Feb. 6, 2009

COLUMBIA, MO.  – Six former Mizzou football players have been invited to participate in the 2009 NFL Scouting Combine, which takes place Feb. 21-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

The annual NFL Scouting Combine is the annual job fair for prospective new NFL players. For several days at Lucas Oil Stadium, players are put through a series of drills, tests and interviews with more than 600 NFL personnel including head coaches, general managers and scouts.

Included among the list of invitees to the NFL Combine include All-America wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, All-America tight end and 2008 Mackey Award winner Chase Coffman, as well as record-setting quarterback and 2007 Heisman Trophy finalist Chase Daniel.  2007 All-America safety William Moore, 2008 All-Big 12 defensive tackle Ziggy Hood and defensive end Stryker Sulak, who ended his career number two on the school career quarterback sacks list.

Mike Mayock of the NFL.com has Maclin rated as the No. 2 wide receiver prospect in the draft, and also rates Moore as the number four safety, with Hood checking in at number five among Mayock's defensive tackles.

The NFL Draft will be held April 25-26 in New York City. Many draft experts are predicting that Maclin will likely be a top-10 selection, and also that Moore could possibly go in the first round as well.  If that were to happen, it would mark only the second time in MU history that two Tigers have gone in the first round – the other occurrence was in 1977 when tackle Morris Towns went at number 11 overall to the Houston Oilers, while quarterback Steve Pisarkiewicz was the number 19 overall pick by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Since Gary Pinkel came to Mizzou, the Tigers have had a total of 10 players selected in the NFL Draft, including two each being picked in three of the last four years.