The second day of on-field drills at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis featured defensive backs and tight ends at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. Some prospects elevated their football reputations with eye-popping performances, while others forced front offices to revisit their college tape with a closer eye for detail.
Here are some of the notable developments from Friday’s on-field drills for the defensive back position, beginning with measurements, testing numbers and workout analysis for the prospects in CBS Sports’ top 50 rankings, courtesy of NFL Draft analyst Mike Renner.
Grading top DB prospects
- Measurables: 5-foot-11⅝, 206 pounds, 9½-inch hands, 30¼-inch arm length, 73¼-inch wingspan
- Testing: N/A
Grade: N/A – Caleb Downs chose not to participate in on-field drills Friday. That won’t hurt him, as CBS Sports’ 2026 NFL Draft prospect rankings list Downs as the class’s seventh-best overall player.
Downs took home the 2025 Jim Thorpe Award, given annually to college football’s top defensive back. He is also the only defensive back with 250-plus tackles (257), 15-plus tackles for loss (16) and five-plus interceptions (6) over the last three seasons — the entirety of his college career. He also became the first true defensive back to finish in the top 10 of Heisman Trophy voting since LSU’s Tyrann Mathieu in 2011. He can still be a top-10 pick with a strong pro day performance.
- Measurables: 5-foot-10¾, 186 pounds, 8⅝-inch hands, 31-inch arm length, 75½-inch wingspan
- Testing: 34-inch vertical jump, 10-foot-3 broad jump
Despite not participating in the 40-yard dash, Avieon Terrell raised his stock Friday. He showcased fluid hips during on-field position drills and turned effortlessly toward the ball to secure it in another drill. Between his combine performance and collegiate production — including setting Clemson’s career forced-fumbles record for a defensive back with eight — he helped himself in Indianapolis. Teams looking for a plug-and-play nickel corner should feel comfortable targeting Terrell.
Mike Renner’s combine grade: A-
Renner’s scouting take: Terrell had the cleanest on-field workout among the cornerbacks. His 6-foot-3 wingspan is excellent for his height. He only participated in jumps — and the results were relatively average — which is the only thing keeping him from earning a higher grade.
- Measurables: 6-foot-0¾, 188 pounds, 9-inch hands, 31¼-inch arm length, 77-inch wingspan
- Testing: N/A
Grade: N/A — Jermod McCoy opted out of doing on-field drills on Friday after missing the entire 2025 season with a torn ACL. Excluding COVID-19 opt outs, the last first-round pick who did not play in college the previous year was edge rusher Robert Quinn in 2011 after being ruled academically ineligible. In 2024, McCoy earned first team All-SEC accolades after totaling four interceptions and nine passes defended.
- Measurables: 5-foot-11¾, 187 pounds, 8⅞-inch hands, 30-inch arm length, 74½-inch wingspan
- Testing: N/A
Grade: N/A — Mansoor Delane opted out of on-field drills Friday. However, that won’t sink his stock if he performs well at LSU’s pro day this spring. Delane, a consensus 2025 All-American, led the SEC with a 24.1 passer rating allowed when targeted, the best mark in the conference among 82 players with at least 30 targets. He’s a smooth mover who shows impressive fluidity when changing directions.
- Measurables: 6-foot-3⅜, 201 pounds, 9¼-inch hands, 32⅛-inch arm length, 78¼-inch wingspan
- Testing: 4.52-second 40-yard dash, 1.58-second 10-yard split, 35.5-inch vertical jump, 10-foot-2 broad jump
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren profiles similarly to four-time second-team All-Pro safety Justin Simmons. At the 2016 combine, Simmons measured 6-foot-2⅜ and 202 pounds with 32⅝-inch arms. McNeil-Warren also showcased smoothness in on-field drills that could help him emerge as the draft’s No. 2 safety prospect behind only Downs.
Mike Renner’s combine grade: B+
Renner’s scouting take: McNeil-Warren came in over an inch taller than his listed height. Athletically, he tested more than well enough but remains a clear tier behind many players in this class. He showed off impressive fluidity in on-field drills, which was extremely impressive for someone as tall as he is.
- Measurables: 6-foot-0⅛, 201 pounds, 9-inch hands, 31⅜-inch arm length, 78⅛-inch wingspan
- Testing: 4.35-second 40-yard dash, 1.52-second 10-yard split, 41-inch vertical jump, 10-foot-5 broad jump
Dillon Thieneman recorded the second-best vertical jump (41 inches) and the fourth-fastest 40-yard dash (4.35 seconds) among safeties Friday while also showcasing twitch and anticipation during position drills. He might possess the best anticipation of any safety in the 2026 class.
Mike Renner’s combine grade: A+
Renner’s scouting take: One of the most impressive combine performances you’ll ever see from a safety. An elite athlete who looked more like a cornerback than a safety during on-field drills. He’ll be a first-round pick.
