The Super Bowl is now in the rearview mirror but the grind never stops in the National Football League. The next major event on the football calendar is the 2025 NFL Combine which will be taking place in Indianapolis on Thursday, February 27th through Sunday, March 2nd.
Every event at the combine is a chance for NFL prospects to prove why they are worth a draft pick. Historically, the combine can be a massive factor in how high a player gets picked in the draft. Events like the 40-yard dash, 3-cone drill, 20-yard shuffle, vertical jump, long jump, and bench press are carefully measured.
Here is a look at the o/u for the highest vertical jump at the 2025 NFL Combine:
Vertical Jump Testing Rules:
The vertical jump is a very simple test and is exactly what it sounds like. It is simply a test of how high off of the ground a player can jump. There is nothing they need to jump over or jump into. The athletes will start in a standing position, squat down and jump directly up in the air, touching the highest prong possible on the measuring stick above their heads. Before the jump, the player’s flat-footed reach is measured to see how high they can reach without jumping. That number is then subtracted from the number that they hit on their vertical jump to determine how high off the ground they jumped. Each player gets two attempts, and their highest jump is officially taken down.
NFL Combine Vertical Jump Record:
There is a long-standing record for best vertical jump at the NFL combine, set all the way back in 2005 by future Jaguars’ draft pick Gerald Sensabaugh. Sensabaugh hit an incredible 46-inch vertical which propelled him to be a fifth-round draft pick despite being a little-known prospect before the combine. Sensabaugh went on to play over 100 games in the NFL.
In the same season that Sensabaugh set the record, Penn State defensive end Cameron Wake hit a 45.5-inch vertical leap, just 0.5 inches behind Sensabaugh. Surprisingly, Wake went undrafted and spent time in the CFL before being picked up by the Dolphins and making four All-Pro teams and five Pro Bowls. Wake is a real-life example of why you should trust some of these freakish combine performances.
At the 2024 NFL Combine, four players tied for the highest vertical jump at 42.5 inches. WR Jalen Coker, WR Malik Washington, CB Daequan Hardy, and CB Elijah Jones all tied for the best performance and all four made NFL rosters in the 2024 season. However, that number was over a full inch under the listed over/under for this year’s combine.
Who Will Record the Highest Vertical Jump?
Over the years, wide receivers and defensive backs have performed the best at the vertical jump. It lines up as those players will use a vertical jump most often in practical football situations. However, the vertical jump isn’t just a practical measurement of how successful a player will be going for jump balls. The vertical jump measures overall explosiveness which is important for many players. Defensive ends are some of the sneaky most explosive players in every draft class and this year’s EDGE class is one of the best in recent memory.
Looking at the top ten vertical jumps in combine history, six played in the secondary, three were wide receivers, and only Cameron Wake made the top ten as a defensive end/linebacker. That trend has continued in recent history with last year’s top performers being two wide receivers and two defensive backs. So, those positions are where to look when guessing who could clear the 43.75-inch prop at DraftKings Sportsbook. However, this great class of EDGE rushers could be the most exciting players to watch jump, even if they don’t get the highest number.
For a player to go over the 43.75-inch prop, they would be in the top ten all-time in vertical jump combine history. This number has been hit in three of the past six combines, so it is 50/50 in recent years. Two-time Super Bowl champion safety Juan Thornhill hit 44 inches in 2019, former Browns and Lions wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones hit 44.5 inches in 2020 and Commanders safety Quan Martin hit 44 inches in 2023.
Among the top players in this year’s draft, athletes like WR Tetairoa McMillan, CB/WR Travis Hunter, S Nick Emmanwori and EDGE Abdul Carter stand out for their athletic prowess. However, these projected first-round picks are rarely the players that hit the highest numbers in these combine events. Quan Martin and Juan Thornhill were both second-round picks but often these players with the freakiest athletic abilities are not the biggest prospects. However, former South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori is one of the top players to watch in this event after vertical jumping 42 inches last summer. Wide receivers Savion Williams and Beaux Collins are two players who could really boost their draft stock with impressive performances in this event.
