NFL Draft
1/26/25
6 min read
Kain Medrano 2025 NFL Draft: Scouting Report For UCLA Bruins LB
Height: 6024 (verified)
Weight: 219lbs (verified)
Year: Sixth-Year Senior
Pro Comparison: Justin Strnad
Scouting Overview
UCLA Bruins linebacker Kain Medrano projects as a special teams contributor at the NFL level with the upside of becoming a sub-package defender. He should be afforded the opportunity to stack more weight onto his frame in an effort to appeal for a more traditional linebacker role.
As he’s currently constructed, he’s undersized to play on the second level but boasts nifty coverage skills to match tight ends and running backs on passing downs. He’s a graceful player in transitions and showcases an attractive feel for working through congested traffic areas and keeping his coverage leverage when playing inside out.
He’s been a frequent special teams contributor, which should serve as his fast track to playing time at the NFL level and afford him the opportunity to make a 53-man roster while he works on his defensive profile.
2025 NFL Combine Results
| Position | Name | School | 40-Yard Dash | 10-Yard Split | Broad Jump | Vertical Jump | 3-Cone Drill | 20-Yard Shuttle | Bench Press |
| LB | Kain Medrano | UCLA | 4.46 | 1.57 | 125 | 38 |
Positives
- Very loose and fluid athlete in space; offers dynamic hips and sudden transitions
- Impressive length flashes in opportunities at the catch point or in space
- Has a significant burst when triggering in pursuit as a rally defender to the football
Negatives
- Dramatically undersized to play stack backer at the NFL level, gets easily jarred and displaced as a fill player
- Missed tackles have been a consistent sore spot, and he’s too often out of control at the point of contact
- Feel of run fits and play diagnosis when keying the core is not a strength
Background
Medrano is from Pueblo, CO, and played high school football at Pueblo East HS. There, he was a state champion in the discus and shot put in addition to lettering in basketball and his efforts on the gridiron — where he was rated as a 3-star athlete (247 Sports). Medrano was an accomplished offensive weapon at the prep level, catching 66 passes for 1,211 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior, in addition to 80 tackles and six interceptions as a starring defensive talent.
He landed at UCLA amid courtship from Colorado State and a handful of other programs and arrived at the program as a part of the 2019 recruiting class. He played in one game in 2019, redshirting the season before playing in five games in the COVID-19 season of 2020. That made Medrano a third-year freshman in 2021, where he played in 10 games as a stack backer and special teams contributor.
Medrano logged his first career start in 2022 against Bowling Green — his only start of the season before assuming a full-time starting role for the Bruins in 2023. Medrano was named a team captain ahead of the 2024 season and finished his career with 26 starts in 50 games.
Medrano was named Third Team All-Big Ten as a super senior in 2024 and attended the 2025 East/West Shrine Bowl.
Tale Of The Tape
If you’re willing to get past the size constraints, Medrano is a player that boasts several appealing situational football opportunities. Traditionalists and defensive coaches that simply want a plug-and-play option to upgrade their second level will be quick to move on — as Medrano’s strengths don’t necessarily lie in tracing the back and triggering into gaps between the tackles or taking on blockers.
He’s an undersized talent who struggles with the rigors and physicality of playing on the edge as a SAM backer or as a stack player who has to negotiate climbing blockers on inside zone or power schemes. His play diagnosis is not where it needs to be to proactively defeat blockers to the spot to thrive as a smaller player. As a result, he’s catching blocks without favorable angles. In these instances, his lack of anchor and play strength prove problematic, and Medrano can be washed out of the point of attack.
As a coverage player, he’s got splendid movement skills. He’s shown the ability to scrape through mesh traffic and a lot of congestion to run over the top of wheel routes up the sideline and is capable of going stride for stride with backs down the field. Against angle routes and choice routes underneath, Medrano has elite short area quicks and the needed hip fluidity to flip and mirror the top of breaks. His background as an athlete at the prep level serves him well, as he’s a unique developmental talent who can do the hard part of playing on the second level.
Medrano should be considered a core special teamer for his NFL franchise. He has the open-field speed to run down and cover punts and boasts enough physicality and length to deconstruct open-field blocks on the kick coverage units. Medrano has tallied more than 600 career defensive snaps at UCLA, including nearly 300 across the last two seasons while serving as a starting linebacker.
Medrano’s biggest task after stacking weight and functional strength to his frame to survive in the box on run downs will be shoring up his tackling. Too many of his challenges are out of control at the point of contact, and he carries an alarmingly high missed tackle rate (more than 20 percent for his career, per Pro Football Focus).
The issues appear correctible, however. This isn’t a matter of getting run over or lacking short-area mirror skills to challenge in head-up situations—it is more of a lack of control due to an aggressive trigger to close before failing to come to balance and square up the ball carrier.
Medrano should be considered a developmental talent who needs time and patience. But he has multiple pathways to playing time fairly early, thanks to his coverage skill and special teams ability. Medrano has the uncoachable pieces to his game that should serve as a foundation worth trying to build upon. In a best-case scenario, he could potentially add 10 pounds, develop more consistent run keys and tackling habits, and be a starting linebacker.
Ideal Scheme Fit, Role
Medrano projects as a pass coverage sub-package option. He has the movement skills to hit ambitious zone landmarks, even when walked up on the line of scrimmage. He also has the transitional quickness and coverage IQ to play in man-to-man situations and effectively cover option routes out of the backfield.
This is a developmental talent who should be afforded the opportunity to grow into a more complete role, but as is, he’s a viable passing down option and a special teamer.
Grade: 70.50/100.00, Fifth Round Value
Big Board Rank: TBD
Position Rank: TBD
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