In a country obsessed with football, how former college players perform under the bright lights and in front of eyeballs of general managers, owners and scouts holding stopwatches carry great interest. Rejoice: the Underwear Olympics are upon us.
The 2017 NFL Combine won't have as much Ohio State flavor as a year ago when 14 former Buckeyes worked out at Lucas Oil Stadium. Instead, eight players that served key roles in the team's 11-2 season and run to the 2016 College Football Playoff take center stage. At least in terms of Buckeye world.
Some players began arriving in Indianapolis on Tuesday and the first set of on-field workouts is scheduled for Thursday. Eleven Warriors will have a full preview of the weekend's schedule and Combine as a whole on Thursday, plus be on site to provide updates from Buckeyes that speak to the media throughout the weekend.
The eight Ohio State players that earned invitations: center Pat Elflein, punter Cameron Johnston, cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Gareon Conley, linebacker Raekwon McMillan, safety Malik Hooker and wide receivers Curtis Samuel and Noah Brown. Due to hernia and shoulder surgeries, Hooker will not test at the Combine.
In our latest mock draft roundup, not every analyst has updated their projected selections before the combine but is bound to do so after things wrap up in Indianapolis. You can see the second edition of the roundup here.
The 2017 NFL Draft kicks off April 27 in Philadelphia. The analysts we pulled information from are Bleacher Report's Matt Miller, Dane Brugler and Rob Rang of CBS Sports, Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com, Rotoworld's Josh Norris, Nate Davis of USA TODAY, Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated and Dieter Kurtenbach of FOX Sports. The number in parenthesis is where each analyst had the player in their previous mock unless they did not update it from last time. We added projections from four other NFL.com reporters as well: Lance Zierlein, Bucky Brooks, Charley Casserly and Chad Reuter. The latter posted a four-round mock on Feb. 16.
| Prospect | Rang | Brugler | MILLER | McShay | KIPER | JEREMIAH | ZIERLEIN | BROOKS | CASSERLy | REUTER | Norris | DAVIS | BURKE | KURTENBACH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MALIK HOOKER, S | 7 (7) | 12 (7) | 6 | 7 | 7 (17) | 7 (7) | 12 (7) | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 10 (7) | 7 (7) |
| MARSHON LATTIMORE, CB | 6 (18) | 6 (6) | 5 | 6 | 5 (6) | 2 (5) | 5 (5) | 6 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 16 (13) | 5 (16) |
| GAREON CONLEY, CB | 47* (47*) | NR (24) | 24 | – | – | 29* (31) | – | – | 22 | 43 | – | – | 56 (NR) | 36 (36) |
| RAEKWON MCMILLAN, LB | NR (27) | – | 56 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 64 | 27 | – | 52 (NR) | 54 (27) |
| CURTIS SAMUEL, RB/WR | 62* (62*) | – | 80 | – | – | 39* (39*) | – | – | – | 33 | – | – | 71 (NR) | 64 (64) |
| NOAH BROWN, WR | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 106 | – | – | – | – |
| PAT ELFLEIN, C | – | – | 86 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 47 (NR) | 70 (NR) |
*Number indicates player's rank on the analyst's big board, not mock draft
The 2017 NFL Draft order:
- 1. Cleveland Browns
- 2. San Francisco 49ers
- 3. Chicago Bears
- 4. Jacksonville Jaguars
- 5. Tennessee Titans
- 6. New York Jets
- 7. Los Angeles Chargers
- 8. Carolina Panthers
- 9. Cincinnati Bengals
- 10. Buffalo Bills
- 11. New Orleans Saints
- 12. Cleveland Browns
- 13. Arizona Cardinals
- 14. (tie) Indianapolis Colts
- 14. (tie) Philadelphia Eagles
- 16. Baltimore Ravens
- 17. Washington Redskins
- 18. Tennessee Titans
- 19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- 20. Denver Broncos
- 21. Detroit Lions
- 22. Miami Dolphins
- 23. New York Giants
- 24. Oakland Raiders
- 25. Houston Texans
- 26. Seattle Seahawks
- 27. Kansas City Chiefs
- 28. Dallas Cowboys
- 29. Green Bay Packers
- 30. Pittsburgh Steelers
- 31. Atlanta Falcons
- 32. New England Patriots
It should also be noted that Hooker and Lattimore are the second and third-best available prospects according to Jeremiah. Conley didn't make it into Jeremiah's latest mock draft but is No. 29 in his best available players. Samuel checked in at 39 again.
The overarching theme is that Hooker and Lattimore are both considered surefire first-round picks, both coming off the board among the first 15 selections. Conley could float into the bottom of the first round but is likely a second rounder. Analysts love the available players that hail from Ohio State's secondary. They have for a while.
Both Zierlein and Brugler have Hooker staying in Ohio and being drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 12th overall pick. The only former Buckeye on the Browns roster is another safety, Tyvis Powell, who the team claimed off waivers from Seattle on Feb. 6. Wide receiver Terrelle Pryor Sr. turned in a terrific 2016 season, racking up 1,007 yards on a historically bad team. He has not re-signed with the franchise, however.
Franchises all have different needs come draft time. The first major step in the evaluation process of prospects they could draft begins this week in Indianapolis.
