The last NFL event not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic was the 2020 combination in Indianapolis. A year later, with the 2021 combination canceled, the league released a list of players who would have earned invitations.
From high profile quarterbacks like Trevor Lawrence de Clemson, the almost certain choice of the general draft of Jacksonville and Justin Fields of the state of Ohio to guys who missed out last season, like Oregon tackle Penei Sewell, there are 323 players from 100 schools.
Although they do not have a chance to be observed and examined in Indy, the fact that they are on this list means that there will be interest in them in late April and in recruiting the NFL.
Instead of running 40-yard runs, lifting weights and doing other activities, many on national television, on the harvester, players will be evaluated on professional days across the country. Some have even participated or will attend mini-combinations that are not sanctioned by the NFL.
Fields would have 13 Buckeyes teammates in the combination, the maximum for any school, followed by Georgia with 12, Alabama and Notre Dame (11 each), and Florida (9).
The cornerbacks received the most invitations, with 44, including all American Shaun Wade from Ohio and Patrick Surtain from Alabama national champion. Offensive tackles are the next most popular, with 36; this position was a bastion of the 2020 draft and could be led again this year by Sewell.
Other potential first-round defenders on the list include ZU Wilson of BYU, Trey Lance of the state of North Dakota and Mac Jones of Alabama.
There’s even a long guest snapper: Thomas Fletcher from Crimson Tide.
Heisman Trophy winner Devonta Smith and Tide teammate Jaylen Waddle are among the wide receivers that would be in the mix, along with Smith’s American counterpart, Elijah Moore, of Mississippi.
Several FCS and lower division schools have players on the list, including North Dakota State, Illinois State, Grambling State, Nicholls State, North Carolina Central, Northern Iowa, Charleston (Division II), Central Missouri State (Division II) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (Division III).
The prospects are already being tested in unsanctioned events that the NFL prevented officials from attending. On the EXOS mini-harvester in Arizona, Minnesota wide receiver Rashod Bateman, a guest of the harvester, ran a 4.37 hand-timed and 4.39 laser-timed harvester. DE Milton Williams of Louisiana Tech, also a guest at Indy, had a 35 inch vertical jump and ran a 4.63. And Tylan Wallace, the most respected state of Oklahoma, ran a 4.39.