INDIANAPOLIS — Perhaps the only thing Kyle Louis does faster than run as compered to other draft-eligible linebackers is answer a question about what drill he’s most excited about during his workouts Thursday at the NFL combine.
“Obviously,” Louis said Wednesday from the combine site, “that 40. I’m trying to show my speed.”
That “40” Louis refers to, of course, is the 40-yard dash. And Louis is expected to rank among the faster players at his position group. After all, it’s speed that in large part helped him become a second-team AP All-American at Pitt.
And it’s that speed combined with his resume with the Panthers that is expected to make Louis an early-round choice for the draft staged in nine weeks just outside the stadium where he starred for Pitt.
“If (a team) is looking for speed,” Louis said during a media availability at the Indiana Convention Center, “I’m right here.”
Louis talks a big game, and for good reason after earning consecutive first-team All-ACC honors while accumulating 182 tackles (88 solo, 24 for loss), 10 sacks, six interceptions and two forced fumbles over 24 games in 2024 and 2025 for Pitt.
Make no mistake, Louis is fast — in regards to “game speed,” and likely so in running the 40. And even if he doesn’t clock times below the linebackers expected to go at the very top of the draft (e.g., Ohio State’s Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese), Louis doesn’t believe his boasts will backfire.
“I don’t really (see it as putting) pressure on myself. I’ve always applied pressure,” Louis said. “I don’t ever think of any bad outcomes. And for the 40, I feel like I can do a good time.”
Pitt LB and Day Two draft prospect Kyle Louis
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) February 25, 2026
by the way he says Steelers safety Jabrill Peppers was someone he looked up to growing up pic.twitter.com/CNn3ZU74av
Louis needs to rely on his speed because with an official listed size at 5-foot-11 and after playing at 220 pounds for Pitt, he’s not going to thrive via brute force at the NFL level.
“People try to say … I’m undersized for a linebacker,” Louis said, “but there’s a lot of linebackers that were my size or even just a smidge bit taller or whatever you want to call it, that made plays.
“So I’m just here to showcase that you don’t have to be 240 to make plays. You don’t have to be 240 to hit (and tackle well).”
If Louis’ size makes him sound like he’s more of a safety, that’s in part because he is. Or, was.
Louis converted from safety in high school. According to Pro Football Focus data, he often lined up as a defensive back (usually slot corner) the past two years in college. His ball skills are shown in his stats (12 passes defended the past two seasons). Longtime draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. even lists Louis as a safety prospect.
Louis, respectfully, disagrees. His position in college, technically, was “Star” — a hybrid of sorts between and in-the-box linebacker, strong safety and slot corner.
“I feel like the position was perfectly tailored for me,” Louis said.
Perfectly tailored also, perhaps, for the modern NFL.
“The league is constantly changing, especially now,” Louis said. “And people like me is what the league needs. I feel like the league is definitely becoming a passing league, and I feel like as an all-three-downs linebacker, (playing against) 12 personnel (two tight ends), any heavy personnel — on top of that, I can still cover. It’s on top of (excelling in the run game). It’s not taking away that I can’t do any run defense. It’s added on top of it.”
Former Pitt LB and draft prospect Kyle Louis on what made him the proverbial “first guy in in the morning” kind of film-study junkie pic.twitter.com/7AGNYDLSxs
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) February 25, 2026
Louis appreciated that over the past four years he’s worked out at a facility shared by an NFL team. He took advantage of the opportunity to speak with Steelers as often as he could, and he noted that former coach Mike Tomlin liked to needle him in jest when the pair would be two of the earliest to arrive at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex each morning.
That commitment was the most visible signal of the reputation Louis earned over his time at Pitt as a film junkie. Over the past six seasons, Louis in 2025 was the Panthers’ only team co-captain who was not a senior by eligibility.
“You look at my tape, you’re going to see that I’ve been making plays, and that I’m going to continue to make plays,” Louis said. “And I’m going to keep getting my name out there.”
