INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Measurements! Testing! On-field drills! Those are some of the main talking points in Indianapolis as the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine rolled on Thursday with the start of televised workouts. Defensive linemen and linebackers took the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, and a few of the top prospects in this year’s draft class dominated. But the day also brought us several more media availabilities with top draft prospects. Here are five takeaways from Day 3 of the combine: 1. NFL personnel high on Rueben Bain Jr. despite short arms Miami (Fla.) edge rusher Reuben Bain Jr.\u2019s suboptimal arm length was one of the biggest talking points of this year\u2019s draft entering combine week. We now have an official measurement for it after Thursday: 30 \u215e inches. At that arm length, the Miami star would have the shortest arms for an edge rusher drafted in the first round since at least 1999, according to data available by Mock Draftable. Despite that, there does seem to be a strong feeling in league circles that Bain has a bright future as a pro. His power, polish and pass-rush repertoire jump out on tape. The reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year registered 83 pressures (!), 9.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss last season. “Shorter arms or not,” a high-ranking AFC executive told me, “he\u2019ll find a way to factor in games.” The Titans, who have the No. 4 pick, are one of the teams who\u2019ve publicly spoken glowingly of Bain, too. “His tape is undeniable,” coach Robert Saleh told Titans media this week. “He is an unbelievable football player. He plays with great violence. His football IQ is off the charts. \u2026 There are certain things he\u2019ll have to adjust to like all these rookies will, but I think he\u2019s a kid that is going to have a lot of success in this league.” I do wonder, though, what having an official measurement for Bain\u2019s arm length could do for his draft stock. League personnel have known his arms were short, but do they now become\u00a0too short? Could he potentially slide into the teens in Round 1, after being a consensus top-five guy? “I really don\u2019t give the time of day for it,” Bain said Wednesday on the discourse about his arms. “That\u2019s all stuff I feel like you see on social media. None of the teams had concerns, so I\u2019m not too concerned.” We\u2019ll see the true feeling of teams on the first night of the draft. 2. Ohio State’s Sonny Styles, Texas Tech’s David Bailey were big winners from combine workouts. Arvell Reese impressed, too. Buckeyes linebacker Sonny Styles, a consensus first-round pick, stole the show Thursday after posting a 43.5-inch vertical and a 4.46-second 40-yard dash with his 6-foot-5, 244-pound frame. That vertical is actually the best mark ever for a linebacker at the combine. He’d already been projected to go in the top half of the first round, but the rare athleticism he displayed could thrust him into the top five or just outside of it. Styles had 82 tackles (6.5 for loss), three pass breakups, an interception and a forced fumble for Ohio State this past season. Texas Tech star edge rusher David Bailey also impressed with an official 4.50-second 40-yard dash. Bailey reached 22.91 miles per hour, which is the third-fastest top speed in the 40 by any edge prospect at the combine over the last four years, according to Next Gen Stats. The showing could make Bailey the first edge rusher taken in April’s draft. He’s been in contention for that possibility with Ohio State’s Arvell Reese and Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. The first edge rusher could go as high as No. 2 to the Jets, who are reportedly trading former first-round pick and edge rusher Jermaine Johnson to the Titans for defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat. Bailey tied for first in the FBS this past season with 14.5 sacks and second with 19.5 tackles for loss. Reese also had his moment on Thursday when he ran a 4.47 in the 40-yard dash that was later bumped up to a 4.46. 3. Imagine if Caleb Downs played a premium position \u2026 The hype would be nuts, right? Despite being a safety, the superstar out of Ohio State tied Indiana\u2019s Fernando Mendoza for first place when we polled a small group of NFL executives and scouts at the combine earlier this week and asked them to name the top overall prospect in the draft. But there hasn\u2019t been significant hoopla with him, at least not the kind you\u2019d expect for a prospect who\u2019s been given a “generational” label by draft pundits. Downs answered in the affirmative when asked if he\u2019s the best defender in this year\u2019s draft on Thursday. “I feel confident every time I step on the field,” he said at the podium. “If I would say I stepped on the field and thought anybody was better than me, yeah, that\u2019s not true.” Downs is on track to be the highest-drafted safety since 2017, when Jamal Adams went No. 6 overall to the Jets. He has a realistic chance of going top five. And when you consider all that he can do, he should be. He\u2019s been a versatile, high-impact chess piece in the Buckeyes\u2019 defense the last couple of years. Downs played more than 140 snaps at three different positions this past season: in the box (241), free safety (240) and slot corner (146), per Pro Football Focus. He also played 44 snaps on the defensive line and nine at outside cornerback. His versatility as a safety is similar to Ravens All-Pro Kyle Hamilton. “It\u2019s not really positional value. It\u2019s who affects the game,” Downs said. “If you affect the game in a lot of ways, that\u2019s what is most important. That\u2019s really all I can worry about. \u2026 At the end of the day, my film is what it is.” It shows a premium player, even if he\u2019s not at a premium position. 4. Oregon TE Kenyon Sadiq\u2019s combine performance is uniquely valuable It was fitting that Sadiq, the draft\u2019s top tight end, made sure to tell reporters that he was going to make the most of this weekend in Indianapolis. “I want to make a statement and have a dominant combine performance,” he said Thursday. “One of the best to do it.” He appears to be an impressive athlete, but because he\u2019s just 6-foot-3 \u2014 and an inch shorter than\u00a0his NFL comp, Trey McBride \u2014 it\u2019s of the utmost importance that Sadiq confirms his athleticism with impressive testing numbers over the course of the weekend in Indianapolis. “The versatility, I think I bring, explosive pass game. I’m going to go run a great 40 and all those things tomorrow,” Sadiq told reporters. “Just showing how explosive I am in the pass game, but in the run game as well, so I can help a team all around.” Sadiq seems like a clear Round 1 prospect. But the difference between the Ravens at 14th overall (with a $23.3 million deal) and the Broncos at 30 (with a $16.9 million deal) is considerable. If he can do what he\u2019s saying, there\u2019s a chance he breaks into the top half of the first round. 4 \u00bd. A Curt Cignetti story to leave you with One of the best moments of the day came from Indiana tight end Riley Nowakowski, who was discussing Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti. Through laughter, the tight end prospect explained a memorable moment during one of the team\u2019s blowout victories this past season. Backup quarterback Alberto Mendoza, Fernando\u2019s younger brother, was in the game. And the sophomore had pulled the ball on a zone read multiple times in a row. “Then after like, the fourth time of it, it was a terrible read. He should\u2019ve given the (play up) after he lost like two yards,” Nowakowski explained. “[Cignetti] tells a coach, \u2018Get Bert over here! Get Bert over here!\u2019 So Bert\u2019s like, \u2018what? It\u2019s the middle of the game. What are you doing?\u2019 “He runs over to the sideline, bro,” Nowakowski continued. “[Cignetti] goes, \u2018we\u2019re not paying you to run the ball! Hand the ball off!\u2019 We\u2019re up like 70 points. He\u2019s pissed off, yelling at Bert. “Then he just turned back at me and gave me one of his little smiles, bro,” he added. “He was just like, \u2018You like that?\u2019” Henry McKenna contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Measurements! Testing! On-field drills! Those are some of the main talking points in Indianapolis as the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine rolled on Thursday with the start of televised workouts. Defensive linemen and linebackers took the field at Lucas Oil Stadium, and a few of the top prospects in this year’s draft class dominated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32279"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32279"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32279\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlinebettingnewyork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}