- Measurables: 5-foot-11⅝, 193 pounds, 9-inch hands, 31⅜-inch arm length, 74⅞-inch wingspan
- Testing: 4.44-second 40-yard dash, 1.58-second 10-yard split, 40.5-inch vertical jump, 10-foot-5 broad jump
“I think I’m the best corner in this class,” Colton Hood said Thursday, via The Draft Network. He backed up that claim among the cornerbacks who completed all testing and on-field drills Friday. Hood’s agility flashed in the backpedal and break drill, and he possesses an ideal build for an NFL cornerback, measuring nearly six feet tall with 4.4 speed at over 190 pounds.
Mike Renner’s combine grade: B
Renner’s scouting take His 40 time was slower than anticipated, but the jumps were solid. A few other corners looked cleaner during on-field drills, and Hood didn’t do enough to move closer to the top tier of corners in the class.
Other standout performers
- Measurables: 5-foot-8⅝, 182 pounds, 9⅝-inch hands, 29⅜-inch arm length, 72¼-inch wingspan
- Testing: 43.5-inch vertical jump
D’Angelo Ponds entered the combine with concerns about his ability to compete with bigger wideouts and play on the outside, but he eased some of those worries Friday with a 43.5-inch vertical jump. That leap ranked best among cornerbacks and fourth-best by a cornerback in combine history.
Ponds also tracked the deep ball well to haul in an interception during on-field position drills while showing off his agility in the line drill. That ability could translate to maintaining balance in coverage at the NFL level.
- Measurables: 6-foot-3⅞, 194 pounds, 9¼-inch hands, 33⅜-inch arm length, 80⅞-inch wingspan
- Testing: 4.41-second 40-yard dash, 1.59-second 10-yard split, 37-inch vertical jump, 10-foot-3 broad jump
Washington’s Tacario Davis is one of the biggest risers at the 2026 combine thanks to a unique blend of size and speed. Davis measured nearly 6-foot-4 and ran a 4.41-second 40-yard dash. He fits the prototypical cornerback mold former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll used to build the “Legion of Boom” defense in the 2010s. The defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks deployed 6-foot-4 cornerback Tariq Woolen as part of their “Dark Side” defense, which ranked No. 1 in scoring defense (17.2 points allowed per game) in 2025.
Davis was one of three cornerbacks to measure taller than 6-foot-3, joining Florida’s Devin Moore and Washington’s Ephesians Prysock. The Huskies’ pro day will draw plenty of attention from Seattle evaluators eager for a closer look at Davis.
- Measurables: 6-foot-0, 193 pounds, 9⅞-inch hands, 30⅝-inch arm length, wingspan not recorded
- Testing: 4.40-second 40-yard dash, 1.54-second 10-yard split, 38-inch vertical jump, 10-foot-6 broad jump
Chris Johnson profiled as a strong man-coverage cornerback with solid instincts at San Diego State, as evidenced by his six career interceptions. He earned 2025 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year honors with four interceptions, including an NCAA co-leading two interception-return touchdowns. He boosted his stock Friday by running a 4.40-second 40-yard dash before showcasing his explosiveness with a 38-inch vertical and a 10-foot-6 broad jump. Johnson could very well be a Day 2 pick.
- Measurables: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, 8½-inch hands, 31¾-inch arm length
- Testing: 4.33 40-yard dash, 1.50-second 10-yard split, 38-inch vertical jump, 10-foot-10 broad jump
Arizona cornerback Treydan Stukes entered the week as CBS Sports’ No. 71 overall prospect but climbed up draft boards after an electric combine performance Friday. The 2025 third-team All-American ran the third-fastest 40-yard dash among safeties at 4.33 seconds and ranked in the top five at the position in both the vertical jump (38 inches, tied for fifth) and broad jump (10-foot-10, tied for first). Stukes has solidified himself as a Day 2 pick and will garner plenty of interest at Arizona’s pro day.
- Measurables: 6-foot-0½, 194 pounds, 9½-inch hands, 31⅝-inch arm length
- Testing: 4.27-second 40-yard dash, 1.49-second 10-yard split, 39-inch vertical jump
Ohio State safety Lorenzo Styles Jr. entered the week as CBS Sports’ No. 216 overall prospect but he’s sure to climb up the rankings after a historic combine outing Friday. The two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection posted the fastest 40-yard dash by a safety since NFL Network began tracking combine data in 2003, running a 4.27. He joined his brother Sonny in turning heads at the 2026 combine. Styles’ 39-inch vertical ranked fourth among safeties this year.
Even more impressive, he is scheduled to undergo labrum surgery next week after playing through the injury during the season, according to The Athletic.
- Measurables: 6-foot-0, 188 pounds, 9-inch hands, 31½-inch arm length
- Testing: 4.41-second 40-yard dash, 1.56-second 10-yard split, 38-inch vertical jump, 10-foot-7 broad jump
TCU safety Bud Clark entered the combine with strong ball production: his 15 career interceptions are tied for the most in college football this decade and tied for the second-most in Big 12 history (since 1976). He paired that production with a strong testing performance. Clark tied for the sixth-fastest 40-yard dash among safeties at 4.41 seconds while finishing tied for fifth in both the vertical jump (38 inches) and broad jump (10-foot-7).
Clark entered the week as CBS Sports’ No. 179 overall prospect and No. 10 safety but has emerged as one of the biggest defensive back risers in Indianapolis this week.
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