National Underclassmen Combine: Top performers

SAN ANTONIO – Prospects from around the country flocked to Friday’s National Combine. Dozens of future college football players took the field to test their skills against some of the nation’s best.

Take a look at the top performers from the action on the field at the National Combine.

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Ffrench lived up to the billing on Friday. The Alabama commit was by far the most successful receiver out of both sessions at the combine. He excelled on deep routes, short routes, intermediate routes, crossing routes and out-breaking routes.

Ffrench did a great job catching the ball with his hands regardless of the route. He has a great 6-foot-2 frame and knows how to use his size to beat defensive backs but has the quickness to beat them with pure running skills as well.

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The combine featured a deep group of quarterbacks and many of them had excellent days. Baker is someone we’ve been tracking for sometime and the Rivals250 North Carolina commit did not disappoint.

He has a smooth throwing motion and can throw with power to any part of the field. Baker did a great job throwing with accuracy down the field and quickly adjusted his timing to the receiver he was paired up with. The ball rarely hit the ground when he when it was his turn to throw.

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O’Neal has excelled in camp settings for a few years now but this may have been his best performance yet. The 2026 signal caller from California was perhaps the most accurate quarterback of the day. His body has developed over the last year and he’s gotten slightly taller, which helped him throw with even more power.

His mechanics are sound and it helped him deliver a catchable ball on short, intermediate or deep crossing routes. O’Neal demonstrated the ability to put some touch on his passes as well.

There may not have been a more physical defensive lineman at the combine on Friday. Brooks isn’t a huge defensive lineman but he packs a serious punch and understands how to use his quickness and leverage to his advantage.

There was one play where Brooks threw an offensive lineman backward that was significantly bigger than him but he made it look easy. There’s plenty of time for Brooks to continue to develop from a physical standpoint and his technique should continue to get crisper as he gets older.

Wilson came into Friday with a spotlight on him and the Arkansas commit had a very good day. His mechanics are sound and he throws a really catchable ball. Receivers had no problem handling the passes he was throwing them and his accuracy, particularly on short and immediate routes, was impressive.

Wilson has plenty of arm strength to get the ball down the field and, once he adjusted to the speed of his receivers, his passes found their mark.

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Golden didn’t see the field too much last year at IMG Academy but he’s next up at the national powerhouse. He played with plenty of power coming off the edge and did a great job using his speed and balance to his advantage. Golden had a few nice plays where he used a swim move to beat the offensive lineman and get to the quarterback.

As he continues to get more experience his pass rushing moves should expand and he’ll become an even more dominant defensive lineman.

Manning was one of the more aggressive offensive linemen at the combine on Friday and he had a few highlight plays once the one-on-ones began. He used his great size, strength and length to make sure defensive linemen didn’t sniff the backfield.

During the best-on-best portion of linemen one-on-ones, Manning had the highlight of the day by tossing an oncoming defensive lineman into the crowd of players watching.

There were a few impressive running backs at the combine on Friday, but Yarbrough was the most dominant. His explosiveness out of his cuts made it really difficult for linebackers to stick with him. Quarterbacks had no problem getting Yarbrough the ball thanks to the separation he was able to create.

He did a really good job catching the ball with his hands and made plenty of catches down the field.

The tight end group was pretty impressive on Friday, but Edwards stole the show thanks to his 6-foot-6 frame and surprising athleticism. Sporting his glasses throughout the one-on-one portion, Edwards had no problem leaping to make highlight-worthy catches.

He had success on routes down the field, towards the sideline and on out-breaking routes. It was awfully impressive to watch him adjust to passes while the ball was in the air at his size.

Jones was lost in the depth of a loaded St. John Bosco receiver corps this past season but if his performance at the combine is any indication of what we can expect from him next year, we could be looking at a prolific wide receiver.

Showcasing impressive route-running skills, Jones consistently made it easy for quarterbacks to get him the ball. It wasn’t often that defensive backs were able to stick with him thanks to his quickness out of his cuts.

Quarterbacks loved getting paired up with him because they knew they were going to have big windows to throw the ball into.

Whitehead is definitely a name to remember down the road. After a solid freshman campaign, Whitehead impressed during Friday’s combine. He has a lean frame and really long arms, which gave quarterbacks and receivers plenty of problems.

Whitehead altered a number of passes thanks to his tight coverage and seemed to have no issues playing physically when necessary.

Marcelin was one of the few linebackers who really shined on Friday. He was excellent in coverage and stuck with running backs and tight ends despite their agility or size. He was physical with backs and tight ends when they were in their routes and did a nice job disrupting their timing with the quarterbacks.

Marcelin even pulled in two interceptions on out breaking routes.