Defensive linemen and linebackers are the first group going through the gauntlet at the NFL Scouting Combine. A day before they take the field for workouts, they stepped up to the podium to meet the media.

Here are the highlights from the day:

Abdul Carter, 90 percent back from shoulder injury, think it's 'very realistic' to go No. 1

Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter is Daniel Jeremiah's top overall prospect in the 2025 class, but not all positions are weighted equally in the NFL. Teams either have their franchise quarterback or are desperately looking for one. So, even if he might be the best player, there is no guarantee that he will be the first one selected on April 24, which is the unanimous All-American's goal.

"I feel like it's very realistic," Carter said. "I feel like I'm the best player in the country, and the best player should be selected No. 1."

That decision, as it currently stands, falls on the Tennessee Titans. The Cleveland Browns would be the next team up. Then it is the New York Giants, who could pair him with Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux, and Dexter Lawrence to create a fearsome front.

"It's very important for me [to go No. 1]," Carter said. "That's one of the goals I made before the season. Something I always talked about. It's what I worked for, and I feel like I'm getting close to that. Just got to keep working, keep putting the effort in, and accomplish my dream."

Carter's health will factor into what ultimately happens. He will not work out at the NFL Scouting Combine due to a late-season shoulder injury as the Nittany Lions made it to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

"I'm really just starting to heat it up right now," Carter said. "I just got cleared and really started training, started working out again. So, my next goal is me getting right, me getting ready for my pro day, and once I get to my pro day, to perform at an elite level."

Carter added: "I'm probably about 90 percent right now, but these next couple months, this next month, I feel like it's really going to start getting close to 100."

Then he can remind everyone that having a franchise defender is just as important as having a franchise quarterback.

"I feel like you definitely need a franchise edge rusher," said Carter, who finished sixth on Penn State's career sacks list. "If you look at all the great teams, all the great teams that won Super Bowls, you have that one standout great defensive player. And I feel like I'm that."

Mason Graham is not mysterious; just 'one of the most dominant players' in the class

Carter isn't the only Big Ten defensive lineman expected to go in the top five. Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham is one of the most consistent players in the class, wrapping up his college career with unanimous All-American honors a year after helping the Wolverines to a national championship.

Graham took the podium Wednesday morning in Indianapolis, and his personality is just like his play style – what you see is what you get. And that's what he has been showing behind the scenes to NFL teams.

"[They see] just how hard I work, no off the field stuff, all about business," Graham said. "No one's really concerned about that, but I'm not a mysterious guy. You don't need to look deep into me to find out about me. Everything's out there. Nothing to hide."

In other words, just turn on his tape against Ohio State.

"I feel like I affect every snap – run or pass," Graham said. "I feel like I'm a dominant player, one of the most dominant players in this class."

As for the Giants, some may say they already have Dexter Lawrence. But Graham thrived next to a player that models his game after the Giants' three-time Pro Bowl nose tackle. That, of course, is Kenneth Grant, who is ranked No. 20 on Jeremiah's top 50. The two complemented each other create a punishing duo on the inside. Again, just ask the Buckeyes.

"Just a great teammate, an unselfish guy," Grant said of Graham. "I'm an unselfish guy as well. If he eats, I eat. If he eats, I eat as well."

"He's a bigger dude," Graham said of Grant. "Obviously, he plays zero technique and probably three techniques, but we're both very athletic players, and I feel like we work well off each other. Having two big guys that are dominating inside, I feel like we helped each other, and he's an awesome player."

Butkus Award winner Jalon Walker likes being a 'chess piece'

"Jack of all trades, master of none" is a saying that Jalon Walker does not use. Instead, the Georgia Bulldog, who was voted the nation's top linebacker, sees value in splitting time on and off the ball.

"I feel like I am better at being that chess piece," Walker said. "I feel like playing multiple positions and being an inside backer, an outside backer, and sometimes playing that nickel, star, sam position, it increases my value and increases the team value as well because you never know where I'll be at in the gameplan."

Jack Sawyer looking to be scooped up after historic playoff run

Ohio State has 15 players at the combine, the most of any school, and the contingent includes the Buckeyes' entire defensive line. The late postseason run cut into their draft prep, resulting in some not testing until their pro day. Jack Sawyer is in that group. The defensive end, who made the play of the year on an 83-yard scoop-and-score to send Ohio State to the national championship, will only participate in position drills at the combine this week.

"I think at the end of the season I was able to prove myself as a pass rusher more than I was at the beginning of the season," said Sawyer, who is from the same hometown (Pickerington, Ohio) as Giants defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. "But I think that I still have so much left to prove because I know I can be a great pass rusher in this league. I know I can get out to the quarterback with the best of them in this league, so just continue to work on anything I can to be better at that."

Meanwhile, Sawyer had high praise for his teammate Tyleik Williams.

"Tyleik is one of the biggest freaks in this draft class," Sawyer said about the defensive tackle. "He's 6-3 and can move, a big boy. I call him the Kung Fu Panda because he can move so well for being so big. He's one of the most unique guys I've ever been around or ever seen just with his size and speed and athletic ability for being so big and so strong."

Howard Cross III brings giant memories with him

Notre Dame defensive lineman Howard Cross III is looking to follow in his father's footsteps to the NFL. Howard Cross Jr., a Super Bowl champion tight end and broadcaster for the Giants, paved the way for his son, who first made a name for himself by helping Saint Joseph to its 19th New Jersey State Championship in 2018.

Growing up around the team, the younger Cross said Eli Manning and Victor Cruz were his idols.

"To be completely honest with you, this is just a surreal feeling," Cross said. "I'm not going to lie to you. I remember sitting in my house with my family and I was in sixth grade or something like that. I watched the Giants beat Green Bay to go on to the Super Bowl and the championship. And I just remember like, oh man, like, I could never imagine being here and now I got a real chance to be here. This is a crazy feeling right now."