Syracuse football: Four Orange players invited to NFL Scouting Combine

If you spend any time watching the NFL Combine at all in late February/early March, you’ll be seeing a little more Syracuse Orange involvement than normal.

The NFL announced its full list of Combine invites (337 in all) on Friday — a collection that included four different SU players: Kendall Coleman, Sterling Hofrichter, Trishton Jackson and Alton Robinson. Though it’s far from the only measure for program or player success (or even getting drafted), it’s at least a good sign for the Orange to see this many names on the list. The ability to get talent to the NFL is a quality selling point on the recruiting trail, so add another few bullet points to the sales pitch here.

Syracuse wound up with the third-most invites of all ACC teams, only trailing Miami (eight) and Clemson (seven). SU hasn’t had four or more players invited to the Combine since 2013, when Alec Lemon, Ryan Nassib, Justin Pugh and #SHAMARKO Thomas were all brought to the event.

Last year, Chris Slayton and Jamal Custis both got nods, though only Slayton was selected. Syracuse has only had five players selected in the draft since 2014, with Slayton being the most recent (seventh round in 2019). The Orange haven’t had a player picked earlier than the seventh round since 2014, though, when both Jay Bromley (third) and Marquis Spruill (fifth) were chosen. At the very least, Alton Robinson seems poised to end that streak in the spring.

The NFL Scouting Combine takes place in Indianapolis from Feb. 24-Mar. 1. You’ll be able to catch a lot of the action on NFL Network.

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Congrats to all four players, and looking forward to seeing them in Indy and hopefully called at the NFL Draft too.