Friday is the Buckeyes' Pro Day, where NFL scouts some to C-Bus to test and workout the NFL prospects.
dispatch
dispatch
Pro day of judgment
Workout offers OSU players a chance to make, amend impressions with NFL
For some Ohio State players, Friday represents a second chance. For others, it's their only chance.
Friday is the school's pro day, when coaches and scouts from most of the 32 NFL teams will convene at Woody Hayes Athletic Center to watch OSU's draft hopefuls work out.
Many of them will be coming to see if first-round prospects such as linebacker James Laurinaitis or cornerback Malcolm Jenkins can improve on some disappointing results in February at the NFL scouting combine.
While they're here, though, they will get a chance to peruse a number of lesser lights who were not invited to the combine.
"This is our combine, basically," quarterback Todd Boeckman said. "It's going to help that we have such a great draft class this year. All the scouts will come to see the high-profile guys, and they'll also catch other guys who are maybe flying under the radar."
The good news for Boeckman is that every year, several dozen players who weren't at the combine end up getting drafted. In the past 10 years, an average of 39 noncombine players have been selected, several as high as the second round.
In addition, a sizable number who go undrafted get signed to free-agent deals. You may have heard of some of those players: running back Willie Parker and linebacker James Harrison of the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, for example, both of whom were not at the combine and were not drafted.
So there's hope -- for Boeckman and defensive tackle Nader Abdallah, for tight end Rory Nicol, for fullback Brandon Smith, for offensive linemen Ben Person and Steve Rehring, for running back Maurice Wells.
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