Final NFL Combine Invite List

Green Crazy · February 23, 2012

No Lance. Honestly, I'm shocked. I know I shouldn't be, but i really thought he would intrigue scouts enough to get an invite. I know this doesn't mean anything as far as where or if he goes in the draft or if he'll be a free agent signee, but i was looking forward to watching him on the NFL network and seeing how he looked against some of the bigger names.

invite list

greenjoe · February 23, 2012

Get Patrick Cobbs' agent on the phone.

Green P1 · February 23, 2012

Crap damn heck turd.

Little Ole North Texas screwed again.

NT03 · February 23, 2012

Would of helped he played on special teams. Sorry , but RBs are a dime a dozen. Unless your one of top RBs you will have to earn your way in the NFL on ST.

Eagle-96 · February 23, 2012

Not surprising at all. We have been bad for a several years now. Until we win on a consistent basis, our team and players will be overlooked. Lance will probably have to earn his way onto a roster through free agency much the same way that Cobbs did. If anyone can do it, Lance can.

Green Crazy · February 23, 2012

Not surprising at all. We have been bad for a several years now. Until we win on a consistent basis, our team and players will be overlooked. Lance will probably have to earn his way onto a roster through free agency much the same way that Cobbs did. If anyone can do it, Lance can.

true, i forgot how good schools like temple, utah state and washington have been.

Monkeypox · February 23, 2012

Utah State:

Turbin - WAC Conference player of the year. Monster year. Declared early. His numbers have gotten better over time. Lance's have gotten worse. Played in a bowl game.

Wagner - MVP at the Senior Bowl. Also impressed scouts with Senior Bowl practice. I believe he was a 4-yr starter and 2-yr captain. Played in a bowl game, and the Senior Bowl.

Temple:

Bernard Pierce - Scored 27 TDs this year. Played in and won a bowl game. Ranked as a top 10 RB prospect.

Evan Rodriguez - Played in and won a bowl game. TE/HB prospect (thin position).

Tahir Whitehead - Played in and won a bowl game. LB prospect. Showed up in big games. Played special teams.

Washington:

Chris Polk - RB. Pac-whatever. Highly recruited. Played in a bowl game and the Senior Bowl

There's more, but I'm tired. Point being, we didn't play in a Bowl Game. Lance didn't play in the Senior Bowl. We're not in a BCS conference. So anyone who thought he'd get an invite has imbibed too much Green Koolaid. The major scouting takes place during the practices leading up to bowl games and in the bowl games themselves, particularly if you're not from a major conference. That's what drives the combine invites. All of those schools and players had those opportunities. While I think Lance certainly has the skills to compete, he's not had an opportunity to truly demonstrate it, for a multitude of reasons. But it is what it is.

UNTnewbie · February 23, 2012

Not surprising at all. We have been bad for a several years now. Until we win on a consistent basis, our team and players will be overlooked. Lance will probably have to earn his way onto a roster through free agency much the same way that Cobbs did. If anyone can do it, Lance can.

NFL Scouting is all about the players, not the record of their school. These days every NCAA FBS, FCS, D2, D3, NAIA college/university with a football team gets one or more visits from NFL Scouts. The NFL uses National and Regional Services who share their reports with all the NFL Teams. In addition, each team will have their own scouts and many belong to scouting pools with other teams which have agreed to fund the scouting budget.

Whether a team is winning or losing plays no part in players getting a LOOK or not. Very rare that a player gets overlooked in todays NFL, but it does happen, which is why the NFL instituted Regional Combines just to find that gem than might have fallen through the cracks.

golfingomez · February 23, 2012

true, i forgot how good schools like temple, utah state and washington have been.

and still they have been better then us for the past 5 years cumulatively

UNTnewbie · February 23, 2012

Included on the list of invitees are players from Mass-Amherst, Midwestern State, Portland State, Merrimack, Cal Poly, Hampton, Costal Carolina, Furman, and Samford to name a few. I don't think any of these are even NCAA FBS but they were invited. The record or division of the school you come makes no difference to the NFL.

Monkeypox · February 23, 2012

Included on the list of invitees are players from Mass-Amherst, Midwestern State, Portland State, Merrimack, Cal Poly, Hampton, Costal Carolina, Furman, and Samford to name a few. I don't think any of these are even NCAA FBS but they were invited. The record or division of the school you come makes no difference to the NFL.

How many from each of those schools were invited?

UNTLifer · February 23, 2012

How many from each of those schools were invited?

Does it matter?

Monkeypox · February 23, 2012

Does it matter?

Yes.

There are a lot of reasons why people get scouted. They come out of high school with the tangibles, they're a high rated recruit, making them more likely to go to a big, successful school in a major conference. More scouting resources are devoted to the bigger conferences for these reasons. Even the lowest of those in the Big 6 conferences out-recruit us. So during the season, most scouting is devoted to the big schools and conferences.

You go to a small school, you put up big numbers or play on a successful team, you end up with a bowl invite and/or a Senior Bowl invite. The vast majority of the final decisions for Combine invites happen in the last few games and the weeks up to and including the bowls. Read about any of the small school guys going to the Combine and you'll find common threads of bowl games and/or Senior Bowls. Those Div II kids are THE BEST of Div II. That means they put up numbers or dominated within the division AND they have the tangibles on their side.

Those small school kids are actually MORE likely to get an invite in some cases than someone toiling away in the mid-majors because scouts will want a BETTER look at them, to see if they're the real deal. That lineman from Midwestern State looks like an All-pro from the tape, but he missed the Senior Bowl and scouts want more to judge him on. This happens all the time. Also, you'll find that TE/HB types come out of all kinds of schools for the Combine. And MOST of them won't get drafted. They do it so they can fill up the slots and the drills, and, again, get a better look at the thin positions coming out.

There are MANY reasons these kids are getting invites and Dunbar didn't, but CONSPIRACY isn't one of them. Success as a program isn't the only thing there, but having ONE KID from Amherst or Midwestern State or Southern Ratbutt College doesn't mean it's a free-for-all.

And, for the record, Amherst has put out more pro prospects than we have the last 5 years.

UNTLifer · February 24, 2012

I still fail to see what the number of invitees from each of these schools has anything to do with this. NFL scouts don't care where their talent comes from, they just want to find talent. If they don't, they're out of a job. Program success has very little to do with evaluating talent.

Monkeypox · February 24, 2012

I still fail to see what the number of invitees from each of these schools has anything to do with this. NFL scouts don't care where their talent comes from, they just want to find talent. If they don't, they're out of a job. Program success has very little to do with evaluating talent.

Because ONE player from a school ONE YEAR is an outlier. Because they're the best of the best in the entire Division of college football. They don't invest the same amount of scouting to ALL of Division II that they do to the top 25 of BCS. The idea that ONE GUY from a team means it's some kind of free-for-all is ludicrous.

If you don't have talent, you won't have a successful program.

Also, as I pointed out, a TON of scouting happens in the weeks of bowl practices and bowl games. If you're not a successful program, you're sitting at home during those weeks and your guys are not getting scouted. Program success has a LOT to do with evaluating talent.

Edited February 24, 2012 by Monkeypox

Green Crazy · February 24, 2012

My point was, that how good a team is isn't the determining factor for players at the combine. I just thought 4000 yards and 40 TDs in 3 years would raise enough eyebrows for an invite.

However, I was wrong about lumping temple in with utah state and washington though, after further review they've had some good seasons lately.