NFL Combine invites were sent out over the weekend and the Michigan Wolverines were well-represented on there with 11 players selected to the event. That ties them with, you guessed it, Ohio State in terms of talent being showcased in Indianapolis during the pre-draft process. LSU leads all of college football with 16 players heading to Indy.
Here is the full list of Wolverines that will be making their way to the talent showcase:
- IOL Ben Bredeson
- LB/S Khaleke Hudson
- CB Lavert Hill
- TE Sean McKeon
- S Josh Metellus
- IOL Michael Onwenu
- QB Shea Patterson
- WR Donovan Peoples-Jones
- IOL Cesar Ruiz
- OT Jon Runyan
- EDGE Josh Uche
There were two notable guys left out with both defensive end Mike Danna and linebacker Jordan Glasgow on the outside looking in. They will be left to Michigan’s pro day and private scouting by teams to prove themselves worthy of a roster spot heading into the NFL preseason.
All of these guys have a ton to gain by how they perform in Indianapolis with Uche and Ruiz leading the way in terms of the players from Ann Arbor receiving the most draft buzz as of now. Both players have been mocked inside the top 50 picks and have an outside shot at sneaking into the first round if a team falls in love with them. For guys like Peoples-Jones, Bredeson and Onwenu, this likely serves as a way for them to solidify or elevate themselves into day two consideration.
Everyone else, namely Patterson, will need good showings to show themselves worthy of coming off the board on the third day of the draft. Hill, McKeon and Runyan feel like fairly safe bets to be drafted by someone, but the other guys have an opportunity to raise their respective stocks, as well.
The debate continues to rage on as to whether or not Michigan is talented enough to beat Ohio State, who could very well have two of the first three picks in the draft in Chase Young and Jeff Okudah. The Wolverines lacked that type of star power last season, but have had a decent amount of players picked high in recent drafts. Perhaps the gap is not as large in the talent pool as much as it may be in other areas, but we will see how it all plays out moving forward.
The 2020 NFL Combine from Indy begins on Feb. 23 and runs through March 2 from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana,