Despite no combine, NFL releases list of who merited invites

By BARRY WILNER
AP Pro Football Writer

The last NFL event not impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic was the 2020 combine in Indianapolis. A year later, with the 2021 combine canceled, the league has released a list of players who would have merited invitations.

From such high-profile quarterbacks as Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, the almost-certain top overall draft pick by Jacksonville, and Ohio State’s Justin Fields to guys who sat out last season such as Oregon tackle Penei Sewell, there are 323 players from 100 schools.

While they won’t get the chance to be observed and examined in Indy, the fact they are on this list means there will be interest in them come the end of April and the NFL draft.

Instead of running 40-yard dashes, lifting weights and doing other activities, many on national television, at the combine, the players will be evaluated at pro days throughout the nation. Some even have or will attend mini-combines that are not sanctioned by the NFL.

Fields would have had 13 Buckeyes teammates at the combine, the most for any school, followed by Georgia with 12, Alabama and Notre Dame (11 each), and Florida (9).

Cornerbacks got the most invitations with 44, including all-Americans Shaun Wade of Ohio State, and Patrick Surtain of national champion Alabama. Offensive tackles are next most popular with 36; that position was a stronghold of the 2020 draft and could be again this year led by Sewell.

Other potential first-round quarterbacks on the list include Zach Wilson of BYU, Trey Lance of North Dakota State and Mac Jones of Alabama.

There’s even a long snapper invited: the Crimson Tide’s Thomas Fletcher.

Heisman Trophy winner Devonta Smith and Tide teammate Jaylen Waddle are among the wide receivers who would have been at the combine, along with Smith’s All-America 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).

Prospects already are getting tested at non-sanctioned events that the NFL has barred officials from attending. At the EXOS mini-combine in Arizona, wide receiver Rashod Bateman of Minnesota, a combine invitee, ran a 4.37 hand-timed and 4.39 laser-timed 40. DE Milton Williams of Louisiana Tech, also an Indy invitee, had a 35-inch vertical jump and ran a 4.63. And Tylan Wallace, Oklahoma State’s highly regarded wideout, ran a 4.39.

___

More AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.