INDIANAPOLIS — The football careers of Curtis Samuel and Noah Brown are intertwined despite each playing very different roles at Ohio State.
“Me and Curt, we talk a lot,” Brown said on Friday.
Both from the east coast — Samuel hails from Brooklyn while Brown grew up in New Jersey — the two enrolled at Ohio State as part of the program's 2014 recruiting class. Both had roles on the team that won the national championship that year. Both saw their place within the offense diminish in 2015 for various reasons. And both are funneling through the extensive and ultra-comprehensive job interview that is the NFL Combine in similar steps this weekend.
The league determined Samuel to be a wide receiver despite his brilliance for the Buckeyes as the ultimate Swiss Army Knife for Urban Meyer's offense, both running and catching the ball. He led the team in receiving and caught seven touchdown passes in 2016, the same number as Brown. A big-bodied wide receiver with what quarterback J.T. Barrett calls "suction cups" for hands, Brown broke out on national television at Oklahoma. His four touchdown grabs against the Sooners represented the high point of what ended up being his final season at Ohio State.
Brown knows he has a lot to prove on Saturday in Indianapolis.
A broken leg suffered in training camp forced Brown to miss all of 2015. Samuel dealt with injuries that year too, and dealt with current NFL players Braxton Miller and Jalin Marshall in his way at H-back. A clean bill of health and step into the spotlight of Ohio State's offense in 2016 showed what Samuel can do on the football field. Brown had his moments too.
Samuel said he wavered on his decision to turn pro, though it was widely expected. Brown's came as a shock as his numbers weren't spectacular. But he felt it was the right move for him with his injury history and the fact the window to play football isn't all that wide in the scheme of life — regardless what position you play.
And now, Samuel and Brown are faced with showing their salt as wide receivers in front of the top evaluators in the world. Saturday marks their chance.
“Just being here and playing receiver, I have to show them I can run good routes and also catch the ball,” Samuel said. “That’s really the main thing that I focused on coming into this Combine.”
“I think it's important for me to go out there and show that I'm a good football player,” Brown added. “When the football drills come, catch the ball, run good routes. Very important.”
Brown said he doesn't plan to run the 40-yard dash, instead waiting until Ohio State's Pro Day to do so on March 23. Samuel is slated to do everything and at 5-foot-10, must prove he can be an every down player at wide receiver.
“we say let's go out there and do what we've been doing for 21 years. Playing football how we know how to play. The rest will take care of itself.”– Noah Brown
“Just to show teams that I can run routes like the digs, the posts, the corners, and catch the deep ball,” Samuel said. “It didn’t matter what it was. I just know I’m going to go out there and put on a productive day.”
Brown must be productive as well, as questions about his ability to catch on and perform at the NFL level won't go away until he is drafted. If he is drafted, for that matter.
“I think I have the same thing to prove to everybody else — that you're an NFL-caliber player,” he said. “That's what I'm looking to do in every way.”
Samuel is too, though he admitted he tells teams he won't ever not consider himself a running back. It is too engrained in his football DNA and what he did as an H-back for Ohio State.
Will they stack up well enough with the other wide receivers at the Combine to be worthy of draft picks? We are set to find out starting at 9 a.m. on NFL Network.
“I just feel like I’m able to do so many things, which sets me apart from so many guys. I feel like the National Football League wants playmakers and different type of players,” Samuel said. “So being able to separate myself not only catching the ball but also running the ball, I can do both, I feel like that’s what’s helping me out a little bit more.”
Added Brown: “We both know what we're able to do, we're both very confident in our abilities. So we say let's go out there and do what we've been doing for 21 years. Playing football how we know how to play. The rest will take care of itself.”
