Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
The New Orleans Saints are going to have no issue landing an impact player at No. 8 overall in this year’s draft class. There was no better confirmation of that than Thursday’s first day on on-field workouts at the NFL Scouting Combine. Headlined by Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles and Texas Tech defensive end David Bailey, the Saints saw several standout performers among the defensive line and linebacker groups perform.
Ohio State LB Sonny Styles
Styles shook up the Combine exactly as expected. His 4.46-second 40-yard-dash was the fastest among the 2026 linebacker group. His 43.5-inch vertical is the all-time best among linebackers in Combine history and his 11-foot-2 broad jump ranks T-No. 4 all-time at the position.
Beyond his elite testing numbers, which yielded an unofficial 9.99 RAS out of 10.00, Styles’ size helped him win the day. He measured in at 6-foot-5 and 244 pounds with 32 ⅞-inch arms.
The Ohio State second-level player is going to be reduced when it comes to first-round conversations because of his role as an off-ball linebacker. But his versatility as a pass rusher, notching six sacks in 2024, makes him a unique and desirable fit in defensive coordinator Brandon Staley’s system.
Texas Tech DE David Bailey
As a pure pass rusher, it will be hard to find someone more athletic and disruptive than Bailey. His 14.5 sacks last year tied for the lead in the national with Western Michigan edge rusher Nadame Tucker. Not only does Bailey pack the stat sheet, though, he impressed in testing.
At 6-foot-3 and 251 pounds, he ran a 4.5-second 40 and showed off his explosiveness with a 35-inch vertical leap. Bailey is ready-made to enter the NFL and take on a pass rush specialist role with game changing ability as a finisher and high-level athletic testing.
UCF DE Malachi Lawrence
Like Bailey, Lawrence can be a strong pass rusher at the next level that wins with speed and finesse. Similarly sized at 6-foot-4 and 253 pounds, Lawrence’s 4.52-second 40-yard-dash time came in just below Bailey’s. However, Lawrennce tipped the scales with his explosive metrics. He put up a 40-inch vertical leap and 10-foot-10 broad jump, each of which translates on tape with his get off and burst from the line of scrimmage.
TCU LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr
An under-the-radar linebacker for most of the draft process, Elarms-Orr should now find himself gathering a lot more attention after his demonstration in Indianapolis. He’s an undersized linebacker for many at 6-foot-2 and 234 pounds, but the Saints found success with a smaller linebacker build last year, utilizing 6-foot-1, 215-pound Isaiah Stalbird in a third-down rusher role.
Elarms-Orr ran an impressive 4.47 40-yard-dash, second behind Styles and added a 40-inch vertical and 10-foot-4 broad jump. His unofficial 9.92 RAS is No. 26 out of over 3,000 linebackers ranked since 1985.
Florida DT DeMonte Capehart
A name many did not know until the Scouting Combine, Capehart now ranks No. 8 out of over 2,000 defensive tackles tested since 1985 with his unofficial 9.97 RAS. The 6-foot-5, 313-pound defensive tackle is a perfect prototypical build with versatility in his game. He spent 24% of his snaps over the center in Gainesville last year and showed to be a productive run stuffer with a 9.5% stop rate in the run game.
Putting up a 4.85-second 40 and 33.5-inch vertical leap, Capehart has now put himself on the map for teams looking for a disciplined, athletic run stopper for the middle of their defensive line. This is an area the Saints could look to bolster this offseason after making great strides against the run last year.
