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The Combine Report: 71 NFL Regional Combine Pioneers Enters Week One, Most Ever

Barry BarnesSeptember 11, 2017100

By: Barry Barnes, Founder

In 2014, fifteen NFL Regional Combine players started the season, followed by a whopping fifty-nine in 2015 and sixty-two last season.

The NFL Regional Combine continues to bear fruit. The 2017 NFL season is a testimony to its importance or countless talented players might have been overlooked.

Seven hundred and eighty NFL hopefuls graced several NFL facilities during the annual discovery platform of the RC last winter and fifteen standouts from that grouping are no longer dreaming.

Seventy-one players from the platform made it onto team rosters, the most ever to begin a campaign. And now, they are ready to make their mark.

Feb. 11, 2017 -Seattle, WASH. – NFL hopeful participating in the Seattle-held 2017 NFL Regional Combine. (Photo by: Locker-Report.com)

Among the seventy-one players, forty-one were active for Week One, including four rookies in Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Nigel Harris, Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Keelan Cole, Cleveland Browns wide receiver Reggie Davis and Indianapolis Colts safety Kenny Moore.

Despite being released, both Davis and Moore excelled in different camps during the preseason. Davis was with the Atlanta Falcons, while Moore was in New England as a Patriot. Davis and Moore were impressive enough to garner attention to play on Sunday afternoons this season for their current squads.

There are twenty RC talents on the practice squad, with ten on injury reserve. Two out of the twenty practice squad players are from the UK, defensive ends Efe Obada and rookie Alex Jenkins.

Midway through the 2016 season, seventy-one players were in clubs.

While the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Seattle Seahawks do not have a representative from the NFL Regional Combine, twenty-one NFL teams have at least one player from the RC on their active roster.

As the 2017 campaign progresses, more players will eventually sign with clubs, and several will be promoted to the active roster.

This season will be no different as some will immediately make their presence known – displaying what the league would have missed out on if it were not for the NFL Regional Combine.

THE 2017 NFL REGIONAL COMBINE PIONEERS

ARIZONA CARDINALS

Elijhaa Penny/Google Images

OT Ulrick John (Active)

TE Ifeanyi Momah (Active)

RB Penny Elijhaa (Active)

ATLANTA FALCONS

CB C.J. Goodwin (Active)

S Kemal Ishmael (Active)

WR Marvin Hall (PS)

BUFFALO BILLS

S Brenaska Sanders (PS)

CB Marcus Sayles (PS)

CAROLINA PANTHERS

OT Greg Van Roten (Active)

DE Efe Obada (PS, International)

TE Scott Simonson (IR)

CHICAGO BEARS

DE Roy Robertson (Active)

CLEVELAND BROWNS

MIAMI GARDENS, FL – AUGUST 10: Reggie Davis #1 of the Atlanta Falcons goes the turf after being hit by Xavien Howard #25 of the Miami Dolphins during their preseason game at Hard Rock Stadium on August 10, 2017 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
(Photo by Joe Skipper/Getty Images)

WR Reggie Davis (Active)

C Austin Reiter (Active)

B.J. Bello (PS)

DETROIT LIONS

P Kasey Redfern (Active)

LB Brandon Copeland (IR)

DENVER BRONCOS

K Brandon McManus (Active)

OT Elijah Wilkenson (PS)

DALLAS COWBOYS

DE Benson Mayowa (Active)

GREEN BAY PACKERS

Trevor Davis/Packers.com

P Jacob Schum (Active)

WR Trevor Davis (Active)

DB Donatello Brown (PS)

QB Joe Callahan (PS)

HOUSTON TEXANS

DB Denzel Rice (IR)

WR Wendall Williams (IR)

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

OG Denzelle Good (Active)

CB Chris Milton (Active)

S Kenny Moore (Active)

TE Brandon Williams (Active)

LB Darnell Sankey (PS)

CB Darryl Morris Jr. (IR)

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Jacksonville Jaguars’ Keelan Cole (84) gets past Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Alan Cross (45) and Justin Evans (21) during the first half of an NFL preseason football game, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

FB Tommy Bohanon (Active)

WR Keelan Cole (Active)

OG William Poehls (Active)

RB/CB Raysean Pringle (PS)