Urban Meyer Comments on Potential Combine for Underclassmen

In the interest of allowing early NFL draft entrants to accurately gauge their stock, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer is actively pushing for a scouting combine meant exclusively for underclassmen.

According to Zac Jackson of Pro Football Talk, Meyer wants to help spearhead an effort that will allow scouts to look at juniors ahead of the draft process without forcing the underclassmen to declare and lose their college eligibility:

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It's not a process that's well done right now. There's a rule that says the NFL can't look at juniors. Well of course the NFL [scouts] are going to look at a junior. And they should look at a junior.

We're going to try to get something where there's a time those [scouts] can actually come in and they can work out the juniors. Because information is good. [The players] are getting their information somewhere, so why not get it from the experts—the scouts, the general managers, people who have the right information? They're getting it from agents and they're getting it from wannabes, and that's not good information.

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Taking part in the actual NFL Scouting Combine requires players to officially declare for the draft, and a poor performance can often damage their viability and cost them millions without the option of returning to school.

The NBA has made strides in that area, as players are allowed to declare for the draft without an agent and then withdraw and go back to college after the combine if they are dissatisfied with their performance or stock.

The NFL and college football don't currently have that type of arrangement in place, but an alternative combine could go a long way toward accomplishing that and ensuring that underclassmen are maximizing their value moving forward.  

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