The final day of the NFL Scouting Combine put the offensive linemen on center stage at Lucas Oil Stadium and it was worth the wait.
"It's a deep group of starters," NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah assessed of the class available for selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. "Maybe not those elite payers like we had last year but there are a lot of guys that are ready to plug in and play, and a lot of guys with versatility that have some experience playing different positions."
Jeremiah highlighted four such players as examples of what this year's offensive line class has to offer.
Alabama's Tyler Booker, in Jeremiah's estimation, is "plug-and-play" at guard.
Missouri's Armand Membou has experience at guard and offensive tackle.
North Dakota State's Grey Zabel is capable, Jeremiah maintained, of playing all five offensive line positions.
And Ohio State's Donovan Jackson moved from left guard to left tackle after a season-ending injury sustained by Josh Simmons and helped lead the Buckeyes to the national championship.
And there are more where they came from.
"Talent and versatility, that's what screams at you from this group of players," Jeremiah summarized.
Following is a look at some of the highlights of the NFL Network's coverage of Day Four in Indianapolis:
NOT HIRED FOR HIS DISPOSITION: Booker brings a no-nonsense, bash-and-smash approach to his work up front. He told NFL Network reporter Stacey Dales he views football as "legal assault," and that his mission on every down is to make the players he's blocking "not love football."
THE USUAL SUSPECTS: A number of schools had multiple offensive linemen on display.
Texas was represented by offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., guard Hayden Conner, center Jake Majors and offensive tackle Cameron Williams.
Oregon's contingent included offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. and offensive tackle Ajani Cornelius.
Ohio State center Seth McLaughlin, Jackson and Simmons were all on hand (Simmons is still recovering from patellar tendon surgery and didn't work out).
And Georgia had guard Dylan Fairchild, guard Tate Ratledge, guard Xavier Truss and center Jared Wilson in Indy.
All four of those schools qualified for the College Football Playoff in 2024.
Ohio State won the national championship.
"There's a pretty good correlation between the number of linemen here and winning a lot of games," NFL Network analyst Charles Davis observed.
FREAK SHOW: Membou shouted his way to a 4.91 on his first 40-yard dash at 6-foot-41/4 and 332 pounds.
It held up as official.
"You let out a primal scream when you do freaky stuff," Jeremiah reasoned. "That is fantastic."
Membou, not surprisingly, didn't bother to run a second 40.
"He's in the mix to be the first offensive lineman off the board," Jeremiah added.
Georgia center Jared Wilson (6-3, 310) came in .01 better than Membou with a first 40 of 4.90 that, likewise, held up as official.
For an encore, Wilson produced a 4.84 on his second 40 attempt which also ended up as an official time, the fifth-fastest time by an offensive lineman at a Combine since 2003 (tied with Richie Incognito in 2005).
Membou's 10-yard split, considered a more significant indicator than the 40 time for offensive linemen, was 1.74, tied for the fourth-best time in his offensive line group (two drilled on Day 4) behind Wilson's 1.71 (first attempt).
Membou and LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell joined Tampa Bay's Tristan Wirfs (in 2020) and San Francisco's Trent Williams (in 2010) as the only offensive linemen who registered a vertical leap of over 30 inches and a sub-5.00 40 at 315 or more pounds at a Combine since 2003.
Campbell's vertical this year was 32" and his 40 was 4.98 at 319 pounds.
Membou delivered a 34" vertical and also had a 9'7" broad jump.
"I was chasing the 4.8 in the 40 but 4.9 is pretty good," Membou told Dales. "Every team, they asked what I view myself as. I just told them I think I'm athletic enough to stay at tackle but I have the versatility to go dominate at guard.
"I'm just excited to bring my explosiveness and my ability to move D-linemen off the ball."
The average offensive lineman 40 time was 5.13, the fastest by an offensive line group at a Combine.
IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT THE MEASURABLES: Campbell is widely regarded as one of the prized offensive line prospects in the draft but there are some who question whether he'll wind up at guard because of his 325/8-inch arms.
Campbell isn't among the concerned.
"It's no secret I don't have the stereotypical offensive lineman arms but I've never had them," he told Dales. "There were concerns when I was coming into college, I handled it fine. And, obviously, there's concerns now and I'm gonna handle it fine whenever a team gives me the opportunity."
College tackles with arms shorter than 33" often end up at guard in the NFL.
But to Campbell that's not necessarily a definitive indicator as to whether a player is better suited for guard or tackle.
Dales also reported Campbell told her "blocking is done with your feet."
AIN'T THAT TOUGH ENOUGH: Jackson didn't run 40s and looked to be struggling to a degree in drills. At one point he received attention from the medical staff and had his right thigh wrapped.
"I don't know that he looks super healthy," Jeremiah said. "You can see a strain on his face as well when he's trying to finish a drill. I admire the competitiveness but it's not necessary at this point. You got 55 starts at Ohio State, that's enough. I love you competing if you're healthy but if you're not 100 percent it's not worth that."
Added Davis, who worked on the field as well as upstairs at an anchor desk: "I said to him, 'Are you OK young man?' He just looked at me and defiantly said, 'I'm doing great,' and just went back to the line.
"He doesn't look right, I think everyone's kind of seeing there may be something a little bit off but he's doing his best to fight his way through it."
