2025 NFL Draft: QB Jalen Milroe, CB Darien Porter headline Connor Rogers’ biggest winners from Combine

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/2025-nfl-draft-qb-jalen-163743114.html

With the NFL Scouting Combine in the books, teams have a ton of information to sort through before the 2025 NFL Draft. It’s not just what you see on television, but also what goes on behind the scenes through the interview and medical process. All of these factors play a pivotal role as they begin to stack their team boards, just as those in the NFL draft media do.

Here are five players that I thought helped themselves throughout the week in Indianapolis.

Jalen Milroe, QB, Alabama

Starting with a player that didn’t even test in Indy? You bet. What Milroe accomplished in interviews behind closed doors was a win. His hand size miraculously going from 8 ¾” at the Senior Bowl to 9 ⅜” at the Combine was also an important marker to pass (laugh about it if you want, scouting departments care about thresholds).

Both he and NFL teams understand he is a developmental quarterback, but his incredibly high football character makes him a project worth betting on. Coaches and evaluators know he will give them 120% and lead when called upon. His teammate Tyler Booker told me he’d get to the facility at 5 a.m. and not leave until around 8 p.m.

Milroe should hear his name called on Day 2 of the draft and will have the opportunity to sit and learn behind a veteran.

2025 NFL Draft Big Board: Travis Hunter on top; Ashton Jeanty, Cam Ward in top 10 for Connor Rogers

Travis Hunter and Abdul Carter lead the way in Connor Rogers’ 2025 NFL Draft Big Board leading into the combine.

Darien Porter, CB, Iowa State

Porter is one of the most interesting prospect profiles in the entire draft. He’s nearly 6-foot-3 with 33 ⅛” arms and lightning 4.3 speed. It’s not just straight line speed either as he clocked a 6.71 three cone (88th percentile) and 4.04 shuttle (80th percentile), excellent agility numbers for his size.

Yet, with that unique combination of size and athleticism, he wasn’t a starter on Iowa State’s defense until 2024, his sixth season with the program (he was a wide receiver from 2019-2022). To his credit, he was a tremendous special teams player before that, blocking four punts and a field goal during his college career.

His teammate Jaylin Noel told me practicing against Porter “made it easier” on Saturdays and that he made the entire offense better. His best football is ahead of him and he should be taken in the top 75 of this draft.

Terrance Ferguson, TE, Oregon

It wasn’t a pretty showing for the portion of the tight end class that opted to test at the NFL Combine, but Ferguson was a rare bright spot. He ran a 4.63 forty (82nd percentile) and jumped through the roof with a 39-inch vertical at 247 pounds.

He’s started for Oregon since 2021 and has topped 40 catches each of the last two seasons. I love his effort as a blocker on the move, especially when he can get to the second level of the field against smaller defenders. He might get lost in a class with a lot of talent at the top, but he’ll be a value pick at tight end early on Day 3. I think he’s a future starter at the NFL level.

Jayden Higgins, WR, Iowa State

It’s kind of a mystery why it took this long for Higgins to blow up, but the secret is out. He’s got the college production, posting 2,166 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns the last two seasons.

Throughout Senior Bowl practices, he consistently stood out with above average tracking and the ability to maximize his catch radius. Then at the NFL Combine, after measuring above 6-4 and right at 214 pounds, he ran a 4.47 forty yard dash and jumped 39 inches in the vertical.

Higgins told me if he could train with any NFL wide receiver it would be Keenan Allen due to his releases, movement skills at his size and ability to separate. Much like Allen, Higgins thrives both inside as a bigger slot but also on the perimeter.

He looks locked into the top 50 of the NFL draft.

Jared Wilson, OC, Georgia

Wilson was only a one-year starter on Georgia’s offensive line, but in a center class lacking big names he stole the show in Indy. At 310 pounds, he ran a 4.84 forty (98th percentile for the position, per Mockdraftable.com), 1.72 10-yard split (93rd percentile), a 4.56 shuttle (80th percentile for interior offensive linemen), and displayed a 32-inch vertical (88th percentile).

You can see those numbers translate to on-field quickness for Wilson in Georgia’s run game, featuring a heavy dose of inside zone. I wouldn’t be shocked if a zone-heavy team took him in the third round.

More from Connor Rogers at the Combine:

Quarterbacks: