The Underwear Olympics is underway.
No, not that Underwear Olympics. That's in like July. At 3 AM Eastern. On Cinemax.
We're talking about the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. 319 of the nation's top collegiate prospects have descended on Lucas Oil Stadium to be poked, prodded, and put through their paces by NFL coaches and scouts.
They will be measured. Asked a million questions in just as many interviews. And participate in drills that include everything from the 40-yard dash and vertical jump to positional drills involving a football on a stick. And with the combine changing up the schedule in recent years, it's the defensive players who were up first.
The 2026 could be defense-heavy at the top. Of the top-five players off the board in Mel Kiper's hair's latest mock draft at ESPN, three are defenders—including two players from the same school. And the defensive linemen may be the deepest position on that side of the ball—three of Kiper's top-10 picks are edge-rushers.
Just one is a quarterback. Because quarterbacks are lame.
OK, except for Shane Falco.
Frankly, the value of Combine workouts is debatable. This isn't the 1980s, when some NFL teams had barely scouted many players. With the advent of that internet thing everyone talks so much about and umpteen sports networks, tape is readily available for every snap of every game most high-end prospects have ever played. And folks, tape don't lie.
(Yes, I know it's not "tape" anymore. Don't judge me.)
Given that, one workout shouldn't make or break a player's stock. But that won't stop fans, pundits, and fantasy managers from overreacting to what we saw from the Class of 2026.
We're going to try to avoid hyperventilating here at Footballguys, but over the next few days, this IDP idjit is going to offer his takeaways from this year's festivities in Indy.
First up, it's the defensive linemen—including those elite edge-rushers.
Arvell Reese is an Edge-Rusher—Just Ask Him
Ohio State's Arvell Reese is an athletic freak who played both off-ball linebacker and edge-rusher in Columbus. He has been mocked as early as No. 2 overall in more than a few drafts. But when asked by reporters what position he sees himself playing at the NFL level, Reese said that his future lies in making opposing quarterbacks cry.
"Teams have pretty much been asking me what I want to do and see where my mind was at. I've been telling them I think I'm an outside linebacker/edge," Reese said. "I haven't even scratched the surface with really what I can do pass rushing."
Reese's size (241 pounds) and arm length (32.5") are legitimate concerns, as is production that tailed off as the season wore on. But Reese's explosiveness is unquestionable—he peeled off a 4.46-second 40-yard-dash and showed excellent burst and solid bend off the edge in position drills.
It could take Reese a little while to get going in the pros, ala Abdul Carter (another off-ball linebacker who switched spots) last year—enough so that he may not be my No. 1 rookie edge-rusher in redraft IDP formats. But there is more than a little Micah Parsons in Reese's game. He's going to be a problem, and he's the top-ranked EDGE in dynasty leagues.
