The NFL announced its list of combine invitations on Wednesday, which means we’re only one step closer to draft day. Whenever the list drops, I try to look at which players were “snubbed,” relative to the consensus draft board.
For those who are unaware of the process, the combine is actually run by National (NFS), one of two major scouting services that the league uses, along with BLESTO. Clubs generally subscribe to one of these services or the other, which helps them develop early watch lists and helps them collect measurements (either for pro days or in the spring). For what it’s worth, the Green Bay Packers are a National team.
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National receives feedback from teams on who they want at the event. So, truthfully, a list of combine snubs is really a reflection of which players the teams in the league are less interested in than the draft analysts. Let’s take you through the list of top-250 prospects, per the consensus board, who failed to make the cut.
QB Trinidad Chambliss, Mississippi (#62)
Okay, this one doesn’t actually count as a snub. Trinidad Chambliss is currently going through the legal system to attempt to get back a year of eligibility for a season in which he played fewer than five games while he was still at Division II’s Ferris State. No one seems to know how this case is going to turn out, as teams are preparing for all three of these options: Chambliss going back to school, Chambliss coming out in the 2026 NFL Draft or Chambliss coming out in the 2026 supplemental draft.
ED Mikail Kamara, Indiana (#151)
Mikail Kamara is an undersized edge rusher who is expected to measure in around 6’0”-flat. He was named the national title game’s defensive player of the game and earned third-team All-American (and first-team All-Big Ten) honors in 2024, when he posted 10 sacks for the Hoosiers. This year, the James Madison transfer had a quieter season, as he only recorded two sacks.
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RB Kaelon Black, Indiana (#168)
Yes, the national champions are back-to-back at the top of the snub list. Kaelon Black was the number two back behind Roman Hemby, who received a combine invite, at Indiana last year. Still, even in that backup role, the sixth-year senior was able to record a 1,000-yard and 10-touchdown season. He, like Kamara, transferred up from James Madison with head coach Curt Cignetti.
WR Lewis Bond, Boston College (#178)
Boston College’s Lewis Bond isn’t a terribly large receiver, as he measured in at 5’11”-flat and 197 pounds at the Senior Bowl this year. It probably didn’t help his case that two of his three 100-yard games in his senior season came at the end of the year for the Eagles.
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RB Jaydn Ott, Oklahoma (#198)
Last offseason, it was a huge deal that Oklahoma landed Jaydn Ott, who transferred from Cal. As a sophomore in 2023, Ott was a first-team All-Pac-12 running back before battling through an ankle injury in 2024, which limited him to just 11.6 carries per game in the games he actually suited up for the Golden Bears. In 2025, he had just 21 carries for 68 yards for the Sooners.
WR Dane Key, Nebraska (#202)
Dane Key is a bigger body receiver at 6’3” and 210 pounds. He was highly recruited out of high school, started for a couple of years at Kentucky and then transferred to Nebraska for his final year of eligibility. Nebraska’s passing game just never took that next step, though, and Key finished the year with 39 receptions for 452 yards, third on the team for both stats, and five touchdowns, which was good for a three-way tie for first among Cornhuskers pass-catchers.
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WR Cyrus Allen, Cincinnati (#206)
Cyrus Allen was actually a Senior Bowl receiver this cycle, but it was his Shrine Bowl invite teammate, Jeff Caldwell, who was invited to the combine. At the Senior Bowl, Allen measured in at 5’11” and 180 pounds. He played for Louisiana Tech before transferring to Texas A&M in 2024. Before injuring his arm in a way that required surgery, he was third on the Aggies in receiving yards that year. In 2025, he transferred to Cincinnati, where he caught 51 balls for 674 yards and 13 touchdowns (led the Big 12) from Brendan Sorsby, who was one of the hottest transfer quarterbacks this offseason.
OL Connor Tollison, Missouri (#210)
The Missouri product is a center, but he’s a little on the lighter side. He weighed in closer to 280 pounds in the spring, but Connor Tollison was up to 290 pounds for the All-American Bowl.
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S Jalen Catalon, Missouri (#214)
Jalen Catalon bounced around to four schools during his college career. He spent his first four years at Arkansas before transferring to Texas, where he didn’t get much playing time, UNLV (as a sixth-year senior) and then Missouri (as a seventh-year senior). At UNLV, he recorded five interceptions and made 96 tackles, which earned him first-team All-Mountain West honors. Back in 2020, as a redshirt freshman, he was also a first-team All-SEC player. He was more of a part-time player with the Tigers in 2025.
S Cole Wisniewski, Texas Tech (#222)
This one is pretty surprising. The Sparta, Wisconsin, product was a national champion with the North Dakota State Bison before transferring to Texas Tech for his sixth year of eligibility. By all accounts, he had a strong performance at the Shrine Bowl earlier this winter. He also measured in at 6’3.5” and 214 pounds at the event.
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OL Tristan Leigh, Clemson (#225)
The former five-star recruit was a three-year starter as Clemson’s left tackle. Leigh measured in at nearly 6’5” and 308 pounds with 34.5” arms at the American Bowl.
OL James Brockermeyer, Miami (#227)
This is a pretty big surprise, considering that James Brockermeyer had a good end-of-season performance during Miami’s run to the national title game. The center recently earned an early fifth-round grade from Brandon Thorn, who probably does the best public write-ups on offensive line prospects. His father was a first-round pick in 1995, started 103 games in the NFL and the younger Brockermeyer was previously at Alabama and TCU before his year with the Hurricanes, where he earned first-team All-American honors.
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More top-250 snubs
DL James Thompson Jr., Illinois (#236)
ED Keyshawn James-Newby, New Mexico (#237)
OL Caden Barnett, Wyoming (#238)
WR Tyren Montgomery, John Carroll (#242)
QB Miller Moss, Louisville (#243)
DL Cole Brevard, Texas (#244)
OL Nolan Rucci, Penn State (#245)
RB Kejon Owens, Florida International (#246)
TE Seydou Traore, Mississippi State (#247)
ED TJ Guy, Michigan (#248)
Tyren Montgomery originally began his college sports career as a basketball player for LSU before taking two years off from sports and reemerging as a receiver for Nicholls. He was forced to drop down to Division III, which has different clock rules, to play his final two years of football. There, he was named a consensus Division III All-American and did well for himself at the Senior Bowl last month.
The other name that Packers fans might know is Nolan Rucci, a former five-star recruit who began his college career at Wisconsin before transferring to Penn State in 2024. He’s the son of former NFL offensive lineman Todd Rucci, who actually started against Green Bay in Super Bowl XXXI. Rucci was measured in at a legit 6’8” and 310 pounds at the Shrine Bowl.