NFL Network’s Steve Wyche explained on Monday during an interview on NFL.com the benefits of having an NFL HBCU Combine, citing that many black college prospects are often overlooked.
“Let’s talk about the combine that the NFL is staging for the players of historically black colleges and universities, [it] will probably be between 40 to 50 players,” Wyche said.
He continued, “They’re still compiling a list of players who will be invited to this event right now. But this is for a group of players who weren’t invited to the scouting combine or to the Senior Bowl or East-West Shrine Game.”
He went on to say that what’s interesting about the matters is the fact that the NFL plucks a lot of players from HBCUs and another fact that, historically, there are 30 players in the NFL Hall of Fame.
And even now there are many talented players coming out of these institutions that are getting a some playing time on pro football teams like South Carolina State’s Darius Leonard of the Colts and Bears running back Tarik Cohen who was a star at NCAT.
“I spoke to some people organizing this, saying, “Why is this necessary?” Wyche said.
“And they said the key here is there are so many layers from HBCU schools, which is mainly FCS and Division II schools, that aren’t probably scouted,” he continued. “So this is just another opportunity for scouts to get eyes on players like Tennessee State’s wide receiver Chris Rowland — one of the most dynamic players in college football, who got to play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl but was not invited to the combine to get eyes on him.”
Chris Rowland, of course has won a lot of post-season awards last year.
“The league is trying to do something again to give everybody the opportunity to get properly evaluated and properly scouted,” Wyche said.
He also noted that the day after the NFL HBCU Combine, which takes place on March 28, there’s also a combine for international players so that scouts can get some eyes on them as well.
