Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said today that he’s working in tandem with the American Football Coaches Association to develop some form of a combine for underclassmen, according to Zac Jackson of Pro Football Talk. NCAA juniors don’t currently have a venue in which to work out for NFL scouts, coaches, and front office personnel without first declaring for the draft, and Meyer would like to see an opportunity for underclass players to showcase their skills without losing their eligibility.
“It’s not a process that’s well done right now,” said Meyer at a youth football camp. “There’s a rule that says the NFL can’t look at juniors. Well of course the NFL [scouts] are going to look at a junior. And they should look at a junior.
“We’re going to try to get something where there’s a time those [scouts] can actually come in and they can work out the juniors. Because information is good. [The players] are getting their information somewhere, so why not get it from the experts — the scouts, the general managers, people who have the right information? They’re getting it from agents and they’re getting it from wannabes, and that’s not good information.”
As Jackson notes, Alabama head coach Nick Saban has expressed support for an underclassman combine, and Meyer said he’s spoken with Saban about the issue in the past. But as Chase Goodbread of NFL.com notes, Saban’s proposal would involve pro day-esque events at every college campus, which would only serve to increase the required hours put in by NFL staffs. Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema has also suggested allowing undrafted players to return to college, an idea that is fraught with problems, per Goobread.
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