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If there’s one former Michigan player that’s trending significantly upward in advance of the NFL Scouting Combine this week, it’s former center Cesar Ruiz.
Some scoffed at the junior for leaving school early, but some early projections put the New Jersey native in the first-round.
Ruiz didn’t announce his departure from Michigan until Jan. 3, two days after the bowl game, but there were indications that he was leaning towards leaving the program with a year of eligibility left on the table. So, why didn’t he tell reporters that week if he knew he was likely about to play in his last game?
He explained to the media in Indianapolis, as well as why he decided it was time to move on from Ann Arbor.
“Really, I didn’t want that to be a distraction on what we had going on,” Ruiz said. “I didn’t want that to be a distraction to what the team had going on, what we were focusing on. My main thing was was I going to be focused that week if I was going to be asked questions about that and my main decision came down to did I believe in myself and I think I was ready.”
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While some draft prognosticators indicate that Ruiz could be a mid-to-late first round NFL Draft pick, it’s certainly not a consensus at the moment. That’s why he can help himself greatly this week at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Ruiz fully intends to participate in all drills, but even without the numbers just yet, he thinks he’s definitely among the best 32 players in the upcoming NFL Draft in April.
“Yes, I do,” Ruiz said. “Because if you look at the film, if you look at how I dominate people, if you look at my character, how smart I am, I have everything for a first-rounder. I’m very confident in myself that I am a first-rounder.”
Regardless, the true center doesn’t feel that just because he’s projected to be a first-round NFL Draft pick and that because he has that potential that he’s earned that right just yet.
He knows that all the hard work lies ahead of him — at the combine, at Michigan’s Pro Day, and at any team workouts he might have before draft day comes.
“That’s always great, but projections are always just projections,” Ruiz said. “I’ve got to make it happen. It’s good to see it, of course it gives me a good idea of where I stand. But I try to stay out of that stuff and just focus on the task at hand.”