former top recruit has really smooth lateral agility and has the first step to threaten the edges of interior blockers. He should test well across the board. 

Zane Durant (Penn State)

An undersized tackle at just 290 pounds, Durant has explosive traits that should allow him to shine at this event. Whether it’s the jumps or the shuttles, I expect him to be one of the stars of this group. On tape, Durant displays elite lateral mobility and he has the initial quickness to shoot gaps and knife into the backfield. 

Tyler Onyedim (Texas A&M)

Onyedim (pronounced ‘OWN-yedum’) has a longer, broader frame than Durant, but he’s got juice off the ball and has that same gap-shooting skillset. He’s really tough to block when he has a two-way go against interior blockers with impressive lateral quicks and ankle flexion that should allow him to show out across the full gamut of testing this week. 

Jackie Marshall (Baylor)

Marshall is short and compact with sub-32-inch arms, but his athleticism stood out to me in-person at the Shrine Bowl last month. He’s a twitchy mover who dealt with injuries in the past. I think he makes his presence felt at this event. 

Kaleb Proctor (SE Louisiana)

An undersized three-technique from a lower level of competition, Proctor is another guy who popped up close at the Shrine Bowl. His size will be a limiting factor, but he has proven to be tough to block thanks to his light feet and quicks off the ball. Small school prospects at this event can be harder to find these days due to the Transfer Portal, but I expect Protctor to be one of the small-school darlings over the course of the week.

The Drill To Watch

I am a big proponent of studying the position work at this event. That is my focus when I’m inside Lucas Oil Stadium – not the athletic tests! Here’s the drill I weigh the heaviest and who I expect to shine when it’s that time of the night.

The Combine is always trying to roll out different drills to challenge prospects at every position, and my favorite recent addition is the ‘Figure 8’ or ‘Run The Hoop’ drill, featuring a pair of large hoops placed on the ground to form an ‘8’. The pass rushers will be asked to run both hoops consecutively, tracing the number and finishing well through a final cone to close it out. Things you may notice in this drill:

• Can the prospects both stay low and keep their balance while running the hoops? They should stay low without stumbling or falling. You don’t want to see them breaking their feet down as they go through it to play it safe either!
• A huge positive is being able to see the prospect accelerate while running the hoop. Not only do these players keep their balance and stay low, but they’re able to build up speed and keep gaining ground before finishing strong with burst through the cone.

Here are the players who have a chance to shine in these drills.

Skyler Gill-Howard (Texas Tech)

It remains to be seen whether or not Gill-Howard, who missed the second half of the season due to an ankle injury, will be able to go this week. If he does, this is a drill where he should shine. A former high school wrestler in Wisconsin who twice finished as the state runner-up, his balance, burst and bendiness on the corner should impress in this group. 

Gracen Halton (Oklahoma)

Halton is a pure three-technique defensive tackle; a nimble athlete with light feet who showed off that skillset with a good week in Mobile at the Senior Bowl. He’s got burst to close, but I think his ability to maintain speed while trying to turn the corner should shine in this Figure 8 drill.

Bryson Eason (Tennessee)

Like Halton, Eason is also a twitchy athlete with impressive movement skills. Unlike Halton, I thought that he struggled to keep his balance at times when he was at full-speed. How will that reflect itself in this drill? I’m interested to see it, because his athleticism really popped in spurts both on tape and at the Senior Bowl

Trust The Tape

These are the players I don’t expect to test off the charts athletically, but don’t panic! The tape shows a prospect who is a better football player than he is an athlete. With that in mind, don’t drop him down the board with a subpar workout!

Lee Hunter (Texas Tech)

Hunter is thick with long arms and, on tape, I didn’t see a twitchy athlete. He may shine in a drill or two, but I don’t expect the kind of ‘Whoa’ athletic workout that we got from Jordan Davis a few years ago. Perhaps he proves me wrong, but I didn’t see that level of flashy athlete with the Red Raiders this year. Hunter has light feet with surprising quickness for a big man, so I don’t think he’ll test like a slug, but I don’t think it’ll be eye-popping.

Kayden McDonald (Ohio State)

I do think that Lee Hunter will probably test better than McDonald, who didn’t display much suddenness or explosiveness in the tapes I watched this month. A short-strider who didn’t make a ton of plays outside of his immediate orbit, McDonald has a game more based on pure strength and toughness at the point of attack. I won’t count it against him if/when he does not shine in Indy.

Domonique Orange (Iowa State)

This class has a handful of impressive run-stuffing nose tackles, and Orange is near the top of that list. At 6-foot-4, 325 pounds, ‘Big Citrus’ plays with both strength and power. Of this trio in this tier, I think he has the best chance to post a ‘Wow’ number here or there, but I don’t anticipate the overall athletic profile to be other-worldly. 

Most To Prove

Some players make this trip with a big question (or three!) at this stage of the process. How well does he run? Will he pass the medical check? What is he like off the field in the interview room? These are the prospects with the most notable question marks on their resume at this stage of the process.

Caleb Banks (Florida)

Banks looks the part, had a solid week down in Mobile at the Senior Bowl, and backs it up with really good tape … when he’s on the field. The senior missed all but three games this year due to a foot injury suffered at the end of the 2024 season. How does that foot hold up during the exhausting orthopedic exam in Indy (which I covered in last week’s ALL NFL Draft Newsletter)? How teams feel about his long-term durability will have a big impact on how early he’s drafted.

Darrell Jackson (Florida State)

Jackson is what some would call a ‘First off the bus’ guy, meaning that if you had a high school football team – you want that kid being the first one off the bus to get the opposing team’s underclassmen feeling a bit squeamish. He’s got outstanding size and the flashes are great, but it rarely resulted in production. I don’t expect him to blow the doors off the workout, but if he can check the boxes there and interview well enough that teams feel his best football is ahead of him? He could go higher than people think.

Dontay Corleone (Cincinnati)

Corleone has a unique body type in that he’s extremely short with tiny arms and a thick frame, but he also has light feet and could post some surprising numbers at his size. The medical will be big for him, as he’s dealt with foot and pulmonary issues in the past. He chose not to weigh in at the Shrine Bowl, so all eyes will be on his weight in Indy as well.

The Rest Of The Pack

Everyone else who will take part in the events in Indianapolis (in alphabetical order).

Cam Ball (Arkansas), Nick Barrett (South Carolina), Ray Benny (Michigan), Damonte Capehart (Clemson), Brandon Cleveland (NC State), Deven Eastern (Minnesota), David Gusta (KentuckY), Zxavian Harris (Ole Miss), Bobby Jamison-Travis (Auburn), Tim Keenan (Alabama), Chris McClellan (Missouri), Christen Miller (Georgia), Albert Regis (Texas A&M), Gary Smith III (UCLA), Damonic Williams (Oklahoma)

Mr. Average

We get to read all about the measurements for all these players over the next few weeks … but wouldn’t it be nice to have some context? What is considered a ‘good’ 40-yard dash time for this position? What about arm length? The broad jump? Here’s what the average player drafted at each position has looked like over the last decade (by my records).

Height: 6032 (6’3 1/4’’’)

Weight: 304

Hand Size: 1000 (10’’)

Arm Length: 3328 (33 1/4’’)

Wingspan: 8000 (80’’)

40-Time: 5.01

10-Yard Split: 1.73

3-Cone Drill: 7.64

Short Shuttle: 4.64

Broad Jump: 109’’

Vertical Jump: 29.5’’