Broncos Draft Watch: Day 1 Combine Underperformers to Know

The first day of the NFL Combine is in the books, and the Denver Broncos were busy watching the interior defensive linemen, linebackers, and edge rushers all take the field. The Broncos have pending free agents at linebacker and at defensive line.

The Broncos' potential replacements could have been on the field during the first day of the NFL Combine.

However, not all prospects provided answers as they struggled with various aspects of the first day. We're looking at those who stood out negatively — although not all of them are 'fallers' — whom the Broncos may need to investigate further.

Let's examine how these prospects were impacted by their measurements, athletic testing, and on-field drills.

Measurements

Feb 26, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Alabama defensive lineman Tim Keenan III (DL18) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Tim Keenan | IDL | Alabama

Keenan is a short, squat, run-defending nose tackle, and his measurements cement that. The lack of size and pass-rush potential will likely cause him to fall in the draft, and he was only projected as a fifth- or sixth-round player going in.

Skyler Gill-Howard | IDL | Texas Tech

The height, weight, and arm length all fall below thresholds for NFL defensive linemen, especially for 4i/5-techniques like Gill-Howard is projected to be. He also doesn’t check boxes to drop some weight and move to the edge, which raises questions about what to do with him.

Dontay Corleone | IDL | Cincinnati

Corleone came in at 340 pounds, but under 6-foot-1 and under 32-inch arms. He will be limited in the NFL as a result of a 0/1 technique run defender only, and there isn’t a lot of draft value for those players.

Cashius Howell | Edge | Texas A&M

Hand size, arm length, and wingspan were all concerns for Howell, even with solid height and good weight. He would have the second-shortest arms since 1999, with the only exception being the next guy on this list.

Caden Curry | Edge | Ohio State

Curry measured a hair over 30-inch arms, which would be the shortest measured at the Combine for an edge defender, at least since 1999, the earliest year the data is available.

Rueben Bain Jr. | Edge | Miami

Arm length is important for edges, and there has never been an edge player drafted in the top 100 in the last 20 years with under 31-inch arms, and Bain came in under that mark and is projected to go top 15 at the least. Teams will have to discuss how much it will be a hindrance to him.

Taurean York | LB | Texas A&M

York is the smallest linebacker in this class at the Combine, the only one under 6-foot, one of three with 31-inch arms, but he weighs a decent 226 pounds.

Harold Perkins Jr. | LB | LSU

Perkins is one of the three smallest linebackers in this class, and there was hope he would add some weight for the Combine, but he is still under 225 pounds.

Jacob Rodriguez | LB | Texas Tech

There are concerns about Rodriguez's length in the NFL, and that won’t go away, but he did well in the athletic testing and drills to ease some of those concerns.

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Athletic Testing

Feb 26, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Texas Tech defensive lineman Lee Hunter (DL15) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Lee Hunter | IDL | Texas Tech

This is unfair, as no one expected a good day from Hunter during the athletic testing, but it's concerning that he did worse than many expected.

Chris McClellan | IDL | Missouri

McClellan had a rough day testing, even when accounting for his size, as he failed to reach multiple thresholds you look for.

Brandon Cleveland | IDL | NC State

Cleveland had one of the worst days among interior defensive linemen, and he didn’t do any on-field drills. The athletic testing checked boxes, but only because the tape doesn’t show a great athlete.

Max Llewellyn | Edge | Iowa

No one was expecting Llewellyn to have a good day athletically, as that isn’t who he is, but he still failed to meet expectations, which is always concerning.

Wesley Williams & Vincent Anthony Jr. | Edge | Duke

These two college teammates had a solid day, but if you combined their best drills with the others, you’d have a rare athletic testing day. However, they each had two drills that were a little concerning.

Quintayvious Hutchins | Edge | Boston College

Hutchins has always had questions about his size, but athletic testing could address those concerns. The problem is, he tested out poorly and only made those concerns even more severe.

Xavian Sorey Jr. | LB | Arkansas

Sorey is the only linebacker who actually tested out poorly compared to position thresholds. He failed to reach the below-average thresholds in the key athletic tests for linebackers.

Owen Heinecke | LB | Oklahoma

Heinecke barely met the thresholds people expect of linebackers, which isn’t normally bad, but for this group, it makes it harder to stand out. It was a solid day for linebackers overall, but this group killed the testing.

Jack Kelly | LB | BYU

Kelly is in the same boat as Heinecke and actually did better than Heinecke on the athletic testing. Good news for Kelly and Heinecke: they had a great day in the position drills and stood out.

On-Field Drills

Feb 26, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Clemson defensive lineman Demonte Capehart (DL05) during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

DeMonte Capehart | IDL | Clemson

If you want to talk about losing control, the Capehart is a guy to watch. The drills started well, but not long into them, it all unraveled as his body control was lost.

Gary Smith III | IDL | UCLA

This is unfair to Smith, who is a two-down run defender. These drills favor the lighter, more agile pass-rusher types, and that isn’t him, who should remain one of the better run-defending nose tackles in the class.

Cameron Ball | IDL | Arkansas

Big defensive linemen are going to struggle in a lot of these drills, but it's how they struggle that you look for. Ball came in with good size, but he was going through the drills upright.

Keldrick Faulk | Edge | Auburn

There is talk of Faulk bulking up and being more of a 4i/5-technique in the NFL, and his drill work is only going to increase that talk or cement that into happening. He is too tight to work the edge in the NFL.

LT Overton | Edge | Alabama

The issues Faulk had can be said to apply to Overton as well. He is too tight in the lower half, and his movements are not fluid enough to be a full-time edge in the NFL.

Nyjalik Kelly | Edge | UCF

Kelly stood out earlier in the day, but the drill work was rough. He struggled with the change of direction, and in pass-rush drills, he had to take time to gather instead of chaining moves together.

Kendal Daniels | LB | Oklahoma

The movement was clunky, and at times it seemed Daniels was unsure of the drill. Another issue was that players are supposed to react and not guess, and he was consistently guessing.

Deontae Lawson | LB | Alabama

Lawsone had a lot of issues with the movement aspect, as he is a taller player and he plays upright. He will have to work on playing with lower pads to help with his issues at the NFL level.

Wesley Bissainthe | LB | Miami

It was a rough time for Bissainthe as he stumbled often during the drills and was called out to correct errors.