STARKVILLE – For a man just days away from the biggest job interview of his life, Preston Smith seems relatively relaxed.
Maybe that’s because he’s as ready as he can be.
“I’m just ready to get up there and go to work,” said Smith of his upcoming trip to the NFL Scouting Combine. “I’ve been training and training. Then we had the season, I’ve been going hard since the summer. I’m just ready to go up there and do my thing.”
Smith, a 6-foot-6, 270-pound defensive end, isn’t alone. When the Combine, the NFL’s annual pre-draft event that brings the nation’s top college prospects to Indianapolis, Indiana for a week of workouts, tryouts and interviews, starts on Tuesday, Smith will be one of four former Bulldogs attempting to get noticed by NFL scouts.
That total is the highest in six years under MSU head coach Dan Mullen.
Along with Smith, MSU will be represented by All-America linebacker Benardrick McKinney, tailback Josh Robinson, and former safety Justin Cox.
But McKinney and Smith are the headliners, as each head to Indianapolis with an opportunity to work their way into prestigious spots in the draft, which is scheduled for May 11-13.
“Those two guys both have a chance to make some money,” said Eric Galko of Optimum Scouting, which publishes scouting reports for the NFL Draft each year. “McKinney is a guy that has all the size and the speed, it will be interesting to see how he performs.
“Preston Smith is a guy that turned some heads at the Senior Bowl. It will be interesting to see if he carries that momentum into the Combine.”
Smith, a four-year letter-winner at MSU from Stone Mountain, Georgia, indeed made a name for himself at last month’s Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile. He turned in a five-tackle performance with a quarterback sack and a forced fumble, and was featured on NFL.com’s list of top five performers from the Senior Bowl.
That showing continued a breakthrough senior season for Smith, who delivered nine sacks with a pair of interceptions and two blocked field goals in helping MSU to a 10-2 regular season. He earned Southeastern Conference Defensive Lineman of the Week honors for the first three weeks of the season and was named a Second Team All-SEC performer by the league’s media and coaches.
Scouts have noticed, too. After beginning the season on the periphery of NFL Draft talk, Smith has vaulted into the conversation. IN NFL.com’s first mock draft after the Senior Bowl, he was listed as a potential first-round pick, going No. 32 to the Seattle Seahawks.
For Smith, the buzz around his Senior Bowl performance is just that.
“I can’t really worry about that,” said Smith. “I just have to focus on my training, making sure I do what I have to do to be ready. I’m more excited than nervous.”
Smith, after a month of working out for the draft with teammates in Miami, will arrive in Indianapolis on Thursday, and he will go through measurements and medical examinations on Friday. The on-field workouts for defensive linemen is scheduled for Saturday.
Like Smith, McKinney will also take part in workouts on Saturday. But unlike Smith, McKinney heads to Indianapolis as a surefire early-round pick. Overwhelmingly experts expect McKinney, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound linebacker from Tunica to be a first-rounder, as mock drafts have him trending between the middle and latter part of the first round. The same mock that had Smith at No. 32 had McKinney listed as the potential No. 14 pick to the Miami Dolphins.
A former two-star prospect out of Rosa Fort High, McKinney chose MSU after the Bulldogs were his only SEC offer out of high school. Four years later, the redshirt junior opted to head to the NFL after three successful seasons at MSU. A Second-Team All-SEC selection by the league’s media and a First-Teamer according to the SEC coaches, McKinney led MSU’s defense with 71 total tackles in 2014, eight for loss.
“(McKinney) looks like an above-average NFL inside linebacker who could become part of a really good defense,” said NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein. “He plays with strength and has an ability to take on offensive linemen and get downhill to finish his tackles.”
Count his former teammates as believers in McKinney’s ability to use the Combine to strengthen his draft profile. With ideal size, McKinney also runs a 4.5-second 40-yard dash, which could set him apart in Indianapolis.
“He’s going to do great,” said Christian Holmes, one of McKinney’s backups at linebacker during his time in Starkville. “He’s got everything. Size, speed, he’s a very smart player. He will be everything they want and then some.”
Another player looking to catch the eye of scouts in Indianapolis will be Robinson, who was faced with the decision of going pro or returning to MSU for his senior season in 2015. On the morning of MSU’s Orange Bowl loss to Georgia Tech, the Franklinton, Louisiana product made his intentions known, announcing that he was entering the draft via Instagram.
As a redshirt junior, the 5-foot-9, 210-pounder rushed for 1,203 yards and 11 touchdowns.
“I think people are sleeping on Josh,” said former MSU running back Vick Ballard, now with the Indianapolis Colts. “I think he’s got what it takes. He might not show it at the Combine because takes a certain set of skills but if people turn on him film, they will see what I see. I think he will be a steal in the draft.”
Then there’s Cox. A two-year player at MSU after an All-America career at East Mississippi Community College, the West Point native missed the final three games of his MSU career after an arrest for domestic violence last November. But the charges were dismissed on January 6, and two weeks later, he received an invitation to the Combine.
“I’m just trying to be the best football player I can be,” said Cox, who has spent the last month training in Aventura, Florida. “I’m not worried about anything else.”
Cox had two interceptions in two seasons at MSU.
The entirety of the NFL Combine will be broadcast nationally on the NFL Network.
Follow Dispatch Sports Writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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