O-Linemen, D-Linemen, and Linebackers in First Day of 2025 Big 12 Pro Day

It doesn’t get the thorough attention of the NFL Network or as extensive coverage as the NFL Combine, but for the second year the Big 12 Conference has had its’ schools send their talent to the Dallas Cowboys facility, The Star in Frisco, Texas for a conference wide combine. The event runs through Friday. Over 200 players from across the 16 Big 12 schools were participating. Opening day for field drills was March 19 and the offensive linemen, defensive linemen (edge included), and linebackers were involved. The results were inconsistent, but here is what we were able to gleen  frm day one. 

Oklahoma State Participants - Day One (offensive linemen, defensive linemen, and linebackers)

Cole Birmingham, OL

Dalton Cooper, OL

Joe Michalski, OC

Preston Wilson, OL

Obi Ezeigbo, DE, 6-1 ¾, 248

Xavier Ross, DL, 6-4, 297

Kody Walterschedid, DL, 6-6 1/8, 285

Listed but did not see work out

Collin Oliver, Edge, 6-2, 240

Nick Martin, LB, 5-11 ½, 221

Justin Wright, LB

Two observations immediately, overall, the look of athletes at the Big 12 Pro Day does not match what you saw at the NFL Combine, not even close. There are a few athlete that look like they could have been at the combine. The Oklahoma State group looked good. Nobody clearly overweight and they did appear to test well with what we saw. 

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Oliver sticks with his 4.56 forty at the Combine.

The other observation is Collin Oliver was clearly on the field and getting ready to run. He ran a 4.56 in the forty at the NFL Combine and looked like he might try to better that. In the end, he did not run. The opinion coming out of last year’s Big 12 Pro Day was the turf field inside The Star is slow. That appeared to be the case today. I will have a better idea when the running backs, quarterbacks, and receivers are working out on Thursday. 

Oliver did do 24 reps on the 225 pound bench press test.

By comparison, former Oklahoma State offensive tackle Caleb Etienne, who finished at BYU this past season, measured 6-6, 329 pounds. He had an 81-inch wingspan and 36-inch arms. He ran a 5.1 in the forty with 1.77 second 10-yard split. 

There were only a few drills we saw. The offensive linemen were featured on a drive blocking and a multiple targets drill, but neither were truly focused on. The defensive linemen did the three-cone drill and you see the athletic ability, balance, and eligility. I thought all three Cowboys looked good, especially Ezeigbo and Walterscheid. The NFL Network talent of Rhett Lewis and Daniel Jeremiah both seemed impressed with those two Cowboys. They had the third member of the crew Bucky Brooks guess where Division II Gannon University is located? Brooks answered southeastern Oklahoma (It is in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania). 

Robert Allen - Pokes Report

Obi Ezeigbo talking to the media at OSU.

Ezeigbo and Walterscheid were smooth on the three-cone and all three Cowboys were excellent on the four bag agility drill. Some players lost their balance and went to the ground. Others bumped the bags off-line. Some were just flat slow on the drill. Ezeigbo, Ross, and Walterscheid were excellent, balanced, quick, and explosive. They kept their eyes up during the dill and they did not have to look down. Now, a secret is that has been a constantly used drill at Oklahoma State for a long time. 

From my observations with what I saw all three defensive linemen, especially Obi Ezeigbo and Kody Walterscheid impressed and helped their prospects. Offensive line it was hard to tell, but center Joe Michalski and Dalton Cooper ran well and going in had some solid positive opinions based on their play. Preston Wilson ran well. All three of thise offensive linemen were top 10 in the 10-yard split on the forty and for linemen that is critical. 

Cole Birmingham ran the 5.56 in the forty and that is way up there. 

Tomorrow morning starts with running backs and tight ends and then moves into quarterbacks, wide receivers, and defensive backs. Slated to participate from Oklahoma State are quarterback Alan Bowman; running back Ollie Gordon II; wide receivers Brennan Presley and Rashod Owens; tight ends Trey Foster and Jake Schultz; and defensive backs Trey Rucker, Korie Black, and Kobe Hylton.