11 players, from James Pearce to Isaac TeSlaa, with the most to gain at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine

A player's NFL career isn't made or broken at the annual Scouting Combine. But a big performance in the Underwear Olympics (tm) can certainly make their transition from college to pro football easier.

Doing well in Indianapolis isn't merely a function of an offseason spent practicing the 40-yard dash and three-cone drills. Prospects are asked to justify their value in pre-draft meetings with team executives and answer a battery of questions from assembled press in between fretting about their standing long jump. Catching the right team's eye could mean a difference of millions of dollars based on draft slot and rookie contract value.

Who are the most interesting men to watch at Lucas Oil Stadium this week? Let's run down the list, including some guys most college football fans have heard of -- and a few they may not have.

1. EDGE Mike Green, Marshall

The 2024 FBS sack leader may have the most to gain in Indianapolis. Green left Virginia after two seasons and six games, made a minor impact in his first season at Marshall and then exploded onto the national scene with 17.5 sacks last fall.

How much of that explosion was growth vs. a weaker slate of competition? Green can point to his three sacks against Virginia Tech and Ohio State as proof he's capable of doing this against Power 4 competition. Showing up in Indianapolis heavy and quick would be the second half of that argument. He weighed in at a safety-esque 215 pounds early in his Marshall career but tilted closer to 250 pounds at the Senior Bowl.

Speaking of the Senior Bowl:

Yep. Clock in around 250 and show out in the agility drill and, Mike Green, YOU are a first round draft pick.

2. DL Shemar Stewart, Texas A&M

Stewart is, in some ways, bizarro Mike Green. He was a former five star prospect. He clocks in at 6-foot-6 and 290-ish pounds. He's looked like an NFL starter the last four years.

Except in three seasons as a Aggie, he has 4.5 sacks. His single season personal best is 16 sacks fewer than Green. The talent may be there, but the production is not.

Even so, he can vault himself into first round consideration by convincing NFL executives there's a statue to be freed from this uncarved slab of marble. Stewart has the size, strength and explosion to be a problem on the edge or slicing inside, but too often gets tripped up in the little things that fitter away this leverage. Coaches will have to see the juice is worth the squeeze in Indianapolis -- and a big, explosive showing could make him the high-risk, high-reward pick some enterprising general manager makes to help save his job.

3. TEs Harold Fannin Jr. (Bowling Green) and Elijah Arroyo (Miami FL)

Penn State's Tyler Warren will be the first tight end selected at the 2025 NFL Draft, because he is actually a furious moose turned human by true love's kiss in a suburban Virginia fairy tale. Michigan's Colston Loveland is the popular selection to follow him. But a third tight end could sneak his way into Day 1. Enter Fannin and Arroyo.

Fannin led the FBS in receptions (117) and receiving yards (1,555) but at fewer than 240 pounds would be utilized more in the slot than as a traditional blocker. After crushing MAC competition, he'll have to prove he has the strength to handle his duties on the line as well as the athleticism to run the diverse array of routes necessary for a tight end who's more Mike Gesicki than Tucker Kraft.

Arroyo is bigger (6-foot-5, 250 pounds) and more accomplished as a blocker. His career production as a Hurricane (four seasons) is less than half the yardage Fannin put up in 2024 alone (753 yards). Injuries haunted him throughout his Miami career before playing 13 games last fall. If he can display the burst and acceleration to separate from NFL defenders, he's got an outside shot of pushing his way to the back end of the first round.

4. OL Charles Grant, William & Mary

The rise of the transfer portal and NIL deals has limited the number of small school stars who remain below the FBS level long enough to earn a combine invite. Grant is one of six players from outside the NCAA's top division set to make the trip to Indianapolis in 2025, all of whom come from the FCS level.

While Grant may not be the most recognizable FCS prospect at his position (that's North Dakota State's Grey Zabel), he may be the one with the most to gain. While he doesn't have prototypical tackle size (6-foot-4, 300ish pounds) he's got a massive wingspan that can be a proper repellent on the edge. He'll have to show off the agility to shadow pass rushers laterally, but an explosive first step could set his floor at "useful interior lineman who can create oodles of running space."

Grant's combine will be a success if he weighs in heavier than he did with the Tribe and shows off the kind of acceleration that puts his giant mitts on defenders before they can get a hold of him. Get that done without sacrificing the quickness that made him an FCS boogeyman and he could work his way into a Day 2 selection.

5. OL Armand Membou, Missouri

Membou has risen significantly in scouts' estimation through the end of 2024 and the early pre-draft process. Per the NFL Mock Draft Database, he was ranked 85th on the consensus media big board back in November. He's settled inside the top 20 as of late February.

He could add another rocket booster to that ascent if he tests as well as his weight room numbers at Mizzou suggest. Per The Athletic's Bruce Feldman, Membou's 320ish-pound frame clocks in at just 18 percent body fat. He squats 650 pounds. That muscle is the launchpad for freakish acceleration, which suggests he could put together a stunning 40 time after repping out an absurd number on the bench press.

