Penn State Football: Seven Lions invited to NFL Combine

Seven Penn State football players were invited to the NFL Combine Thursday afternoon with Trace McSorley and Amani Oruwariye leading the group.

The NFL expects impressive things out of this years crop of Penn State football stars, inviting seven of the team’s players to this year NFL Scouting Combine. Of the seven, senior quarterback Trace McSorley and senior cornerback Amani Oruwariye headline the list.

Running back Miles Sanders, defensive tackle Kevin Givens, defensive end Shareef Miller and offensive linemen Connor McGovern and Ryan Bates were invited as well. All five of those players declared as underclassmen.

McSorley and Oruwariye are the two biggest names on the list. McSorley carries an interesting draft story, because some of the NFL don’t know what to do with him.

He produced (11,596 total yards, 107 total TDs) at an elite level for three years in the Big Ten, but he’s not a prototypical NFL QB in terms of size (6-feet, 200 pounds). With the success of smaller QBs recently, he’s someone the NFL will take a long look at after also playing in the senior bowl.

Oruwariye projects to be possibly the highest pick of all the Penn State players in the draft. He’s a big, physical (6-foot-1, 200 pounds) corner that made plays every year in clutch moments (20 passes deflected, 8 interceptions).

The juniors for Penn State could build on their cases for the league as well. First and foremost, Connor McGovern is expected to go early. He started all three seasons on the PSU O-Line and was a key cog in the program turnaround.

Defensive end Shareef Miller is in the same boat. He has a chance to rise up with a huge combine. He’s an athletic monster on the D-Line and has the numbers to back it up with 31.5 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks. He improved every year as well to go along with nice size (6-foot-5, 260 pounds) and quickness to get after the quarterback.

Penn State’s had success in the combine, specifically last year where Troy Apke went from a one-year, unknown starter to a fourth-round selection in the draft with an impressive combine. The seven prospects could do the same this season.