UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Three Penn State football student-athletes are heading to Indianapolis this week to participate in the National Football League's 2014 Scouting Combine.
The Nittany Lions participating in the Combine are defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (Johnson City, N.Y.), wide receiver Allen Robinson (Southfield, Mich.) and guard John Urschel (Williamsville, N.Y.). All three were 2013 first-team All-Big Ten honorees.
The NFL Scouting Combine is Feb. 22-25 at Lucas Oil Stadium. Urschel’s on-field workout is Saturday, Robinson’s is Sunday and Jones’ is Monday. NFL Network will have coverage of the workouts each day starting at 9 a.m.
Jones led Penn State with 11.5 tackles for loss (minus-42 yards) and earned the team’s Outstanding Senior Player award. He ranked fifth on the squad with 56 tackles (33 solo), recorded three sacks (minus-21) and had a fumble recovery. A starter in 23 games over the past two seasons, he led all Big Ten defensive tackles in hits this season. The former Johnson City Senior High School standout participated in last month’s Senior Bowl.
The 2012 and 2013 Big Ten Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year, Robinson earned seven All-America honors after a standout 2013 season. The junior was selected a first-team All-American by CBSSports.com, Sporting News and Phil Steele's College Football, a second-team honoree by the Football Writers Association of America, SI.com and Athlon Sports, and a third-team All-American by the Associated Press.
The former Orchard Lake (Mich.) St. Mary's prep standout led the Big Ten with Penn State season records in receptions (97) and receiving yardage (1,432) for the second consecutive year. Robinson ranked No. 3 nationally in receiving yardage (119.3 ypg) and No. 9 in receptions (8.1 average). He had six touchdown catches in 2013 (17 career) and a long catch of 65 yards, which resulted in a touchdown at Ohio State.
Robinson ranks second in school career receptions (177) and third in Penn State career receiving yardage (2,474 yds), with numbers earned almost entirely the past two seasons (3 catches for 29 yards in 2011). His eight 100-yard receiving games last season were a Penn State season record and he made 13 catches of 35 or more yards in 2013, including four touchdowns of 45 yards or longer.
A 2013 Associated Press third-team All-American, Urschel started all 24 games the past two seasons and was selected first-team All-Big Ten by the coaches for the second consecutive season. Urschel joined Jeff Hartings (1993-95) and Stefen Wisniewski (2009-10) as the only Nittany Lion offensive linemen to earn multiple first-team All-Big Ten accolades. He was instrumental in helping true freshman quarterback Christian Hackenberg break 11 school freshman passing and total offense records, and Zach Zwinak and Bill Belton combine to rush for 1,792 yards last season. The former Canisius High School product was the recipient or co-recipient of the offensive line's player of the game honor in 10 of 12 games this season.
Urschel graduated with undergraduate and master's degrees in math with a 4.0 grade-point average. A two-time Capital One/CoSIDA first-team Academic All-American, Urschel became the first Penn State player to earn the National Football Foundation's prestigious William V. Campbell Trophy, regarded as college football's academic Heisman Trophy and claimed the Senior CLASS Award for college football.
The NFL Network and NFL.com will have coverage of the Scouting Combine daily from Feb. 22-25. The NFL Draft is May 8-10, with the first round taking place on Thursday night.
There were 26 former Nittany Lions with NFL teams at the end of the regular season, placing Penn State in the top 15 nationally among schools in producing current NFL players. A total of 332 Nittany Lions have been selected all-time in the NFL Draft, including 36 in the first round. In 2013, Penn State had at least three NFL Draft picks for the 15th time in its 20 seasons of Big Ten Conference competition.
Super Bowl XLVIII marked the 43rd time in the NFL Championship contest’s 48-game history that at least one Penn State alumnus was a member of one of the participating teams. Former Penn State standouts Jordan Hill and Michael Robinson helped cap a dominant playoff run for Seattle with a victory in Super Bowl XLVIII when the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos. Thirty-seven former Nittany Lions have earned a total of 54 Super Bowl rings.
James Franklin was named the Nittany Lions' 16th head football coach on Jan. 11. A product of Langhorne, Pa., Franklin led Vanderbilt University to unprecedented success the past three years as head coach, including consecutive nine-win seasons and bowl victories the past two years, as well as back-to-back Top 25 finishes, all for the first time in VU history. In his 20th year of coaching, Franklin was a two-time All-PSAC quarterback at East Stroudsburg University.
Penn State returns 15 starters (seven offense, seven defense, one specialist) and will host Rose Bowl Champion Michigan State (Nov. 29), Ohio State (Oct. 25), Northwestern (Sept. 27-Homecoming) and Maryland (Nov. 1) during its 2014 Big Ten home schedule. The Nittany Lions will play a trio of 2013 Top 10 teams this year and open the season Aug. 30 vs. UCF in Dublin, Ireland, at the Croke Park Classic.
For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and purchasing 2014 season tickets, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.GoPSUsports.com/tickets or call 800-NITTANY from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.
Penn State Football is on Twitter (@PennStateFball) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/PSUFball).