NFL Veteran Combine Participants 2015: Underrated Names to Watch at Event

In hindsight, the inaugural NFL Veteran Combine will be a key point of the offseason.

While there isn't much hype for the event now as 107 players head for Tempe, Arizona, it will prove successful for both players and teams in the long run and become a staple of the offseason in a hurry.

Matt Birk, the NFL's director of football development, spoke with NFL.com's Conor Orr about the event:

"

I'm anxious to see how it's received by our clubs. It's a new event. There's a fair amount of skepticism surrounding it and rightfully so. So I guess we're just focused right now on executing and making sure that things run smoothly and that our clubs find it useful.

"

The allure for both sides is obvious. For players, it removes the grueling visit to random teams for auditions. Instead, they audition in front of all 32 in one convenient location.

For teams, there's little money at stake in the form of signing bonuses or guarantees if they like one of the participants. Some of them are so young their college scouting reports still hold up, too.

It's a smart move by the league all around, and while most know about the big names such as Michael Sam, underrated ones may surprise in the desert.

2015 NFL Veteran Combine Roster

Name	Pos.	College
Armstrong, Matt	C	Grand Valley State
Carter, Sherman	C	Tennessee State
Foster, Jason	C	Rhode Island
Gallington, Deveric	C	Texas Tech
Golic, Mike	C	Notre Dame
Gottschalk, Ben	C	Southern Methodist
Pocic, Graham	C	Illinois
Van Roten, Greg	C	Pennsylvania
Berry, Aaron	CB	Pittsburgh
Burton, Brandon	CB	Utah
Carr, Deveron	CB	Arizona State
Edwards, Kip	CB	Missouri
Lee, Saeed	CB	Alabama State
Love, Jordan	CB	Towson
Lyn, Keon	CB	Syracuse
Patrick, Johnny	CB	Louisville
Posey, Julian	CB	Ohio
Reid, Greg	CB	Valdosta State
Sullen, Jordan	CB	Tulane
White, Ryan	CB	Auburn
Anderson, Jamaal	DE	Arkansas
Brown, Sammy	DE	Houston
Carriker, Adam	DE	Nebraska
Cox, Rakim	DE	Villanova
Mims, Tevin	DE	South Florida
Paulhill, Shahid	DE	Temple
Rayford, Caesar	DE	Washington
Roh, Craig	DE	Michigan
Sam, Michael	DE	Missouri
Black, Larry	DT	Indiana
Collins, Nate	DT	Virginia
Forston, Marcus	DT	Miami
Harris, DaJohn	DT	Southern California
Jerideau, Byron	DT	South Carolina
Minter, Zach	DT	Montana State
Thompson, Everrette	DT	Washington
Troup, Torell	DT	Central Florida
Moore, Dan	FB	Montana
Pryor, Lonnie	FB	Florida State
Unga, Harvey	FB	Brigham Young
Dominguez, Ray	G	Arkansas
Goodin, Stephen	G	Nebraska-Kearney
Huey, Michael	G	Texas
Morris, Darius	G	Temple
Wells, Justin	G	St. Augustine's
White, Ian	G	Boston College
Baker, Chris	LB	East Carolina
Copeland, Brandon	LB	Pennsylvania
Divitto, Steele	LB	Boston College
Doughty, Jake	LB	Utah State
Dowtin, Marcus	LB	North Alabama
Drakeford, Darin	LB	Maryland
Fox, Dan	LB	Notre Dame
Glaud, Ka'Lial	LB	Rutgers
Keiser, Thomas	LB	Stanford
Kimbrough, Jeremy	LB	Appalachian State
Lutrus, Scott	LB	Connecticut
Rolle, Brian	LB	Ohio State
So'oto, Vic	LB	Brigham Young
Steward, Phillip	LB	Houston
Miller, Jordan	NT	Southern U.
Johnson, Jerrod	QB	Texas A&M
Kafka, Mike	QB	Northwestern
Kay, Brendon	QB	Cincinnati
Price, Keith	QB	Washington
Robinson, Zac	QB	Oklahoma State
Thomas, Darron	QB	Oregon
Wilson, Tyler	QB	Arkansas
Bush, Michael	RB	Louisville
Hampton, Jewel	RB	Southern Illinois
Hines, Quentin	RB	Akron
Jones, Felix	RB	Arkansas
LeShoure, Mikel	RB	Illinois
Scott, Da'Rel	RB	Maryland
Wood, Cierre	RB	Notre Dame
Mcmillian, Jerron	S	Maine
Mitchell, Charles	S	Mississippi State
Owusu-Ansah, Akwasi	S	Indiana, Pa.
Sebetic, Kyle	S	Dayton
Silva, Mana	S	Hawaii
Starling, Jawanza	S	Southern California
Young, Joe	S	Rutgers
Aladenoye, Josh	T	Illinois State
Breckner, Jack	T	Gustavus Adolphus
Foketi, Manase	T	West Texas A&M
Harris, Randall	T	Towson
Childers, Jamie	TE	Coastal Carolina
Momah, Ifeanyi	TE	Boston College
Ogbuehi, Emmanuel	TE	Georgia State
Veldman, Matt	TE	North Dakota State
Walker, Dallas	TE	Western Michigan
Waters, Eric	TE	Missouri
Adams, Joe	WR	Arkansas
Anderson, Joe	WR	Texas Southern
Gadsden, Ben	WR	Miami
Jean, Lestar	WR	Florida Atlantic
Johnson, Darius	WR	Southern Methodist
Kurihara, Tukashi	WR	No College
Mayo, Thomas	WR	California, Pa.
Mitchell, Carlton	WR	South Florida
Slaughter, Nathan	WR	West Texas A&M
Steelman, Trent	WR	Army
Williams, LaQuan	WR	Maryland

