Longhorns At The NFL Combine Running Thread

It is a busy weekend in Indianapolis for Texas Longhorns.

If you have not heard by now, the Texas Longhorns are well represented this year at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. This year, the Longhorns had a program record FOURTEEN players invited to the annual NFL showcase, which was the second most invites among all programs.

It is both quantity and quality with the list of names for Texas making their way down to the turf in Lucas Oil this weekend, so needless to say there will be plenty of updates to be provided from start to finish. There will be plenty of sound bytes and clips, and the plan is to use this post as a running thread for the good folks that don’t follow the combine as closely as some of us.

I will be dropping any notable quotes, highlights, and observations and will be updating throughout the weekend.

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Arch Manning mentioned by Jahdae Barron at the podium

How about we start with someone who isn’t even draft eligible? Quinn Ewers is not the only Texas quarterback getting talked about in Indianapolis this weekend, as Arch Manning received some praise from his former teammate Jahdae Barron.

Manning is not draft eligible until after next season, but Barron had nothing but positive things to say about Texas’ new starting quarterback.

This kind of story jives with everything we have heard about Manning dating back to his recruitment. He was made out to be some kind of diva by a lot of people in the media, but at the end of the day he just wants to be one of the guys and just play ball. The spotlight has been on him for awhile and now it will be his turn as the guy under center at Texas in 2025.

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Barryn Sorrell continues to ace the draft process in Indianapolis

After earning accolades for his performance all week down in Mobile at the Senior Bowl, Barryn Sorrell continued to shine in Indianapolis by putting up an impressive performance down on the turf.

That’s a big man moving down the runway. Sorrell has always been the textbook definition of a “maximizer” and he is starting to reap the rewards of the hard work he has put in since he arrived in Austin.

Sorrell’s stock was already trending up after the Senior Bowl, but after his performance in drills down on the turf you can lock in him moving up some boards. He’s a hard worker, he was a team leader, put on good tape, and now is acing the job interview portion of the draft process.

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Jahdae Barron solidifies his position as one of the best players in the NFL Draft

When it comes to Longhorn players, nobody else helped their draft stock more over the past year than Barron. Barron was a draft-able player last year had he decided to come out, but instead he opted to return to Austin and he parlayed that into being a consensus All-American and Thorpe Award winner after making the move to corner in the offseason.

Barron was a favorite at the podium this week in Indy, as people came away very impressed with his mindset and how he carries himself as a professional.

On top of providing some great sound bytes, Barron had Draft Twitter and Indianapolis buzzing when he ripped off a very impressive 40 yard dash time.

Barron’s time came back officially as a 4.39, which is a fantastic number regardless of position. Daniel Jeremiah’s comp of Brian Branch is very high praise if you have watched him in Detroit or watched him at Alabama. Barron is a very well rounded defensive back who has shown on tape he can excel outside, as well as be very productive in the slot at the nickel position. I feel like you can pencil Barron in as a Top-15 player in this draft class barring any hiccups down the home stretch.

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Quinn Ewers elects to throw in Indianapolis

There may not be a more polarizing quarterback prospect in this year’s class. The takes and thoughts are all over the map on Ewers, but one of the most notable things about him this weekend is that he will throw in front of the scouts and coaches.

Speaking of health, Ewers made a very interesting comment about his health from this past season, as he cited he played through injuries for majority of the season and played in very few games healthy in 2024.

Many (big emphasis on many) people have their thoughts and opinions on Ewers, but the one thing that will always standout to me is his toughness. There was a clear difference in when he was healthy and when he was not, but he battled through a lot of discomfort in order to be out there on the field and give his team a shot.

Speaking of what he did in college, Ewers went on the record about the rumors of him transferring and staying in college one more year. Seems like it was more a manufactured story, as he stated he didn’t want to jeopardize his legacy at Texas.

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Gunnar Helm rebounds from lackluster 40-yard time with on-field drills performance

Like his teammate Jahdae Barron, I felt like (and still feel) like Gunnar Helm helped his draft stock tremendously in 2024 with his productive on-field performance. With that said, things got off to a bit of a shaky start for him in Indy when he recorded some underwhelming 40-yard dash times.

Helm has never looked like a 4.93 guy to me when in pads, so that number shocked me and a lot of people. Fortunately for Helm, he bettered his time on his second rep.

Helm may be a guy who is simply quicker than fast, as his agility drills were a lot better than his straight line testing in Indy.

On top of the agility drills being more flattering for Helm, he also looked very fluid in position drills and showed off his natural hands that showed up often on tape.

It was a shaky start for Helm, but it looks like he rebounded well and still acquitted himself well following the 40-yard time. I still think he is a guy who will carry a draft-able grade at the end of the process when you take everything into consideration.

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Jaydon Blue and Isaiah Bond eyeing Xavier Worthy’s record in Indianapolis

Kansas City Chiefs and former Longhorn wide receiver Xavier Worthy was the talk of the combine last year when he broke John Ross’ 40-yard dash record with a blazing 4.21. Two Longhorns in attendance this year have let it be known that they are trying to dethrone Worthy this year.

Here is running back Jaydon Blue making his comments about he and Worthy during their time together in Austin.

Then here is Isaiah Bond with his own comments about targeting Worthy’s record time.

The crazy thing about Bond and Blue being confident about their speed, is that they are both plenty fast enough to make a run at it. Both of them put angle erasing speed on tape and they both have the kind of acceleration that will put them in play to run very low when they hit the turf in Indy.

Can either of them take down Worthy on Saturday? Only time will tell.

UPDATE: Jaydon Blue finishes with an official 4.38. Plenty fast, but not Xavier Worthy fast.

Same came be said for Isaiah Bond. Bond clocked 4.41 and 4.40 unofficially in his two runs.

I had him pegged to go sub 4.4, so that one surprised me more than Blue.

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Matthew Golden sets the high mark for wide receivers with his 40-yard dash

While Bond and Blue made some bold predictions and came up short, Matthew Golden absolutely lit up stop watches with his first 40-yard dash attempt, as he blazed a 4.30 unofficial time.

We knew Golden had some get up and go to him, but that is a startling number and will only continue to add to the buzz of him sneaking into the first round. He still has one more attempt, so we will see if he will elect to try to go sub-4.3 or stand on that number.

UPDATE: Golden elected to not run again and will stand on his 4.30, which remained the fastest of the wide receiver group.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Golden officially runs a 4.29! Bond checked in officially with a 4.39.

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Quinn Ewers earns praise from Kurt Warner during throwing session

From my eye, Ewers had a solid to nice day throwing the football in Indianapolis down on the turf. He dealt with your standard timing issues and inconsistencies with the wide receivers he was throwing to, but he still showed the arm talent that he has always been praised for and the ball jumped out of his hand throughout the session.

Ewers earned some praise from Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner for his performance during the first throwing session.

NFL Network had Steve Sarkisian up in the booth with Daniel Jeremiah and Rich Eisen during the throwing session, and he was able to break down some of the throws from Ewers during the session.

I love hearing Sark talk ball, so I hope we get to see more of him in this capacity moving forward.

This article will continue to be updated as necessary.