At NFL combine, Charlotte native and UNC LB Power Echols hopes to live up to his name
The story of how Power Echols got his name is simple and well-rehearsed.
The Charlotte resident and Chambers High School star had it at the ready when he was asked about it at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Wednesday, the day before the linebacker is slated to run through on-field drills.
“Honestly, my father and my mother came together, and they wanted to give their son a powerful name that’ll last,” he said. “They came up with a lot of things, but when it came down to it, they said, ‘Power is the name we want to give our son.’”
And it’s one he hopes to live up to this week.
Echols, a four-year linebacker out of UNC, is entering a pivotal week in the draft process with plenty of promise but also with plenty to prove. Mock drafts mostly project him as a Day 3 pick — either a sixth- or seventh-rounder — citing his good instincts and his ability to play in coverage as strengths and his size (5-foot-11, 231 pounds) as a concern.
He’s coming off a relatively down year in college statistically. In 2022 and 2023, he earned 100-plus tackles. In 2023, specifically, his third-team All-ACC year, he finished with 102 and added two forced fumbles and an interception. In 2024, though, he finished with 76 tackles and a pick (which he took for a score).
Still what made him great — his magnetism toward the ball — was on display his senior season. What he needs to showcase this week is his power — and his potential to play larger than his dimensions. That could be in the vertical leap, or the three-cone drill (agility), or the bench press.
“I can cover in space,” Echols said. “I’m more than a sideline-to-sideline linebacker. I can cover in space and make plays.”
Echols is also conscientious of the moment around him. Echols isn’t the only player representing Charlotte in the combine. He’s surrounded by local linebackers and linemen trying to live up to their respective names and who have Charlotte ties all around them. Take Torricelli Simpkins III, the defensive tackle who doesn’t forget his Olympic High roots. Take Jalon Walker, the linebacker out of Salisbury High who said he’d embrace the opportunity to play “at home” with the Panthers; after all, as the potential Top 10 pick said, “I don’t have many family members who don’t live in North Carolina or South Carolina.”
In fact, he’s not the only Chambers High School graduate in the field. Another guy is James Pearce Jr., the pass rusher who thanks Charlotte for delivering him the “swag” he plays with, who grew up a Panthers fan of the Luke Kuechly-Thomas Davis generation, who said he watches pass-rushing legend and UNC Tar Heel Lawrence Taylor regularly to draw inspiration. The two played together on multiple state championship teams, and the Tennessee Volunteers pass rusher with Top 10 potential said he fondly remembers playing with Echols.
“Power, he left school before I did,” Pearce said. “He was older than me when I got there. He was the captain of our team, worked super hard. You couldn’t put nothing past him.”
Echols said he’s excited to get the opportunity to play anywhere, including his hometown Carolina Panthers. He said he loves football — because it forces you to “look at yourself in the mirror every single morning” and figure out how to maximize yourself. Maximize your power.
On Wednesday, when asked if he felt pressure to live up to his name, Echols shook his head.
“No pressure at all,” he said. “I feel a sense of pride that they gave me this name, and I want to be a power every single day that I’m on this earth.”
A big day comes soon.
This story was originally published February 27, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
