10 Nittany Lions invited to 2024 NFL combine in Indianapolis

These 10 Penn State players will look to turn heads at the NFL combine in Indianapolis.

The NFL season only ended a few days ago, but the football calendar never stops turning. On Tuesday morning, the league announced the 321 college prospects attending this year’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, which will begin later this month.

Penn State has 12 draft-eligible players, and Nittany Lions will be well represented in Indianapolis, with 10 of them receiving an invite to the combine, led by projected first-round picks tackle [autotag]Olumuyiwa Fashanu[/autotag] and defensive end [autotag]Chop Robinson[/autotag].

The other Nittany Lions who also received an invite are TE [autotag]Theo Johnson[/autotag], C [autotag]Hunter Nourzad[/autotag], OT [autotag]Caeden Wallace[/autotag], EDGE [autotag]Adissa Isaac[/autotag], LB [autotag]Curtis Jacobs[/autotag], DB [autotag]Johnny Dixon[/autotag], DB [autotag]Daequan Hardy[/autotag], and DB [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag].

All 10 PSU players will get a chance to meet with teams and show their talents to improve their draft stock before April’s NFL draft. Some players like Adisa Isaac have seen their stock rise since the end of the college football season with a stout performance at the Senior Bowl. Others, like cornerback Kalen King, struggled through the Senior Bowl week, putting more onus on a solid combine performance.

It is worth noting that just because the NFL invited a player to the combine does not necessarily mean they will accept the invite. Several players every year might use the combine to only interview with NFL teams but not do drills. Many also opt out of specific drills and compete at those drills in a more controlled environment at the school’s pro day. Others, although unlikely, may also skip out on all of the combine’s festivities.

The 2024 NFL Scouting Combine will take place from February 26 through March 4 and broadcast on the NFL Network.

As the start of the combine nears, we will have you covered on all Penn State’s invited players.

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Senior Bowl gives Kalen King another chance to show that he’s a first-round talent

Kalen King enters Senior Bowl week in hopes of cementing himself as a first round pick

The Reese’s Senior Bowl week is almost upon us, with practices kicking off this week and the game scheduled for Saturday, February 3. Penn State will have three representatives, including [autotag]Adissa Isaac[/autotag] and [autotag]Johnny Dixon[/autotag], but the most high-profile Nittany Lion is junior cornerback [autotag]Kalen King[/autotag].

In the first year that the Senior Bowl has extended invites to underclassmen, King jumped at the opportunity to improve his draft stock. King is a borderline first-round draft pick, ranking between 26th and 47th overall on big boards. ESPN ranks him as the 33rd-best prospect, Pro Football Network has him as the 26th overall player, and Pro Football Focus ranks him as 47th.

King’s 2022 season when playing opposite [autotag]Joey Porter Jr.[/autotag] was sensational and well-received by Pro Football Focus, giving him an overall grade of 89 on a 1-100 scale. He was named second-team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and selected third-team All-America by Pro Football Focus. This year, he took a bit of a step back and only had one pass breakup with no interceptions. However, King’s run defense graded well this year and will be a big thing to watch as next week gets rolling.

At 5-foot-11, King is a tad undersized for an outside corner, and his lack of physical ability as a corner was exposed when he went against uber-physical receivers like Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. The Senior Bowl week will be paramount for King to show NFL teams that he can stack up against bigger receivers and that his performance against the Buckeyes was just a fluke.

His football IQ and play recognition should be on full display throughout the week of practices. King is a tremendous ball-hawk, but translating those pass deflections into turnovers is an area he needs to work on. As a more than capable coverage defender in zone and man, King showing scouts that he can match up in man coverage with larger receivers will be critical in eliminating doubts about his size.

The Reese’s Senior Bowl will kick off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 3, and broadcasted on the NFL Network.

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