NFL Combine ’21: What the invite list says about the state of Pac-12 football (last year and next season)
The event will be handled remotely because of COVID, but the invitation list adds clarity to the state of Pac-12 football last season and in the fall of 2021.
One of the most revealing data points in the college football offseason cycle was made public earlier this week: The list of invitees to the 2021 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Of course, there is no combine this year, at least not in a congregate setting in Indianapolis — players are working out on campus and interviewing with teams remotely.
But that didn’t stop the NFL talent evaluators from selecting the prospects who would have participated in-person.
That’s roughly the same number of invitations as in previous years and more than enough to illuminate the dispersal of high-end talent in major college football.
The Pac-12 had 36 players on the invite list — not as many as in the past.
Presumably, the extra year of eligibility for seniors served as a limiting factor, but we’re unsure of the extent: Most of the players good enough to be invited to the combine made themselves eligible for the draft.
USC led the conference with seven invitees, followed by Oregon (six), Stanford (five) and Washington (four).
Compare those totals to the national powers:
Ohio State: 14 invitees
Alabama: 11
Georgia: 11
Notre Dame: 11
Florida: 9
LSU: 8
Oklahoma: 6
Clemson: 5
The Pac-12 breakdown is as follows (players who opted out of the 2020 season are in italics):
Arizona (two): TB Gary Brightwell and CB Lorenzo Burns
ASU (two): S Aashari Crosswell and WR Frank Darby
Cal ((two): OL Jake Curhan and CB Cam Bynum
Colorado (one): OL Will Sherman
Oregon (six): OL Penei Sewell, CB Deommodore Lenoir, CB Thomas Graham, S Brady Breeze, S Jevon Holland, DL Austin Faoliu
Oregon State (three): TB Jemar Jefferson, CB Nahshon Wright and LB Hamilcar Rashed
Stanford (five): OT Walker Little, C Drew Dalman, CB Paulson Adebo, WR Simi Fehoko and QB Davis Mills
UCLA (two): TB Demetric Felton and DL Osa Odighizuwa
USC (seven): CB Olaijah Griffin, S Talanoa Hufanga, DL Marlon Tuipulotu, DL Jay Tufele, WR Tyler Vaughns, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, OL Alijah Vera-Tucker
Washington (four): DL Levi Onwuzurike, LB Joe Tryon, CB Elijah Molden, CB Keith Taylor
Instant reactions to the Pac-12 list:
— One quarterback received an invitation: Stanford’s Mills.
(Last year, the conference sent five QBs to Indianapolis.)
— One-third of the invitees are defensive backs.
— Only six are offensive linemen — further evidence, in our view, that the Pac-12 is undergoing a multi-year downturn in high-level talent at that vital position.
(The SEC had 15 offensive linemen invited; the Big Ten had 10; Notre Dame had four.)
— Four defensive backs from Oregon were invited — more than Alabama and Ohio State combined (two).
— Colorado won four games with two combine invitees, which speaks to the degree the Buffs maximized their talent.
— Oregon State did well on the talent development front: All three of the Beavers’ invitees were three-star recruits.
What the combine list suggests for the 2021 season is slightly less clear.
The conference is losing impact players who didn’t receive invitations — not many, but a few — while the extra year of eligibility means a barrage of seniors will return for the bonus season.
Nonetheless, we can sketch an outline for the fall, and it looks something like this:
— The conference will be stocked at quarterback — if not with future pros, at least with past starters:
Washington, Washington State, Colorado, Cal, Oregon State, ASU, UCLA, USC and Utah all have returnees, albeit with varying degrees of experience and good health.
— Add the exodus of combine-level defensive backs, and it’s easy to envision offenses being ahead of defenses early in the season.
— Washington State and Utah had no invites, which helps explain their results in 2020 but also bodes well for ’21:
Both depth charts are stocked with returnees and could produce upside surprises … if the teams receive efficient play for their quarterbacks.
— The Trojans got clobbered by attrition, to a greater extent than other programs with multiple combine-level players.
Here’s why: Six of their seven invitees were on the field in 2020, whereas Stanford only had three in uniform and Oregon and UW had two.
In other words, USC is losing a greater percentage of its impact players.
— Four Washington offensive linemen earned all-conference recognition: Jaxson Kirkland, Henry Bainivalu, Victor Curne and Luke Wattenberg.
They’re all back in ’21, as is the fifth starter, Ulumoo Ale.
The best line in the North, and in the conference, resides in Seattle.
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