Six Youngstown State Players Showcase Skills for NFL Scouts at 2026 Pro Day

Defensive back DJ Harris soared 37.5 inches on the vertical jump and defensive lineman Collin Vaughn pressed 225 pounds 24 times, leading a group of six Youngstown State players through NFL Combine-style drills at the Watson and Tressel Training Site on March 20, with scouts from seven franchises watching every rep and split.

Harris, Vaughn, fellow defensive back Jeremiah Robinson, and wide receivers Max Tomczak, Mike Solomon and Benjamin Tolble ran through a full battery of tests that began in the Stambaugh weight room with the bench press and vertical jump before the group moved to WATTS for speed work and position drills. Scouts from the Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans were in attendance.

Vaughn's 24 bench-press reps were the clear group high, while the other five Penguins ranged from 10 to 14 reps. Harris and Robinson each matched at 10 feet, 3 inches in the broad jump, with Solomon, Tolble and Tomczak each reaching 9 feet, 4 inches. In the 40-yard dash, Harris and Tomczak both clocked 4.45 seconds unofficially, Robinson ran 4.47, Tolble posted 4.72, Solomon 4.78 and Vaughn 5.16.

Three Mercyhurst players also participated: defensive end Jonas King, receiver Rylan Davison and tailback Brian Trobel. Four additional players from outside the two programs took part, including Grove City receiver Scott Fraser, Ohio Dominican receiver Daishaun Hill, Kenyon College defensive end Andrew Canonico and Robert Morris linebacker Keon Freeman, who spent the majority of his college career at YSU before transferring to the Colonials ahead of the 2024 season.

YSU head coach Doug Phillips framed the event as more than a showcase, connecting it to the program's recent track record of sending players to the NFL. "For our guys to see that we have three that are still in the NFL that finish their careers here at Youngstown State, I think that weighs a lot in them making that decision," Phillips said. "A lot of our guys are fifth year guys, some of them have their degrees already and they need one more year to play and they're going to have the opportunity to take that step."

The recent NFL pipeline he referenced includes running back Jaleel McLaughlin, who signed with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2023 and has been on Denver's 53-man roster for two seasons, and wide receiver Bryce Oliver, who signed with the Tennessee Titans and was elevated from the practice squad to the 53-man roster midway through the 2024 season.

Tomczak's path to Pro Day is perhaps the sharpest illustration of what Phillips described. The wide receiver walked on five years ago under circumstances he acknowledged candidly. "You think about how I got here five years ago, and I was the walk-on, who realistically was probably only here because my uncle was the volunteer coach here," Tomczak said. "I'm just thinking about how far I've come, and it's awesome, because I want to be able to show that to the other walk-ons on the team. Those guys that may not see the light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully I can show them there is a way. It doesn't matter who you are, you can do it — scholarship, walk-on, whatever you are." Since YSU's season ended November 29 in the first round of the FCS playoffs, Tomczak spent months transforming himself into one of the more productive receivers in the FCS, improving his size, speed and field skills before posting a 34.5-inch vertical and a 4.45-second unofficial 40 on Friday.

The 2026 NFL Draft, which takes place April 23-25 in Pittsburgh at North Shore venues including Acrisure Stadium and Point State Park, provides the immediate context for what every player on that turf was chasing.