But Membou also needs to showcase the arm length and technique to prove he's an NFL tackle and not a guard thanks to his 6-foot-3 height. The difference between those positions could be the designation between a first round selection (and the fifth-year option on his rookie contract) and a slide to the beginning of Day 2. The combine won't have the drills to prove he can handle life on the edge -- that was the Senior Bowl, where he missed a chunk of time due to illness -- but another round of positive testing and scouts' interviews could reassure the general managers waiting to make him an early pick.

6. WR Isaac TeSlaa, Arkansas

TeSlaa transferred up from Division II Hillsdale in 2023 and wasn't prolific at Arkansas, averaging fewer than than 40 yards per game in his two seasons. But he looks the part of a game-changing wideout, combining a big frame (6-foot-2, 200-plus pounds) with solid top-end speed.

If he can push his 40 time into the 4.4-second range, he'd suddenly start to look a little like Alec Pierce -- the Indianapolis Colts deep threat who was a second-round pick in 2022. He's still more pudding than proof, but that's the exact kind of baseline that looks incredible in workouts two months before the actual draft.

With his size and speed -- and a 19.5 yards per catch in 2024 -- TeSlaa can prove he's a viable sideline threat in a league where finding inexpensive wideout help is a massive boon to roster building. If his routes in individual drills look crisp, he could wind up drafted much higher than you'd expect a guy with 62 FBS receptions to his name to be.

7. EDGE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee

Pearce occupies the space between Green and Sanders. He's a former four-star recruit who was primed for a top five selection after a 10-sack 2023. A merely pretty-good 7.5 sacks in 2024 has dulled some of his luster, though probably not enough to drop him out of the first round.

Unless, of course, he fails to impress in Indy. Pearce is slightly undersized after playing at around 240 pounds at Tennessee. Much of his game is predicated on his twitchy speed and ability to dust opposing tackles the second the ball is snapped. If his acceleration trends closer to "above average" than "elite" at the combine it should cast doubt about whether fleshing out his game will unlock the kind of superstar you'd expect with a first round pick.

On the other hand, Pearce looked fast as hell against SEC competition. If he can continue to impress, some NFL team is going to be happy to drop his speed rush into its front seven and work on adding more moves from what should be a stable floor.

8. LB Danny Stutsman, Oklahoma

Stutsman was an uber-productive monster at Oklahoma, racking up more than 100 tackles each of the last three years. Add in some modest sack numbers (seven), production in coverage (eight passes defensed, three interceptions) and an average of nearly one tackle for loss per game in that stretch and you've got a player who could be a real problem in a league with a dearth of dynamic off-ball linebackers.

Stutsman has the size to fulfill that destiny at 6-foot-3 and 230ish pounds. But he may not crack the top three at his position without a big showing in Indianapolis. Lateral movement will be the key to boosting his draft stock. He needs to prove he can plant a foot and change direction in step with the tight ends and wideouts he'll be tasked with tracking in the NFL. After a 2024 in which he failed to record a pass defensed or an interception, he needs to provide proof of concept in coverage or risk being labeled a situational player.

Even if that situation is extremely good -- he's an absolute terror against the run -- it can still significantly affect his draft stock. Ja'Whaun Bentley, for example, had 12 tackles for loss his final season at Purdue but still slipped to the fifth round in part due to coverage concerns (he was also less decorated than Stutsman. It's an imperfect comparison). The combine won't give him the chance to show off in any live game action, but with fluid hips and quick acceleration he could ease scouts' concerns.

9. EDGE David Walker, Central Arkansas

As a three-time FCS All-American, Walker could have likely moved up to the FBS ranks after moving up from Division II Southern Arkansas in 2022. Instead, he stayed with the Bears, racking up 31 sacks in those three years.

That makes him a bit of an unknown coming into the combine. He's got solid bulk (260 pounds) but sub-standard height and length at 6-foot-2. As a former wideout he should have solid athleticism to display in Indianapolis. The question is whether coaches will leave convinced he's got the arm length to engage blockers before they get to them and the first-step quickness to mitigate that if not.

Walker has the opportunity to turn his relatively compact frame into a strength by showcasing the power and explosion that made him one of the FCS's most valuable players three years running. But an average showing in his individual drills could limit him to a Day 3 lottery ticket.

10. QB Jalen Milroe, Alabama

We've got a pretty steady understanding the first two quarterbacks selected in 2025 will be Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders. After that, however, things get dicey.

Milroe was long considered to be the third man up in that group, but his place there is in no way secure. A flawed crop of quarterbacks means he's on a similar footing as guys like Tyler Shough, Jaxson Dart and Quinn Ewers. A big showing in Indianapolis could cement his place as a high profile developmental pick for a team with an aging quarterback at the top of the depth chart.

For Milroe and others, this action won't be confined to the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium. He's going to have to answer a series of pop quizzes while conducting interviews throughout the pre-draft process, proving he can diagnose a defense and create solutions on the fly. Milroe took a decided step back in 2024, upping his turnover rate and dropping his touchdown rate. He needs to prove there's still potential to be tapped if he wants to be 2025's QB3.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: 11 players, from James Pearce to Isaac TeSlaa, with the most to gain at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine