Small School NFL Scouting Combine Invitees

Image: WR Pierre Garcon, Mount Union

Every year around this time of year thousands of college football players from around the country are waiting anxiously for the NFL Scouting Combine list to be published. For most of the top division 1 players, the list is uneventful, already assured of selection in the early rounds, some won’t even bother to attend the NFL Scouting Combine. The elite players are worried that an mediocre performance might hurt their already lofty draft status and maybe they are worried about an injury. But for the lesser known prospects and especially the small school prospects (non division 1), the Combine is a huge deal that might make or break their chance of being drafted. The NFL Draft Scouting Combine is scheduled for February 20-26 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The players are selected by a committee made up of directors of both the National and BLESTO scouting services, along with members of various NFL Scouting departments. There were approximately 333 college prospects selected to attend the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine this year which include 46 juniors, out of that 333 players, only about 30 were from small school (non division 1). I always find it interesting to identify the small school college football stars every year and I have been tracking most of these small school prospects for a few years like: DE Kendal Langford from Hampton, OT Heath Benedict from Newberry or CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie from Tennessee State. By the way, a player that wasn’t invited that should have been was DE Brian Johnston from Gardner-Webb. You can see my Top 50 Small School Prospects here. But here are nine relatively unknown prospects that were invited to the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine that slipped through the cracks, players that I was previously unfamiliar with:

TE Kolomona Kapanui, 6’ 4” 270 lbs. West Texas A&M
Played very well at the Hula Bowl and Mel Kiper has Kapanui rated very high, just under Louisville’s Gary Barnidge in his tight end rankings. Kapanui was originally recruited to play at USC in 2002, but decided to transfer due to a hip injury. Born in Hawaii, he transferred to West Texas and was very productive. He finished 2007 with 39 receptions for 481 yards and 7 touchdowns which earned him AP and d2football.com All-America honors. Similar to last year’s small school tight end Kevin Boss, who was a late season star for the New York Giants during their super bowl run. He is not as fast as Boss, but has good hands and a with a good combine performance, he could be a late round draft pick.

WR Pierre Garcon, 6’ 0” 205 lbs. Mount Union
The only Division III guy invited to the combine I believe. Garcon really caught my eye at the Texas vs. Nation All Star game, he returned a punt 62 yards for a touchdown in the game. In 2006 Garcon caught 59 passes for 1,096 yards and 15 for touchdowns for Mount Union. Garcon averaged nearly 20 yards and was voted the “receiver of the year” in the Ohio Athletic Conference. He drew constant double teams this year (2007), but still managed 40 catches for 564 yards and 8 touchdowns. Very strong, stocky, shifty and quick, Garcon has great hands and is adept at fielding punts and kicks. He reminds me of Dallas Cowboys WR Patrick Crayton, who was a small school (NAIA) star in his own right. Garcon is Mount Union's all-time leader in receptions with 202 and the Ohio Athletic Conference career leader in touchdown catches with 47.

DE Marcus Dixon, 6’ 4” 296 lbs. Hampton
Dixon is starting to emerge as a better NFL Draft Prospect that team-mate Kendall Langford. Hampton must have had quite a defensive line last year as both of their defensive ends were invited to the combine, which is no small feat for division 1AA Hampton. Arguably Dixon even had better stats than Langford in 2007 and is more versatile because he has played defensive tackle and End. In 2007 Dixon finished ranked 3rd on his team in tackles with 58, he also recorded an impressive 16 tackles for loss, 6 sacks and 8 QB hurries. His size, quickness and versatility will make him an interesting prospect for an NFL team that plays the 3-4 defense.

DE Curtis Johnson, 6’ 3” 242 lbs. Clark Atlanta
2007 D2Football.com All-American Curtis Johnson is a little undersized for a defensive end. He will be converted to outside linebacker in the NFL and if he can successfully make that transition he has a chance. Johnson was voted SIAC Defensive Player of the Year two years in a row (2006-2007). Johnson led the SIAC in two defensive categories this past season. He was first in sacks with a total of 13.5, and he was the conference leader in tackles for loss with a total of 27. The Daktronics All-America Candidate also finished second in the conference in tackles with a total of 112. Johnson has decent speed and is a good special teams player, which will give him a good chance to “stick” on an NFL roster.

OT David Hale, 6’ 5” 313 lbs. Weber State
Hale has nice size and quick feet. He was named First Team All-American Division 1AA (FCS) by the American Football Coaches Association, and was selected as a second Team All-American by The Associated Press. He earned four varsity letters playing in 42 career games and was a starter in 36 straight games dating back to his first season (2004). Hale signed with Weber State in 2001 and sat out the year as a red-shirt. He then left to serve a two-year LDS Church mission to the Dominican Republic returning in the spring of 2004 to resume his career. He earned Honorable Mention All-Big Sky honors both his freshman and sophomore seasons, and was named First Team All-Big Sky his junior and senior seasons.

WR Shaheer McBride, 6’ 2” 200 lbs. Delaware State
McBride has very nice size, speed and production. He is the first Delaware State Hornet (DSU) since 1992 and the fifth in DSU football history to be invited to the Combine. McBride was instrumental in the Hornets school best record 10-2 season, the MEAC championship and their first post season in the FCS national playoffs. He finished the 2007 season with 50 receptions for 586 yards and nine touchdowns. He also had 17 punt returns for 122 yards and one kickoff return for 17 yards, giving him 725 all-purpose yards. The Chester, PA native broke or tied three DSU records finishing with 201 career receptions, for 3,007 yards and 33 touchdowns. In 2006 he was an All-MEAC First Team selection and ranked second in the MEAC, with 852 receiving yards, which ranked him 22nd among all Division I-AA players in receiving yards.

WR Jaymar Johnson, 6’ 0” 185 lbs. Jackson State
Johnson played very well at the Texas vs. Nation All Star game. He looked quick and shifty catching 2 passes for 46 yards during the game. A little small, but Johnson has great speed and balance; you can see some of his game film here. In 2007 Johnson recorded 36 passes for 613 yards and 7 touchdowns. He can also return punts and kicks, in 2006 he accumulated 527 receiving yards, 241 punt return yards and 55 kickoff return yards for 886 total yards.

WR Arman Shields, 6’ 2” 186 lbs. Richmond
The speed daemon Shields becomes the first Richmond Spider to earn a spot in the NFL Combine since current Houston Texans linebacker Shawn Barber in 1998. In the 2007 season opener against Vanderbilt Shields amassed 107 yards, but then went down with a knee injury in the next game, which caused him to miss the rest of the season. Shields finished his career second all-time in catches (160), sixth in yards (1,930) and tied for eighth in touchdowns (13). He surpassed the 100-yard receiving mark seven times in his 37-game career. Shields however, will have to prove he is healthy and showcase some impressive speed at the combine if he wants to get selected in the 2008 NFL Draft.

CB Antwaun Molden, 6’ 1” 192 lbs. Eastern Kentucky
Molden is another prospect that played very well in the Texas vs. Nation All Star game. He finished the game with three solo tackles, including one tackle for a loss of three yards. Molden led Eastern Kentucky with nine pass break-ups in 2007 while finishing fifth on the team with 70 total tackles. Against Eastern Illinois on Oct. 6, Molden held Micah Rucker, a 2006 third team All-American and 2007 first team All-OVC pick, to just two catches for 13 yards. Molden started every game as a senior while recording interceptions in wins over Southeast Missouri (Oct. 13) and Tennessee State (Oct. 20). Molden has very nice size and speed, he is a track star finishing second in the 60-meter dash at the 2007 OVC Indoor Championships. Molden is a very solid developmental NFL prospect.

Get more NFL Draft information on my Squidoo NFL Draft page.