INDIANAPOLIS – The long hours and endless job interviews for some 332 NFL Draft prospects will commence in a week and a half.
On Thursday, the NFL announced the list of prospects that will be participating in the league’s Scouting Combine from Feb. 23-29 in Indianapolis.
Starting a week from Tuesday, prospects will be measured, examined, evaluated, interviewed by media/teams, participate in on-field drills, have psychological testing and meet with the NFL Players Association. All of it will be done over a four-day period.
Phew.
As has been the case with early Mock Drafts, there's an abundance of defensive line talent invited to this year's Combine.
A total of 59 defensive line prospects account for the largest position group descending on Lucas Oil Stadium in a week and a half.
Ohio State had the most invitees with 14. Notre Dame was second with 10 players.
On another note, virtually every NFL head coach and general manager will also meet with the media at the Combine.
Here are some local ties to this year's 332 Combine prospects:
**Harvard
OT-Cole Toner (Roncalli High School)
Indiana
**RB-Jordan Howard
DT-Darius Latham (North Central High School)
OT-Jason Spriggs (Concord High School)
QB-Nate Sudfield
**
Notre Dame
**WR-Chris Brown
DT-Sheldon Day (Warren Central High School)
WR-Will Fuller
OG-Nick Martin (Bishop Chatard High School)
DE-Romeo Okwara
RB-C.J. Prosise
CB-Keivarae Russell
S-Elijah Shumate
OLB-Jaylon Smith (Bishop Luers High School)
OT-Ronnie Stanley
**Purdue
**CB-Anthony Brown
Participants are determined annually by a Selection Committee. The Directors of both National and BLESTO scouting services, which combined represent twenty-five NFL teams, are joined by members of various NFL player personnel departments to form the committee. The participating NFL executives can rotate on a yearly basis, and remain anonymous. ALL eligible players are reviewed and voted on by the committee members. Each athlete receiving the necessary number of votes, by position, is then extended an invitation. While it is not a perfect science, the goal of the committee is to invite every player that will be drafted in the ensuing NFL Draft.
