2026 Draft: Jake Golday Scouting Report

Measurables

• 6‘4 Height
• 240 lb. Weight

2025 Stats

• 70 Solo Tackles
• 31 Assist Tackles
• 9 Missed Tackles (8.2%)
• 43 Run Stops
• 26/36 Catches Allowed (72.2%)
• 227 Receiving Yards Allowed (8.7 per Catch)
• 121 Yards After Catch Allowed (4.7 per Catch)
• 2 TDs Allowed
• 0 INTs
• 3 Pass Break Ups
• 107.1 Passer Rating Allowed
• 76.7 Coverage Grade
• 18 Pressures (80 Pass Rush Snaps)
• 5 QB Hits
• 4 Sacks
• 1 Forced Fumble

Awards/Accolades

• First Team All-Big 12
• Butkus Award Semi-Finalist

Strengths

• Bigger Linebacker but possesses excellent pursuit speed and explosiveness. Motor always runs hot and flies to the ball quickly. Was listed as # 48 on the Bruce Feldman Freaks List from the Athletic with reported 22.16 mph speed, 24 reps of 225 lbs. on the bench press, and a 4.24 second shuttle time that would have been the fastest in the 2025 Combine.
• Can lay the Hammer on his hits, powerful at contact. Reliable tackler with very rare misses and good technique to wrap up ball carriers.
• In Zone coverage he’s very reactive and strong acceleration to disrupt at catch point or stop underneath targets quickly.
• Fluid hips in man coverage, can get deep into his drops with a lot of speed and matches up well against tight ends.
• Sheds blockers well with his power profile and length. Tight ends blockers especially struggle to contain him, sheds them quickly.
• Versatile player, lined up as an Edge Rusher at Central Arkansas before shifting to hybrid role as offball LB, Nickel Corner, and Edge in Cincinnati’s defense.

Weaknesses

• Can drift in his zone too much in coverage.
• Can be faked out by QB’s eyes and pump fakes.
• Needs to learn to adjust to routes in coverage rather than just cover assigned zone.
• Needs to be a tick quicker in diagnosis, keeps his eyes in the backfield too long and can be caught on play action/misdirection on which hole to attack in the run game. Inexperience at Linebacker shows up in this regard.
• Biggest OL can give him problems in block shedding, needs to learn how to evade them or improve his lower leg strength for anchor against them.

Draft Projection

Round 2 Grade

Jake Golday is a fascinating ball of traits to work with. His athleticism is outstanding and his flashes of high level coverage play give hope that he can be a 3 down LB in the NFL. Blitz heavy Defensive Coordinators that are open to moving players around in their alignments will love Golday. The ability to have a player who can at any point be a devastating blitzer, a powerful block shedder in the the run game, or a Tight End eraser in coverage and can line up at a variety of spots is highly valuable. On my initial [Big Board he...