The list of NFL Combine invites has been announced, and 319 prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft class are set to attend the showcase in Indianapolis. Here are some of the top prospects set to take center stage in early March, and what they’ll have to prove at the event.
It’s important to note that every year, a share of top prospects inevitably forgo testing and on-field drills if they’re already projected to go in Round 1. But with the 2026 NFL Draft class featuring a relative lack of blue-chip talent, there’s more first-round real estate up for grabs. Here are some of the prospects who can claim it.
Arvell Reese, LB/EDGE, Ohio State
Arvell Reese was a one-year starter for the Ohio State Buckeyes, who could end up riding that single season to single-digit NFL Draft capital. He was one of the Buckeyes’ most dynamic defenders, particularly early in the season, and ended up earning 6.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, and consensus All-American honors.
At 6’4″, 243 pounds, Reese has a tantalizing blend of explosive athleticism, length, and forklifting strength. He used that strength consistently to stack-and-shed in the run game, plaster solo blockers into the turf as a blitzer, and make solo stops in gap invasion.
Meanwhile, his range and fluidity make him dangerous as a rusher, and his lean, platinum-forged length and frame grant him awe-inspiring power capacity on long-arms and bull-rushes, when utilized with his elite explosive edge.
The questions with Reese’s profile stem from his ultimate projection. His power and physicality are overwhelming as a SAM linebacker, as is his range and corrective twitch in pursuit, but he can get lost by misdirections, and he’s not overly fluid in coverage.
Meanwhile, as an EDGE convert, Reese’s traits are in the 99th percentile, but he’s relatively raw as a pass-rush operator. Right now, Reese is a complex “tweener” prospect, but his raw athletic upside and power grant him true X-factor potential.
What to Watch from Reese at the Combine
Reese is one prospect for whom the Combine is a very important marker. Not only will teams get to interview him in person and get a feel for his mentality, but he’ll also display his hyper-elite raw traits on a national stage.
How Reese runs, how he tests in explosiveness and agility drills, and how he measures will all be fodder for the EDGE vs. LB question at the center of his long-term projection. It will also be interesting to see whether he participates in both off-ball and EDGE on-field drills, as some teams may want to see his skill set in simulated rush situations.
Caleb Downs, DB, Ohio State
Caleb Downs has received first-round premonitions from the consensus ever since he set foot on Alabama’s campus as a five-star recruit.
An instant producer at the CFB level, Downs was a star for the Crimson Tide defense in 2023, and then for Ohio State’s Championship-caliber unit in 2024 and 2025.
Downs’ raw production underwhelms in comparison to his prestige, but don’t let that fool you: On film, he’s one of the best safety prospects in recent memory and is a blue-chip player in the 2026 NFL Draft class.
A fluid, explosive, and energized mover at 6’0″, 205 pounds, Downs is special in the box with his combined mobility, play pace, angle IQ, and physicality on blocks. He’s an expert at running alleys, scraping through contact, and securing solo tackles, and his instant reaction to stimulus ensures he’s always responsive on plays.
While Downs’ raw production in coverage makes him easy to overlook in space, his coverage game is just as exhilarating. Downs is an uber-instinctive cover man who can swiftly process route combinations, manage route relationships, transition with ease, and clamp down on stems from different alignments.
He’s the consummate “glue guy,” with a cosmic football IQ and the versatility to play two-high, single-high, in the box as a rover, and even as a big nickel in off-man and zone.
Positional value will be discussed with Downs, but regardless, he has all the hallmarks of a future All-Pro who makes a defense better.
What to Watch from Downs at the Combine
For a prospect already facing an uphill battle against the “positional value” conundrum, the NFL Combine will be crucial if Downs wishes to solidify his case for top-ten capital.
Downs is clearly a plus athlete on tape, but the NFL Combine will provide valuable context for his testing athleticism. Even more important, however, is the coverage athleticism required to manage zones and route spacing: hip fluidity, balance, sink, and freedom in redirection.
