Prospects Chiefs met with shine during Day 1 of drills and on-field testing at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine
On Thursday, the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine held its first drills and on-field workouts, with defensive linemen, edge rushers, and linebackers showing off their abilities in front of NFL clubs. Several participating prospects had formal meetings with the Chiefs or met with the team at other junctures in the pre-draft process. Their performances at the combine […]
On Thursday, the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine held its first drills and on-field workouts, with defensive linemen, edge rushers, and linebackers showing off their abilities in front of NFL clubs.
Several participating prospects had formal meetings with the Chiefs or met with the team at other junctures in the pre-draft process. Their performances at the combine either validated the team's evaluation or will have Brett Veach and the scouting department taking a deeper look ahead of the 2025 NFL draft.
Here's a quick look at the standout performances from Day 1 among the players the Chiefs have shown an interest in.
One interior defensive lineman tests himself out of Chiefs' likely range
Oregon DT Derrick Harmon, who is basically a clone of Chiefs DT Chris Jones, had a phenomenal day in Indy on Thursday. His day was so good that he probably managed to take himself out of striking distance for Kansas City in the first round.
At 6-foot-4 and 313 pounds, Harmon ran a 4.95s 40-yard dash with a 1.73s 10-yard split. He ranked in the 85th percentile in the A to Z Sports Athletic Composite with a 79th percentile speed score, both better scores than Jones posted in 2016 coming out of Mississippi State (57th and 10th percentile, respectively). Harmon only ran the 40 on Thursday.
Toledo DT Darius Alexander had a solid day of work, posting a 4.95s 40-yard dash, a 31.5-inch vertical, a 111-inch broad jump, a 4.79s short shuttle, and a 7.60s three-cone drill. Those scores gave him a 57th percentile in the A to Z Sports Athletic Composite with a 73rd percentile speed score, a 52nd percentile burst score, and a 21st percentile agility score.
Ohio State DT Ty Hamilton did not participate in any of the timed testing on Thursday, but did go through the on-field work and was one of the best of the day on the "wave drill."
One edge rusher Chiefs met with stands out above the rest
Ole Miss EDGE Princely Umanmielen, South Carolina EDGE Kyle Kennard, and Boise State EDGE Ahmed Hassanein, a trio of players the Chiefs met with at either the combine or All-Star games, clustered very similarly in the A to Z Sports Athletic Composite. Hassenein found himself in the 75th percentile, Umanmielen in the 74th percentile, and Kennard in the 73rd percentile. Each ran 40-yard dash times in the 4.7 range, earning speed score percentiles from 63rd to 75th. Umanmielen was the only one to compete in all events, earning a 97th-percentile burst score and a 62nd-percentile agility score after posting a 4.46s short shuttle and a 7.33s three-cone.
The one player who stood out here was UCLA EDGE Oluwafemi Oladejo. He posted an 88th percentile ranking in the A to Z Sports Athletic Composite. We didn't see him run the 40-yard dash, as he only participated in jumps, but he posted a 36.5-inch vertical leap and 120-inch broad jump. That was good enough for a 92nd-percentile burst score. Only four edge rushers in this class ranked with a higher burst score percentile (Texas A&M's Shemar Stewart, Arkansas' Landon Jackson, Umanmielen, and Virginia Tech's Antwaun Powell-Ryland).
Florida LB Shemar James compares to Nick Bolton
James was a standout at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, but he didn't test well on Thursday a the combine. At 6-foot-1 and 222 pounds, James ran a 4.69s 40-yard dash, also posting a 32-inch vertical jump and a 117-inch broad jump. He ran a 4.35s short shuttle and a 7.09s three-cone. Those numbers are good for a 30th-percentile score in the A to Z Sports Athletic Composite, a 27th-percentile speed score, a 40th-percentile burst score, and a 47th-percentile agility score.
This compares to Chiefs LB Nick Bolton, but not exactly in a good way. While Bolton's burst score (30th percentile) and agility score (8th percentile) were lower than James, Bolton actually posted a slightly better athletic composite (50th percentile) and significantly higher speed score (75th percentile). Remember that Bolton came in at 5-foot-11 and 237 pounds in 2021, running a 4.6 flat 40-yard dash with a 32-inch vertical and 115-inch broad jump.
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