NFL Combine
2/21/25
8 min read
10 NFL Combine Tests That Could Help Change Narratives
With the NFL Combine quickly approaching, the prospective talents of the 2025 NFL Draft are bracing for the biggest job interview of their lives. The NFL Combine is intended to be a grueling and uncomfortably busy week, partly to stress players and see who can handle the hustle and bustle of media, interviews, workouts, late nights, and more.
However, the NFL Combine is not created equally for all talents. Tests on the field can be more or less important for individual players based on their position and resume. Some tests offer no value at all for some players. Others still will find the most impactful thing they do happen behind closed doors — be it at a medical check-up or in an interview with a team.
Who are some of the players set to attend the 2025 NFL Combine that can help themselves the most with a single test?
Combine Tests That Can Change Narratives
RB Cam Skattebo, Arizona State - 40-yard dash
Cam Skattebo is a buzzy name after a monster season at Arizona State. He was a mauling back who churned out a ton of hard yardage and illustrated supreme contact balance in the backfield and the secondary alike.
The question is: how much juice does he have? Skattebo finished the season tied for sixth in the country with eight runs of 30 yards or more, but his two touchdowns on such runs were among the worst of the top 30 backs in the country.
Does he have sufficient breakaway speed as an open-field runner? If the answer turns out to be yes, it will bolster his standing in the running back class.
WR Elic Ayomanor, Stanford - 40-yard dash
Elic Ayomanor, like Skattebo, has developed a reputation as one of the most physical players at his position in this year’s class. Also, like Skattebo, the perception of Ayomanor’s ceiling may be capped due to the focus on his physicality instead of his explosiveness.
He’s excellent at the catch point and even better as a blocker. If he can convince executives that he can continue to become a better separator thanks to some dynamic tests, he could be on the rise.
WR Tez Johnson, Oregon - Weigh In
Tez Johnson’s already got a bullet point on his resume for his size. He weighed in at 156 pounds at the 2025 Senior Bowl. Can Johnson play at a higher weight?
That’s the big question everyone is going to have — not how fast he is. Does Johnson lean into his speed and choose to run? If so, what weight does he check in at? If he’s still in the 150s, teams will have to reconcile a bottom-tier percentile for his size.
WR Jayden Higgins, Iowa State - 3 Cone Drill
These days, most wide receivers don't participate in the 3-cone drill. It’s a test intended to illustrate body control, fluidity, and change of direction skills. The test is geared towards shorter, more agile players with a low center of gravity, which is the opposite of 6-foot-3, 217-pound Jayden Higgins.
Still, Higgins flashes surprising mobility for a player of his stature and looked quick in Mobile at the Senior Bowl. If he has a surprisingly fast 3-cone time in his bag, it will affirm his lateral quickness and help push him up in a crowded Day 2 crop of pass catchers.
OT Josh Simmons, Ohio State - Medicals
Josh Simmons reportedly tore his patellar tendon in October. Before the injury, he was trending towards being the top-rated offensive tackle in the class. Now, he is typically found clinging on in the final few picks of the first round in mock draft projections.
Simmons' medical checks will be massive and could serve as a major pivot point for one of the most talented linemen in the class. Will teams find the comfort in his current status to drive him back up to where his talent suggests he’s worthy of being drafted? Or will medical concerns drop him out of the first round altogether?
EDGE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee - Weigh In
James Pearce is the first name on this list who was a member of the annual Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List. Pearce Jr. is credited with hitting 23 mph on GPS tracking at an alleged 245 pounds.
However, he’s a lean-framed player, which the league can get skittish on because of the need to play with power consistently to win as a pass rusher in the league. There's no doubt that Pearce will run well, assuming he runs. But doing so at 240 vs. 250 pounds is a big deal.
EDGE Landon Jackson, Arkansas - 3 Cone Drill
Landon Jackson is another member of Feldman’s Freaks list — for a bunch of linear explosiveness. He’s credited with running fast, having explosive jumps (34-inch vertical) and powerful lifts. But his work at the Senior Bowl underscored his struggles in turning the corner and bending the edge from wide alignments, which is affirmed on his tape. But how limiting of a factor is it in his game?
If Jackson can show he’s physically capable of tighter corners with his agility testing, it could help ease some of the concerns of executives and bolster his profile.
DT Darius Alexander, Toledo - Explosiveness testing
(10-yard split & jumps)
Darius Alexander is yet another member of the Freaks List, and he, unlike Jackson, is red hot coming out of the Senior Bowl. Checking in at over 6-foot-3, 304 pounds with 34-inch arms, Alexander is a prototype build for the interior defensive line. If he lives up to his billing with his explosive athletic profile, he will have successfully stacked multiple successful stops along the pre-draft process as a smaller school player.
That can be a ticket to the first round. It happened with Quinyon Mitchell, Alexander’s teammate, just one year ago. This Rocket could be next to shoot up the boards.
CB Shavon Revel, East Carolina - Medicals
Shavon Revel is an athletic marvel who was credited with a 4.40s 40-yard dash and an 11-foot broad jump at an ECU prospect camp while playing JUCO football. That workout earned Revel a scholarship offer with the Pirates. Now? He’ll be looking to prove he’s just well on track to get back to 100 percent health.
Revel entered the season as a potential top-20 prospect if he could put together a big leap in play this year. We didn’t get to see it due to a September ACL tear. He’s now more than five months removed from the injury. How well is the recovery? How likely is he to be ready for training camp? We won’t know these answers unless we get some reports from the insiders in Indianapolis.
But this is a big bullet point for one of the best corners in the class.
SAF Xavier Watts, Notre Dame - 40-yard dash
Few players boast the ball production that Xavier Watts does. He’s a former wide receiver with deluxe ball skills and instincts in coverage. However, his range is something of a question as most projections place him around the low 4.5s in the 40.
As a backend player who can play high in the post as a deep safety, a good time in his runs could help bolster the confidence that Watts does have NFL range to play single-high coverage and properly blanket the field.
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