Underrated Names to Watch 

Lestar Jean, WR

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Remember Lestar Jean?

All right, doubtful, but he's a name to know in Arizona.

An undrafted free agent in 2011, Jean caught on with the Houston Texans and exploded for three touchdowns in preseason contests. Also of note are two long gains for the team in the postseason.

Jean is just 27 years old and touts good size (6'3", 202 pounds) and sure hands. The lone problem? Injuries. Health derailed Jean's two seasons with the Texans and did the same this past year with the Minnesota Vikings, where he hit injured reserve and the team later released him.

If Jean can prove he's healthy once more, the former Florida Atlantic star won't have an issue landing a deal with an NFL team. He's a great camp body with the potential for much, much more on a depth chart if his body holds up.

Tyler Wilson, QB

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

With Tim Tebow not in attendance, Tyler Wilson will have to do for folks looking for intrigue at quarterback.

A fourth-round pick by the Oakland Raiders in 2013, the organization cut Wilson as it went through the process of an oh-so interesting quarterback competition involving Matt Flynn, Terrelle Pryor and Matt McGloin.

In all seriousness, Wilson is just 25 years old and features much of the same upside as the Arkansas product who entered the draft just a few years ago. In his final season with the Razorbacks, Wilson completed 62.1 percent of his passes for 3,387 yards and 21 touchdowns to 13 interceptions.

Outside of his stint with Oakland, Wilson has struggled in pit stops with the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals. He has an opportunity to showcase an improvement in Arizona, which figures to at the least get him another contract for summer camps and the preseason.

Felix Jones, RB

Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

This is wild to think about: Teams used to draft running backs in first round.

Look at Felix Jones, the No. 22 pick in the 2008 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys out of Arkansas. 

While it seems like forever ago, Jones is going into his age-28 season and doesn't have a large amount of wear and tear on his body. He was part of a successful committee with the Razorbacks and didn't receive the bulk of the work during his five-year stint with Dallas.

Other than his age and fresh legs—he didn't play last season after entering Mike Tomlin's doghouse in Pittsburgh due to fumbles—the appeal to Jones is his per-carry average that continues to stand at 4.7:

SEASON	GP	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
2008	6	30	266	8.9	3
2009	14	116	685	5.9	3
2010	16	185	800	4.3	1
2011	12	127	575	4.5	1
2012	16	111	402	3.6	3
2013	16	48	184	3.8	0

Running backs come cheap these days, and fresh rookie legs are a suitable way to go. Fine, but Jones offers experience, leadership, fresh legs and proven pro production in a committee.

So long as he hasn't lost a serious step in his year away from the game, Jones will put on a show among his fellow veterans and land a contract extending his pro audition through the preseason at the least.

Note: Stats courtesy of NFL.com as of March 20. All advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus.