Former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray will head a group of 24 players with state connections, including first-round prospects Michigan State cornerback Darqueze Dennard, Notre Dame defensive end Stephon Tuitt and Stanford guard David Yankey, who were invited to the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis, which starts Wednesday and continues through Tuesday.
This is the smallest Georgia group in recent years. Last year, 29 players were invited. In 2012, 26 players were invited and in 2011, 31 players, including the prospective No. 1 overall pick Cam Newton, were invited.
Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff and coach Mike Smith will head up the team’s entourage at the combine. Things will get started with medical evaluations, psychological testing media and team interviews as more than 330 players are set to participate at Lucas Oil Stadium. The skills testing will start Saturday.
Here’s a look at the local players headed to the combine. All rankings are by NFLDraftScout.com. All projections are by NFL Draft Scout unless otherwise noted.
Player, school; Pos. ranking; Projected round
Jerry Attaochu, Georgia Tech; No. 8 OLB; second or third
Chris Boyd, Vanderbilt (Roswell High); No. 56 WR; not drafted
J.C. Copeland, LSU (Troup County); No. 2 FB; sixth
Isaiah Crowell, Alabama State (Carver-Columbus); No. 26 RB; not drafted
Darqueze Dennard, Michigan State (Twiggs County); No. 1 CB; first (ESPN)
Adrian Hubbard, Alabama (Norcross); No. 12 OLB; fourth
Ja’wuan James, Tennessee (North Gwinnett); No. 11 OT; third or fourth
Storm Johnson, Central Florida (Loganville); No. 19 RB; sixth or seventh
T.J. Jones, Notre Dame (Gainesville); No. 20 WR; fourth or fifth
Kenny Ladler, Vanderbilt (Stephenson); No. 6 FS; fourth or fifth
Richie Leone, Houston (Roswell); No. 5 P; seventh or not drafted
Arthur Lynch, Georgia; No. 6 TE; fourth
Jerick McKinnon, Georgia Southern (Sprayberry); No. 17 RB; sixth or seventh
Zach Mettenberger, LSU (Oconee County); No. 7 QB; third or fourth
Aaron Murray, Georgia; No. 8 QB; fourth
Bradley Roby, Ohio State (Peachtree Ridge); No. 5 CB; first (ESPN)
Connor Shaw, South Carolina (Flowery Branch); No. 11 QB; sixth
Marcus Smith, Louisville (Hardaway); No. 7 DE; second or third
Telvin Smith, Florida State (Lowndes); No. 6 OLB; second
Jemea Thomas, Georgia Tech; No. 8 FS; sixth
Stephon Tuitt, Notre Dame (Monroe Area); No. 5 DT; first (ESPN)
Lavelle Westbrooks, Georgia Southern (Riverdale); No. 29 CB; sixth or seventh
Albert Wilson, Georgia State; No. 45 WR; not drafted
David Yankey, Stanford (Centennial); No. 1 G; first or second
Note: ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. projects Dennard will go 24th, to the Bengals. Kiper projects Roby will go 31st, to the Broncos. ESPN's Todd McShay projects Tuitt will go 29th, to the Patriots. Also, Kiper projects Shaw to go in the seventh round or undrafted.
