2025 NFL Combine standouts: Defensive backs & tight ends
Workouts continued at the 2025 NFL Combine on Friday with tight ends, cornerbacks, and safeties on the field.
Day 2 of the 2025 NFL Combine saw the defensive workouts wrap up as Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, and offensive workouts begin. After defensive front seven players worked out on Thursday, defensive backs had their chance to show off for NFL scouts on Friday. Tight ends followed them.
All three spots are positions of need for the Patriots – to varying degrees. Cornerback is the biggest need of the three. The team definitely needs at least one more boundary cornerback, especially one with size, to play opposite Christian Gonzalez. Depth in the slot could also be a need, especially if Jonathan Jones leaves in free agency.
When it comes to safeties, the Patriots specifically could use an experienced deep safety. That would allow them to play Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers primarily in the box, while the back end is taken care of.
At tight end, Hunter Henry returns after leading the Patriots in receiving next year. But, he’s 30 years old and with Austin Hooper a pending free agent there’s currently no experienced depth behind him. Bringing in a project tight end to play alongside and eventually step in for Henry would make sense.
Which players at those positions did their best to position themselves on Friday at the NFL Combine? Here’s a look at the standouts (you can find the full Combine results here)…
CB Maxwell Hariston, Kentucky
This is the time of year where it’s important to remember being fast (straight-line speed) and quick (agility) are two different things. Hariston showed both on Friday. The 5-foot-11, 183-pound cornerback paced his position with a 4.28-second 40 (plus a 39.5-inch vertical), then glided through the positional drills.
There’s a crowded group of cornerbacks all expected to go in the second round, with that group needing sorting out. With a strong Senior Bowl followed by this Combine performance, Hariston is positioning himself to be towards the top of that group.
CB Darian Porter, Iowa State
Porter’s day started off by measuring in as one of the biggest cornerbacks at the NFL Combine this year. He checked in at 6-foot-2, 195 pounds with over 33-inch arms. It turns out not only is he one of the biggest cornerbacks, but also one of the fastest. His 4.30 40 trailed just Hariston, but Porter had the better 10-yard split at 1.49 seconds.
With wide receivers getting more and more athletic, teams are going to need to keep up at the cornerback position. Porter’s athleticism would play at any size, but his frame make him all the more impressive. His Relative Athletic Score came in at 9.99 out of 10, ranking him 4th among 2,480 cornerbacks tracked from 1987 to 2025.
CB Bilhal Kone, Western Michigan
Kone had a strong Senior Bowl, but still isn’t being talked about as much as he probably should be. Maybe his strong Combine performance will help.
A 4.41 40 was Kone’s best testing drill, but he lands on this list more for what he did during positional drills. A natural mover at 6-foot-1, 190 pounds he’s trying to be the next cornerback to make a successful jump from the MAC to the NFL after Quinyon Mitchell last year. Kone likely won’t be a first-round pick – or maybe not even a top 50 pick like Mitchell – but his stock should be rising.
S Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina
There may not have been a bigger winner between the three positions that worked out on Friday than Emmanwori. His combination of size and speed let the NFL Network broadcast to compare him to D.K. Metcalf, who had one of the most notable NFL Combine workouts of any position in recent memory.
Primarily a box safety, Emmanwori stands 6-foot-3, 220 pounds. At that size he ran a 4.38 40, with a 1.49 40 yard split. Those ranked second and first respectively among safeties, and he also led the position with a 43-inch vertical and 11’6″ broad jump. He was given a perfect 10.00 Relative Athletic Score.
S Marques Sigle, Kansas State
The only safety who ran a better 40 than Emmanwori at the NFL Combine was Sigle, who came in at 4.37 seconds. He also had a 37-inch vertical.
That came as a bit of a surprise as Sigle is currently viewed as a fringe draft pick, especially due in part to how athletic he looked on tape. His testing should have teams re-watching his film and giving him a longer look – especially teams that may be looking for a player with significant special teams upside on Day 3.
S Billy Bowman, Oklahoma
Bowman’s 4.42-second 40 was fourth among safeties, but he’s another player who lands on here more for his positional drills than his testing. Bowman’s ability to change direction and track the football looked effortless.
What Bowman showed at the Combine lined up with what he showed at the Senior Bowl. He projects primarily as a safety but also has the skillset to get a shot at slot cornerback, so he could be an early Day 3 pick that would help the Patriots in multiple ways.
TE Terrance Ferguson, Oregon
With projected first-round picks Tyler Warren from Penn State and Colston Loveland from Michigan not participating in drills, this was a great chance for some of the players further down the board in this deep tight end class to show out. No player did more to take advantage of that than Ferguson.
A Senior Bowl standout, Ferguson had a well-rounded performance. His 4.63-second 40 and 39-inch vertical led all tight ends. He also had one of the best performances on the Gauntlet drill.
TE Mason Taylor, LSU
Taylor didn’t take part in testing, but crushed the positional drills. He’s always looked like one of the most polished tight ends in this draft, and is well ahead of where he should be technically for his age. Friday served as another reminder of that.
TE Gavin Bartholomew, Pitt
One area this tight end class struggled as a whole was with the blocking sled. Bartholomew was an exception to that, which stands out in a group that features more primary pass catchers than blocker (his rep was better than some of the tight ends viewed as primary blockers). He also ran a 4.70 40, which was ranked fourth in the group.
TE/FB Robbie Ouzts, Alabama
Ouzts, who is a strong candidate to go from tight end to fullback in the NFL, was one of the stars of the broadcast on Friday night thanks to his Kenny Powers-like moustache. Outside of getting his name out there though, he had a solid showing on the sled and recorded the highest vertical jump (34 inches) by a tight end weighing 270+ pounds since 2003.
