Best Things We Heard About Lions Draft Prospects at Combine Day 1

The NFL Scouting Combine kicked off on Tuesday with general managers and head coaches taking the podium to talk their 2026 plans.

On Wednesday, it was time for prospects to take the podium prior to taking the field on Thursday.

With the linebackers, specialists, and defensive linemen claiming the microphone, it was time for the players to let out some of their personality.

Here are the best quotes from Detroit Lions draft prospects on Day 1 of the 2026 scouting combine.

Georgia LB C.J. Allen

“I think I just have a superpower, the ability to make guys around me better, on and off the field. I think just playing with the guys and me in the middle, it elevates the guys around me, if that makes sense. And it’s the same thing for off the field.”

Oregon LB Bryce Boettcher

“Baseball, you have to me nonchalant and relaxed, which is great. That’s the part of the game you have to be. But football, you can’t be nonchalant, relaxed, or you get your helmet knocked off, man. So I like how they’re different and that’s the fun part about it.”

Boettcher was a multi-sport athlete, playing baseball at Oregon.

Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez

“Playing defense, you got to play with a lot of effort. It’s kind of mandatory. Get to the ball, try to finish and take that ball away.”

Florida DL Caleb Banks

“I feel like I have the ability to play from the 0 to the 9 (technique), all-around, one of the best defensive tackles, I feel like, in this class, I definitely get pressure up the middle. That’s me, that’s what I do.”

Missouri EDGE Zion Young

“I was just mad, at the time. I was like ‘shh.. I’m gonna have to just run through his face.’ He ain’t respect what I was feeling, I tried to stab from him, I had to switch it up. I wanted to go right back, I’m like ‘nah.’ There was a couple guys right behind him, I’m like ‘nah, I got to go again.’”

Indiana LB Aiden Fisher

“Expect a lot of confidence from him (Fernando Mendoza). That’s just the guy he is. For me, I’m a routine based guy, so it would be the same thing for me that I did throughout college and hopefully learn from some vets to implement into my system and my routine of getting ready for games. That’d be a blessing to have as a scenario, but I can’t give away too many details. I don’t want to tell them anything.”

Buffalo LB Red Murdock

“Intent, and pain tolerance. My own pain tolerance, these knuckles, they messed up for sure,” on the key to taking away the ball. Murdock broke Khalil Mack’s record for forced fumbles in an NCAA career.

Cincinnati LB Jake Golday

“I was a speed rusher, played stand up d-end (at Central Arkansas) for about two years. All those things learned playing d-end has helped me become who I am today. Great hand usage, pass rusher, whatever it might be.”

North Carolina State DL Brandon Cleveland

“I’m relentless, violent, I like to stop the run. That’s what I love to do the most.”

Ole Miss DL Zxavian Harris

“The program is going to blast off under PG (Pete Golding). It’s going to be way better than what Kiffin had done to it, for sure.”

Texas Tech DL Skyler Gill-Howard

“Wrestling teaches leverage, especially for a shorter guy like me. I learned how to move around guys from a young age, and I think that’s helped me throughout my career. It also teaches resiliency, because wrestling is one of the hardest sports where you have to work for. Those workouts I used to go through high school, man… it teaches you a different type of resiliency and grit.”

UCLA DL Gary Smith III

“I’m even keel, until we get on the field. As soon as we get on the field, and I put that helmet on, I turn into a whole different monster.”

Duke EDGE VJ Anthony

“I’m pretty decent, pretty good at the sax. I need to pick it up, haven’t done it in a minute, though.”

Oklahoma EDGE Marvin Jones

“It definitely makes like easy (being opposite R Mason Thomas at Oklahoma). With a guy like R Mason pushing the pocket, I know I probably won’t get as many double teams as the guy on the other side of me, man. Even watching him sometimes is just fun, how lanky, how well he can bend.”

Oklahoma EDGE R Mason Thomas

“I tell them the force equation. I tell them mass times acceleration equals force. So, I’m not a 280 guy, I’m not a 265 guy, I’m a 250 guy. All I need to do is generate some more speed to generate more force. So a guy that’s like 280 can generate more force taking one step in the ground, but I generate the same amount maybe taking three or four steps.”

Clemson EDGE T.J. Parker

“Relentless. Those guys (the Lions) get after the ball man. It’s just, the way they play defense is just fast and physical at every time. That’s definitely a defense you want to surround yourself with. The way those guys treat the game with passion is just lovely.”

Texas Tech DT Lee Hunter

"It was amazing talking to those guys. I think he (Dan Campbell) has a lot of energy. I think he's cool, laid back, he's about his business."