{"id":745988,"date":"2026-02-12T01:10:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/745988\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T01:10:41","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T01:10:41","slug":"iowa-state-cyclones-star-receives-invite-to-nfl-combine-ahead-of-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/745988\/","title":{"rendered":"Iowa State Cyclones Star Receives Invite to NFL Combine Ahead of Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"58\">There are going to be a lot of changes on the football field for the Iowa State Cyclones in 2026 compared to how things ended in 2025.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5b\">Jimmy Rogers is now the head coach, replacing Matt Campbell, who accepted the position with the Penn State Nittany Lions. He brought plenty of coaches and players along with him, leaving a lot of work for Rogers to fill holes.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5e\">One of the biggest holes that he will have to fill will be on the defensive side of the ball in the trenches. Defensive tackle Domonique Orange exhausted his eligibility and is preparing for the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5h\">A highly-regarded prospect, he will have the opportunity to showcase his abilities and improve his stock by participating in the NFL Combine that starts on Feb. 26.<\/p>\n<p>Domonique Orange invited to NFL Combine<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/01kh78zdhr1b9smyjdzh.jpg\" alt=\"Iowa State Cyclones defensive lineman Domonique Orange\" title=\"Iowa State Cyclones defensive lineman Domonique Orange\" width=\"2990\" height=\"1681\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"5u\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sep 6, 2025; Ames, Iowa, USA; Iowa State Cyclones defensive lineman Domonique Orange (95) reacts late in the second half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Jack Trice Stadium. | Reese Strickland-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5y\">Orange is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/news\/nfl-combine-full-list-of-draft-prospects-invited-to-2026-scouting-event\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">one of 319 players who have been invited<\/a> to attend the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine held at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"61\">He is one of 63 defensive linemen who will be participating in position-specific drills, the 40-yard dash and get to speak to front offices and coaches during the interview process. This will be a golden opportunity for him to show that he should be one of the first players at his position off the board.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"64\">Regarded as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/iowa-state\/football\/iowa-state-cyclones-domonique-orange-gets-impressive-superlative-for-2026-nfl-draft\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the best nose tackle in this year\u2019s draft class<\/a>, Orange possesses incredible strength and size. Listed at 6-foot-4 and 325 pounds, he is an immovable object on the interior of the defensive line when he is engaged.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"67\">While his statistics with the Cyclones don\u2019t jump off the page, he is as dominant as they come at his position. He excels as a space eater and run stuffer, taking up blocks to open up avenues for his teammates to make plays behind him.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Domonique Orange (6\u20194 325lb #95) is an athletic NT <br \/>-Powerful upper body to throw dudes off him<br \/>-Quick feet to be able work stunts from 0-tech to the outside and attack the QB<br \/>-See clip when he dropped in coverage<br \/>-Not many TFL\u2019s but can get to the backfield quickly <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BillsMafia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">#BillsMafia<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4QIS68vLwP\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/4QIS68vLwP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Randall Slifer (@RandallSlifer) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RandallSlifer\/status\/2018815638572274039?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">February 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6d\">In his career at Iowa State, Orange recorded 55 total pressures and 76 total tackles with 43 stops, per PFF. He lined up almost exclusively as an AGAP defender, registering 1,122 snaps there out of the 1,569 snaps in his career.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">It will be interesting to see how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/iowa-state\/football\/iowa-state-cyclones-defensive-star-inside-top-50-of-2026-nfl-draft-prospects-list\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NFL teams view and evaluate him<\/a>. He doesn\u2019t offer a ton of upside as a pass rusher, but he has shown the ability to get into the backfield with some regularity with his agility and strength.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6j\">The Indianapolis Colts are a team he could fit with, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/iowa-state\/football\/iowa-state-defensive-star-lands-with-colts-in-recent-nfl-mock-draft\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">landing with them in a recent NFL mock draft<\/a>. He landed in the third round of that mock, looking like a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/iowa-state\/football\/iowa-state-cyclones-star-highly-regarded-in-2026-nfl-draft-big-board\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">strong bet to come off the board on Day 2<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>More Iowa State Football News:<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are going to be a lot of changes on the football field for the Iowa State Cyclones&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":745989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2059],"tags":[2005,7,2004,392,2381,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-745988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indianapolis-colts","8":"tag-colts","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-indianapolis","11":"tag-indianapolis-colts","12":"tag-indianapoliscolts","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116054998639977596","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}