NFL Combine 2012: Small-School Defensive Stars with a Chance to Shine

When hordes of players, coaches and sportswriters (those last ones are the worst) descend on Lucas Oil Stadium Wednesday for the beginning of the 2012 NFL scouting combine, most of the focus on the defensive end of the ball will be on the likes of Illinois defensive end Whitney Mercilus, linebacker Courtney Upshaw of Alabama and Louisiana State cornerback Morris Claiborne.

However, the combine is a much more important event for some defensive players from smaller schools, as for them a strong outing can make all the difference in the world in getting their foot in the doors of their National Football League careers.

It's for those players, like this trio, that it's vital that they step up in the combine.

Jonathan Massaquoi - DE/OLB, Troy

Jonathan Massaquoi plied his trade at defensive end while at Troy University, but it appears that the 6'2", 250-pound Massaquoi would be more suited as a 3-4 outside linebacker in the National Football League given his relative lack of size.

In regards to Massaquoi, who tallied 52 tackles, six sacks and a forced fumble last season, Doug Farrar of Yahoo! Sports said:

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"Massaquoi does everything decent-to-well you'd want a man playing his position to do. If his skills were more refined, he'd be a first-round lock. As it is, the team willing to put in the finishing work (starting with the weight room) could have a Pro Bowler and quarterback sack leader on their hands sooner than later."

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Massaquoi is something of a combine rarity in that it's his strength and not his quickness that scouts may be more interested in seeing on display, and every rep that Massaquoi can put in during the bench press drill will likely boost his draft day stock a bit.

Shawn Loiseau - ILB, Merrimac

Shawn Loiseau has been a big fish in a very small pond over his collegiate career, as the 6'1", 244-pound linebacker starred at Division II Merrimac University, where he was two-time Conference Player of the Year while racking up 254 tackles for the Warriors.

This won't be Loiseau's first time on a bigger stage, as he was a recent participant in the East-West Shrine Game, where he said:

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"One of my biggest things is I never want to be outworked, he said." "No matter what it is, whenever I step on a football field, I never want to be outworked by anybody. I come from a small school, so (Saturday) I just want to go out there, fly around and make plays."

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Loiseau will get another chance to "fly around" at this week's combine, and if Loiseau can do just that, he'll go a long way towards insuring that he hears his name called come April.

Justin Bethel - S, Presbyterian

Justin Bethel was the Big South Defensive Player of the Year for the Blue Hose after racking up 87 tackles, four interceptions and a forced fumble in 2011. While the the 5'11", 196-pound Bethel is an athletic player who played cornerback at Presbyterian, he probably projects best as a free safety in the NFL.

Of Bethel, who holds the Big South records for both solo tackles and blocked kicks in a career and who was an FCS All American that possesses fantastic leaping ability, Pro Football Weekly said:

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"(A) decorated, athletic, unpolished FCS prospect with raw, moldable, physical ability and versatility that will warrant developmental consideration and should impress in interviews."

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If Bethel can do that while showing off his hops and running a solid 40-yard dash, then the pride of the Blue Hose (seriously, who calls their team that?) will likely get some late draft consideration as a "project" type.