That coverage mobility is a major strength on Downs’ film, and regardless of his 40-yard dash time, he should enamor evaluators with his effortless elasticity in space, similar to how Malaki Starks did last March.
Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame
Jeremiyah Love has followed in the footsteps of Ashton Jeanty and Bijan Robinson as the next RB prospect to contend for early first-round capital.
At 6’0″, 214 pounds, Love is a bit lighter and leaner than his predecessors, but he nonetheless plays above his weight class in terms of physicality, and he’s an elastic, turbocharged long-strider whose blend of short-area quickness, throttle freedom, and breakaway speed routinely leaves defenders in the lurch.
As an athlete, Love has superlative short- and long-range dynamic ability, which he maximizes with sharp vision, patience, spatial IQ, and a tendency to manipulate, setting up gaps. And while he’s not the heaviest, he’s able to work through contact nonetheless with his balance, lower-body action, and fearless tenacity.
Overall, Love is a bona fide RB1, who also excelled as a receiving threat and RAC weapon in 2025. He resembles Ahman Green and has a productive career ahead, with All-Pro potential.
What to Watch from Love at the Combine
Love’s dynamic athleticism is evident on film, but it’ll be exciting to see him test it in on-field and athletic drills.
It’s more likely than not that he doesn’t; he has very little to gain and would risk injury. But if he does test, expect eye-popping numbers.
Love is widely considered the consensus RB1 in the 2026 NFL Draft, and for him, the Combine will be just as crucial for meeting with potential suitors. Despite being a common top-ten prospect on boards, his draft range is wide due to conflicted RB positional value.
Makai Lemon, WR, USC
Makai Lemon managed to force his way into the WR1 discussion alongside Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson with an incredible 2025 campaign.
He entered his junior year at USC as the Trojans’ leading receiver after a standout first season as a starter, posting 52 catches for 764 yards and three touchdowns in 2024. He followed that up with 79 catches for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2025, as well as a top-five national PFSN WR Impact grade of 85.1.
At 5’11” and 195 pounds, Lemon is an excellent route runner with electric play speed, sharp footwork, and impressive body control that allow him to create consistent separation.
He tempos his routes with nuance, shows awareness to find soft spots and win on releases and breaks, and he’s an incredibly dynamic RAC threat with quickness and contact balance.
But, uncharacteristically for his size, his chief specialization is arguably as a 50-50 presence; he’s an elite body-control and timing technician in 50-50 situations, with vice-grip hand strength.
Lemon’s uncertain projection against press coverage is the only thing holding him back in the WR1 race. He aced the combined film and analytical evaluation and is the next hybrid power slot to take the league by storm after Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
What to Watch from Lemon at the Combine
The 2025 Biletnikoff Award winner, Lemon is almost exclusively a top-three WR prospect on boards, and at his highest, he’s a top-ten prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft. But he still has a decent amount riding on the Combine, as he attempts to stay with Carnell Tate and Tyson.
While Lemon is listed at 5’11”, 195 pounds, his exact measurements will be under close watch. He could measure in smaller sizes, and his length and wingspan at times incite concerns on film.
Additionally, while Lemon displays hyper-elite short-area quickness and foot speed, he’s not a consistent field-stretcher, and his 40-yard dash time will be watched as a result.
Those who do watch, however, would be wise to remember that functional athletic components, such as bend and redirection freedom, are even more important at WR. And that’s where Lemon shines.
Caleb Banks, DT, Florida
Caleb Banks broke out with four sacks and seven TFLs in 2024, showing off blue-chip raw tools in the process, and later reminded evaluators of those tools with a dominant showing at the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.
At 6’6″, 325 pounds, with arms over 35″, Banks has overwhelming size, length, and forklift power, to pair with inhuman burst and quickness at that size. His rare raw talent has grandfathered him into the “stack-and-shed nightmare” category, and he flashes excellence as a pass-rusher with swims, swipes, and long arms.
