2026 NFL Draft: Joel Klatt’s 5 Biggest Risers Following the Combine

This year’s NFL Scouting Combine featured the best showing in the history of the event, according to FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt. In fact, Klatt was so impressed by the prospects at this year’s combine that he didn’t even mention Ohio State edge rusher Arvell Reese as one of the top risers following the event. Reese ran a 4.46 40-yard dash, which was the best mark among edge rushers at the combine, as he looks to prove he can play the position at the next level. Reese had already been featured as a top-10 pick in many mock drafts ahead of the combine, which led to Klatt excluding him from his top five risers list. But one of his teammates made the cut, as did one of college football’s top defensive players last season. Here are Klatt’s five biggest risers following this year’s combine. 5. Caleb Banks, DT, Florida After playing just three games in 2025 due to a foot injury, Banks needed to have a strong showing in Indianapolis. He did, showing an impressive combination of burst and size. “Banks wasn’t really on anyone’s radar coming into the combine,” Klatt said. “Maybe he is, but he didn’t really play [in 2025]. He lost most of the season due to an injury. So, now you’ve got to go perform. And perform he did. He’s 6-foot-6 and 327 pounds with an 85-inch wingspan and he jumped 32 inches. What are they feeding these kids?” Banks, who had 4.5 sacks in 2024, also ran a 5.04 in the 40-yard dash. He had the fifth-best athletic score of all defensive tackles at the combine, per Next Gen Stats. He also climbed up to No. 14 in FOX Sports NFL Draft analyst Rob Rang’s most recent big board. 4. Omar Cooper Jr., WR, Indiana Klatt admitted that he carries some bias for Cooper, thanks to his game-winning touchdown grab in Indiana’s win over Penn State this past season. “Omar Cooper had an outstanding combine,” Klatt said. “Bear with me for everything I’m about to say here: I thought he was the best wide receiver in the Big Ten after he had the ball in his hands. I know that’s a big preface, but when you watch Omar Cooper, man, those RPO games — you should go back and watch the Illinois tape. But that catch against Penn State … that was the greatest play I’ve ever seen live and I’m always going to remember Omar Cooper because of that.” Cooper didn’t necessarily put up amazing numbers during the athletic testing at the combine, but Klatt thought his 4.42 in the 40 was strong enough. He also thought Cooper performed well enough in the on-field drills, holding the third-best production score among all wide receivers at the combine, per Next Gen Stats. “I think his tape is incredible. I think his body control is incredible. His hands are incredible. Then, he runs a 4.42. Boom! Let’s go, Omar Cooper. Now, I think he’s a first-round wide receiver. Daniel Jeremiah, he’s the guy I most respect, has him inside of that first-round ranking.” 3. Jacob Rodriguez, LB, Texas Tech Some might see Rodriguez as the quintessential linebacker who peaked in college. He’ll turn 24 before he makes his NFL debut, and he isn’t the most physically imposing linebacker, standing at 6-foot-1. Klatt hears those concerns, but thinks Rodriguez’s combine might have disproved the narrative that he’s just a college linebacker. “Wrongly, there were some people around the sport that thought, ‘You know what, he might have just been a good college linebacker,'” Klatt said. “There have been guys like that. Manti Te’o comes to mind. There’s nothing wrong with that. People say it like it’s a knock. It’s really not. I think there was a thought that Jacob Rodriguez was going to be just a really good, intuitive college player. Then he puts a season like he had together and a combine like he just put together — top times for the linebackers in the three-cone and shuttle drills. He ran a super solid 4.57 in the 40.” Rodriguez’s athletic score was the fourth-best among linebackers at the combine, according to Next Gen Stats. That pairs well with the productive 2025 season he had, in which he recorded 128 total tackles, seven forced fumbles and four interceptions. Klatt thinks we could hear the Butkus Award winner’s name get called earlier than initially expected. “I think he was trying to get himself into the second round,” Klatt said. “Now, I think there’s a conversation for him to get into the backend of the first round, certainly at the top of the second round. So, he created value for himself.” 2. Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon Sadiq showed out in Indianapolis and made history at the combine when he ran a 4.39 in the 40. That time was the fastest ever for a tight end in the event. While Klatt was impressed by that, he also believes that it doesn’t define Sadiq as a route-runner, and he meant that in a good way. “This guy’s not just a straight line, track speed tight end,” Klatt said. “Remember Kyle Pitts? He was a flex tight end and he was fast, athletic and going to take the NFL by storm. Sadiq is not just that. He’s not just a track star that’s going to run a fast 40, which was a 4.39.” That speed helped Sadiq record eight receiving touchdowns this past season, which was the best among all FBS tight ends. But Klatt doesn’t think Sadiq’s receiving skills are the best part of his game. “Here’s what’s going to make him so valuable: He was better as a blocker than he was a wide receiver, and he runs a 4.39,” Klatt said. “He’s an insanely good wide receiver; he can flex and be an athlete. This guy’s a phenomenal player, but it’s all the work he puts in at the point of attack. He’s a terrific blocker. He’s humble. He works hard. “When I talked to [Oregon head coach] Dan Lanning and [former Oregon offensive coordinator] Will Stein for preparation ahead of the Northwestern game this past season, Dan Lanning was like, ‘Joel, you can’t watch just a pass-catching cut up of Sadiq. You have to watch him block.’ So, I did. I reset the filters and just watched run plays. I watched this guy work in the run game, block, work his tail off and get after it. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s one of the best blocking tight ends in all of America.'” Following the combine, Klatt believes that Sadiq “could be approaching the top 10.” 1. Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State Klatt has Styles at No. 1 after a showing that he thinks might be the best ever in the history of the combine. What Klatt really liked about Styles’ combine performance, though, was that he participated. “That was bonkers. Was that the best on-field workout in combine history? You’re not going to get an argument from this guy. I think it might have been the best on-field workout in the combine ever,” Klatt said. “Here’s what I love, at least for Sonny Styles, is that this guy was already a first-round guy. He pops off the tape. He’s a great leader. He wore No. 0 because that’s the most important number in that program, and he was voted to that position by his teammates. He had the audio in the helmet and he was the leader of that defense. The best defense in America was led by Sonny Styles. “He’s got all the intangibles and he’s got a first-round grade. It’s so easy for a guy like that to be like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to compete.’ But he knew, ‘I can go to the combine and absolutely blow it out of the water.’ Now, here’s where he finds himself.” Styles ran a 4.46 in the 40, which was the best among all linebackers at this year’s event. But it was his vertical jump that was even more impressive, leaping 43.5 inches for the best vertical by an off-ball linebacker since 2003. When you consider that Styles’ on-field production earned him a first-team All-American spot this past season, Klatt thinks that the Ohio State product might be as sure a prospect as it gets in this year’s NFL Draft. “He goes from a mid-first-round guy to clearly in the conversation to be in the top 10 and maybe in the top five,” Klatt said. “Here’s the best part about it: All those intangibles are now backed up by freak athleticism. So, if you’re an NFL organization, there are zero concerns about Sonny Styles. “I think he’s going to have a phenomenal career in the NFL. Like I said, some organization is going to look up and say, ‘We have to take Sonny Styles. Obviously, he’s going to be our captain and play in our organization for 12, 13 years and be the face of our organization and our city.'”