NFL Scouting Combine to include Buckeyes, Flyer, local alumni

The NFL Scouting Combine begins Sunday with the arrival of the first players.

That kicks off a 10-day football festival in Indianapolis that will include many angles of local interest for fans from high school to the pros.

Here is a closer look at the event:

Quarterbacks, tight ends and receivers

The league is wasting no time in attracting attention for this event.

Joe Burrow headlines the signal-callers, who arrive Sunday for registration, orientation and team interviews.

The quarterbacks also kick off the media interviews portion of the show Tuesday morning.

RELATED: Bengals coaches offer first thoughts on Burrow

Along with Burrow, the 2014 Ohio Mr. Football who transferred from Ohio State to LSU and won the Heisman Trophy and a national championship,

Dayton tight end Adam Trautman, who was a hot prospect at the Senior Bowl last month and could be the first player at his position drafted, will also be speaking Tuesday along with Ohio State receivers K.J Hill, Ben Victor and Austin Mack.

READ MORE: Trautman accomplishes mission in Mobile

Representing the Miami Valley in the first group will be Chris Finke, an Alter graduate who carved out a niche as a walk-on receiver at Notre Dame.

Offensive linemen, running backs.

J.K. Dobbins became Ohio State’s first 2,000-yard rusher last season, but he was overshadowed to a degree in the Big Ten by Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor and even in his own backfield by OSU quarterback Justin Fields.

Dobbins will get a chance to separate himself athletically from Taylor and the rest of the running backs at the combine, perhaps making himself some money in the process.

RELATED: Justin Fields continues Ohio State’s dominance of Big Ten offense awards

Also representing Ohio State in the group that will be interviewed Wednesday will be Jonah Jackson, an All-Big Ten guard who transferred from Rutgers last summer.

Simon Stepaniak, a Ross High School graduate who enjoyed a standout career at Indiana, will carry the Miami Valley banner on day two.

Defensive linemen.

The Ohio State defensive end might be the best all-around player in the draft.

He will get to meet NFL teams Tuesday and reporters Thursday. Both are likely to be impressed when they talk to the Maryland high school product who could be the No. 2 choice of the draft by the Washington Redskins.

Joining him will be Ohio State teammates DaVon Hamilton, an interior linemen who impressed at the Senior Bowl, and Malik Harrison, a linebacker who was one of the unsung heroes of the Buckeye defense last season.

Defensive backs

The final group to arrive and be put through the paces includes three players from Ohio State — cornerbacks Jeffrey Okudah and Damon Arnette and safety Jordan Fuller — along with a local product, Josiah Scott of Michigan State.

A Fairfield High School product, Scott made a big splash as a freshman but missed more than half his sophomore season with an injury.

He was a second-team All-Big Ten pick last season and opted to skip his senior season.

Okudah also did the latter after becoming the first Ohio State cornerback to be named a unanimous All-American.

Arnette and Fuller both came back for their senior seasons last fall and likely benefitted from an overhaul of the defensive coaching staff and scheme.

How to watch

Once an afterthought, the combine has become appointment viewing for NFL junkies.

They won’t have to skip work to watch most of the workouts this year as the schedule has been rearranged for TV.

Workouts will begin a 4 p.m. Thursday-Sunday in the same sequence as media interviews: Burrow, Trautman and the receivers are set to show what they can do physically on Thursday with Dobbins and the offensive linemen going Friday, Young, Hamilton and Harrison on Saturday and Scott and the Buckeyes closing things out Sunday, March 1.

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