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Banks needs more control with his pad level and counter consistency, but his physical makeup is ready-made for immediate impact at the NFL level. The major questions arise from his medical history and his unavailability in 2025.
He’s had foot issues in the past and suffered another injury that required a procedure against LSU, and ultimately caused him to miss most of the 2025 season.
There’s a definite lack of certainty regarding Banks’ projection, on account of his small on-field sample size. That said, Banks has true 100th-percentile tools and the potential to be used as an alignment-versatile game wrecker.
The pre-draft cycle will determine how high he rises, but he’s trending up fast after the Senior Bowl, and his raw potential is impossible to ignore.
What to Watch from Banks at the Combine
Banks’ foot will be the subject of intense evaluation during the NFL Combine medical checks. Foot injuries, in particular, can be debilitating for players at all positions, and NFL teams will want to make sure there are no long-term degenerative red flags for Banks.
If Banks’ health checks out, then the next focus of his NFL Combine showing will be his testing. If he tests, he could put up jaw-dropping numbers, and he already has a verified hyper-elite size profile from the Senior Bowl: 6’6″, 335 pounds, with 35″ arms and 10 3/4″ hands.
Banks is my current DT1 by a close margin over Peter Woods, and his raw traits are a major reason why. He’ll have a chance to put those on display again in Indianapolis.
Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama
Ty Simpson’s sample size remains frustratingly small, but the Alabama passer took the NFL Draft world by storm with his quick ascent in 2025.
Simpson waited for his turn to start at Alabama, and at his best in 2025, that time developing appeared to have molded him into a clear Round 1 passer. But ugly losses to Oklahoma and Indiana exposed Simpson’s biggest issues, and even through the wins later in the year, he proved more inconsistent than desired.
One of Simpson’s best traits is his mechanical profile; he has some of the cleanest throwing form in the class, with consistent sync and hip torque across situations. And in his best moments, he’s shown he can quickly discern coverage voids pre-snap and anticipate over the middle.
That said, his post-snap processing and trigger run hot and cold; his situational precision falters too often despite his solid mechanics, and his non-elite arm strength shows up when attempting to drive passes downfield.
With his general freneticism, Simpson could’ve benefitted from returning to school, but in a scarce QB class, he’s the best positioned to benefit. He resembles Marc Bulger with his talent profile and good-not-great operational skill set, and while he may never elevate a team to Super Bowl contention, a quality starting career is on the table.
What to Watch from Simpson at the Combine
The QB2 mantle in the 2026 NFL Draft is Simpson’s if he wants it, but that means no opportunity can go wasted from this point onward.
Right now, Simpson is seen as being on the fringe between Round 1 and Round 2. Many expect him to go in the same range that Tyler Shough went last year. If he desires to be taken in Round 1, there’s more he has to prove to evaluators in early March.
Interviews will be big for Simpson, who distinguished himself as an offensive leader in his lone season as Alabama’s starter. Handling schematic questions and showing a mind for the game’s moving parts will instill teams with additional confidence, and he stands to gain from on-field drills, too.
Simpson could run, or he could ultimately choose to bypass athletic testing. On film, he’s a good-not-great athlete, whose middling rushing production corroborates his status as a pocket passer first. Within that lens, the throwing routine will be just as crucial for the Alabama alumnus.
Simpson’s mechanics are a strength of his game, but throwing with consistent accuracy and precision has been a sticking point at times. If he can stay consistent, in-rhythm, and on-target, albeit in a very confined and controlled environment, that’ll give evaluators a fresh look at his throwing ability at its best.
Either way, Simpson most needs to improve under pressure, when mind and mechanics both become frenetic, and that’s not something the NFL Combine can fix. But the Combine can give evaluators a positive final impression to work with, along with the pro day. And if he sells them on his intangibles in the interview room, that could be enough.
