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# NFL Combine Analysis: Defensive Winners From Indy Who Fit Seahawks’ Personnel Needs
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/nfl-combine-analysis-defensive-winners-from-indy-who-fit-seahawks-personnel-needs/
- Published: 2025-03-05T16:08:01.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T06:00:31.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Seahawks, CJ West, Kitan Crawford, Landon Jackson, Demetrius Knight Jr., Zah Frazier, 2025 NFL Draft

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="890"\]

![  Indiana Hoosiers defensive tackle CJ West chases after Michigan Wolverines quarterback Davis Warren. Credit: Indiana Hoosiers Athletics  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/cj-west-format-original.jpg)

Indiana Hoosiers defensive tackle CJ West chases after Michigan Wolverines quarterback Davis Warren. Credit: Indiana Hoosiers Athletics \[/caption\]

Ushering in a new offseason, the annual NFL Scouting Combine has come and gone with the Seattle Seahawks and all 32 teams evaluating over 300 prospects with on-field workouts, medical examinations, and formal meetings.

Now less than two months away from the 2025 NFL Draft, considering Seattle’s scheme under second-year head coach Mike Macdonald, which defensive players helped themselves the most with excellent weeks in Indianapolis?

Here are five winners from the combine that should be on the radar for the Seahawks as strong personnel fits:

### Landon Jackson, DE, Arkansas

After starring in the SEC with 13 sacks and 24 tackles for loss in his final two seasons with the Razorbacks, Jackson didn’t enter the NFL combine as an unknown commodity with most draft analysts highlighting him as a solid day two selection. Still, teams may have had reservations about his overall athletic profile, as he at times played with rigid hip fluidity with a tall 6-7, 280-pound frame and didn’t always showcase the best change of direction skills, which made his workout one of significant importance to watch.

While Jackson didn’t participate in either agility drill and questions remain on that front and weighed in lighter than his listed playing weight, he may have vaulted into the first round with a dominant showing in Indianapolis, flashing rare burst and explosiveness for a player of his size. Maximizing his long strides to make up ground quickly, he ran a blazing 4.68 40-yard dash and then surprised in the explosive testing drills, remarkably jumping 40 1/2 inches in the vertical jump and 129 inches in the broad jump. With that athletic profile and his positional flexibility to play 3-tech defensive tackle, defensive end, and outside linebacker off edge, he has the look of the perfect defensive line prospect for Macdonald’s system.

### CJ West, DT, Indiana

Following four seasons at Kent State, West hit the transfer portal and opted to jump to Big Ten competition with the Hoosiers, anchoring a defensive line that played a crucial role in the program’s historic 11-win season that culminated in a College Football Playoff berth. With only two sacks and eight tackles for loss, his numbers don’t jump off the stat sheet, and concerns about his size and being a “tweener” position-wise lingered even after he impressed at the East/West Shrine Bowl, creating questions about where he might fall in the upcoming draft.

Some of those concerns weren’t alleviated in Indianapolis, as West measured in with sub-optimal 31 1/2-inch arms, which will be a deal breaker for some teams. But while he’s undersized at 316 pounds, he’s built with a stocky frame at 6-1, making it much easier to project him playing nose tackle snaps in the NFL with a low center of gravity and powerful base. On top of being difficult to move at the point of attack, he demonstrated a quick first step and the explosiveness to consistently penetrate gaps on film, which was backed up by a 4.95 40-yard dash time with a 1.73 10-yard split and 33-inch vertical jump. West won’t be the right fit for every team and scheme, but his positional flexibility as a modern nose with pass rushing upside would mesh well with Macdonald’s system in Seattle.

### Demetrius Knight Jr., LB, South Carolina

Bouncing around during the era of the transfer portal, Knight spent his first four seasons at Georgia Tech before transferring to Charlotte for one season and then using his final year of eligibility as a graduate student to up his game against SEC competition with the Gamecocks. A textbook definition of a late bloomer, he surpassed 80 tackles in his final two collegiate seasons, including posting 82 combined stops with two sacks and an interception in his lone year in Columbia, but remained a relative curiosity in pre-draft rankings prior to participating in the Senior Bowl.

Fast forwarding to the aftermath of the combine, Knight isn’t just a curiosity anymore, and could be one of the first linebackers to hear his name called next month. Putting on a clinic during athletic testing after measuring in at a solid 6-2, 235 pounds, he sprinted his way to a 4.58 40-yard dash with a sub-1.60 second 10-yard split and excelled in agility drills, finishing among the top linebackers with a 7.12 3-cone drill and 4.25 short shuttle. An instinctive defender who became an immediate locker room leader at South Carolina, even if Ernest Jones IV returns as hoped, adding him to the mix as a sideline-to-sideline linebacker in Macdonald’s scheme would be a wise investment.

### Zah Frazier, CB, UTSA

The latest long, lean, athletic cornerback to grace the Roadrunners’ secondary, Frazier barely played in his first two seasons on campus, primarily being relegated to special teams. But the 6-3 defender burst onto the scene in 2024 as a first-time starter, garnering First-Team All-AAC recognition after finishing second in the nation among cornerbacks with six interceptions and allowing just a 47.5 percent completion percentage and only one touchdown in coverage. Despite limited experience, he landed a spot in the East/West Shrine Bowl and the combine presented another chance to improve his draft stock.

Taking advantage of the spotlight in Indy, Frazier turned in one of the finest workouts among cornerbacks at Lucas Oil Stadium, starting with a speedy 4.36 40-yard dash time that ranked fifth in his positional group. In addition to a respectable 36 1/2-inch vertical jump and 126-inch broad jump, he also excelled in agility testing, showcasing rare change of direction skills for a tall, long defensive back with a 7.0-second 3-cone drill and 4.26 short shuttle. Like Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen before him, he’s a raw talent who hasn’t played a ton of defensive snaps at the college level, but his size, athleticism, and ball skills combo set the stage for him to be the next standout UTSA corner in Seattle.

### Kitan Crawford, S, Nevada

A top recruit who committed to Texas, Crawford never could break through as a starter in a deep, talented secondary in four seasons in Austin, opting to transfer for his final year of eligibility at Nevada to finally earn significant playing time on defense. Though the Wolfpack didn’t win a single game in Mountain West play, he shined for a struggling program, racking up 62 combined tackles, two interceptions, and five pass breakups without giving up any touchdowns in coverage. If he had played on a better team, he likely would have been an All-Mountain West performer, instead being listed as honorable mention only before playing in the Hula Bowl.

Rewarded the opportunity to show what he could do in front of scouts at the combine, Crawford put together one of the best all-around workouts for a defensive back in Indy. Finishing among the top three safeties with a 4.41 40-yard dash, he also ranked second in the vertical jump (41 1/2 inches), third in the broad jump (128 inches), and second in the 3-cone drill (6.81). Seeing nearly a 50/50 split between free and strong safety at Nevada last season, he possesses the interchangeability Macdonald covets at the position on top of elite athletic traits and in time, he could play his way into snaps as a rotational third safety in sub packages while being a standout on special teams for the Seahawks.