We’re in the thick of Pro Day Season and, while some of the 2025 NFL Draft’s top quarterbacks are showing out after not throwing at the NFL Scouting Combine, some of the draft’s top pass rushers have chosen to sit out of their pro days. Two of the class’s top pass rushing prospects, Penn State’s Abdul Carter and Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart, have made the decision not to work out at their respective pro day events.
Carter’s announcement, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, was relayed by his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, who said that his client was “still finishing up rehab on the shoulder injury” he suffered during the College Football Playoff game against Boise State. He won’t work out at the pro day but will still be measured, which is important because he didn’t get measured at the combine after having to leave early for medicals, according to Dane Brugler of The Athletic. Rosenhaus added that Carter may still work out at private team workouts in mid-April.
Stewart also missed workouts at both the combine and his team’s pro day, per Tony Pauline of sportskeeda. Stewart, a former five-star high school recruit, is a true physical specimen, but after only recording 1.5 sacks in each of his three seasons of play with the Aggies, scouts were hoping to get some insight via pre-draft workouts. If he still goes in the first round of the draft, as is currently projected, it will likely be solely based on traits over production.
Here are a couple other draft rumors on potential Day 1 prospects:
- Another pass rushing prospect, Arkansas’ Landon Jackson is hoping to work his way into the first round with Carter and Stewart. After a phenomenal combine performance that included a 4.68-second 40-yard dash, a 40.5-inch vertical jump, and a 10-foot-9 broad jump, Jackson continued to impress on the stopwatch with a three-cone drill timed at under seven seconds, per Pauline. While Jackson surprisingly sat out of defensive line drills in Fayetteville, he’s still being projected as an easy top-42 pick, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he found himself getting selected on Day 1.
- Lastly, LSU tight end Mason Taylor had an impressive pro day in Baton Rouge, timing out from 4.58-4.62, depending on the stopwatch, on his 40-yard dash and repping out 28 on the bench press. While the Giants and Cowboys both ran him through some blocking drills, the only team with an official top-30 visit planned, per Pauline, is the Chargers.
Let’s hope the Steelers do the right thing and draft Jaxon Dart
He is not a 1st round QB.
Until he is
I know it happens every year they over draft QBs. I just don’t think he is a true 1st rd QB.
Maybe Pittsburgh will be the team that shocks everyone & trades up into the top 10 to get him, I think he is going to rise that much on draft day. Almost every year there’s one that goes flying up the draft boards & goes from “possible late first round” to top 10 pick, & I’m convinced it’s him this year. Let’s just hope he doesn’t end up like Jake Locker.
Only a complete fool thinks being able to read a tape measure or being able to work a stop watch makes someone a good talent scout. A legitimate scout doesn’t need any of that s—t because the player qualities that really count (great instincts and the desire to win) can’t be measured with any tool.
Sure, those things are important, but if you want a high level pass rusher, measurables are pretty damn important too.
Measurables might have some level of relevance if they were conducted under actual game conditions but that ain’t happening.
Regular measurables correlate to on field results at a lot of positions whether you want to acknowledge it or not. They’re far from the only factor, but they matter.