Michigan football projected to have four 1st-rounders among nine invitees to NFL combine

Posted by author February 13, 2025 Football

Spread the love

It won’t be a record like a season ago, but the maize and blue will still be well represented in Indianapolis.

The NFL released Thursday its list of 329 invitees to its annual scouting combine at Lucas Oil Field from Feb. 24-March 3 and nine former Michigan football players were among those invited to participate.

The Michigan invitees are Mason Graham, Kenneth Grant, Will Johnson, Colston Loveland, Josaiah Stewart, Donovan Edwards, Kalel Mullings, Myles Hinton and William Wagner.

Last year, shortly after the Wolverines won the 2024 national championship game, U-M set an event record with 18 former players earning invitations to the event. Though the Wolverines were deep, only one player was taken in the first round and two were selected in the top 50, something that is expected to change this year.

Four former U-M football players are widely perceived as first-round selections while a few others are seen as near certainties to go by the end of day two. Graham, a unanimous All-American, has widely been mocked as a top-five potential selection and Thursday, NFL.com’s mock draft 1.0 had him going at No. 5 to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Former All-American cornerback WIll Johnson, who’s also been mocked in the top 10 at times, is also seen as a first round lock however has slipped a bit in recent months. It could be in part because Johnson played in just six games his junior season, missing the final two months with turf toe, but him sliding outside of the teens feels like almost an impossibility.

CBS Sports has him going No. 7 to the New York Jets (playing for former Lions defensive coordinator and now Jets coach Aaron Glenn) while NFL.com sees him going No. 14 to the Indianapolis Colts and the field where he won the 2022 and 2023 Big Ten titles.

As for tight end Colston Loveland, one would be hard pressed to find a mock draft where he’s not ending up with his former head coach Jim Harbaugh in Los Angeles. While CBS is one of the few who could see him go elsewhere — though there’s still a U-M tie in their projection at No. 18 to Seattle Seahawks and former U-M defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald — NFL.com sees the Chargers trading up to No. 16 with the Cardinals to secure Loveland.

Also expected to go the first night is defensive tackle Kenneth Grant. NFL.com has him at No. 22 to the Cardinals while CBS has him going No. 25 to the Texans, but don’t be surprised if he is one of the biggest risers because of some expected eye-popping numbers he could put up at the combine.

Stewart is widely seen as a day two selection, while there’s an outside chance Kalel Mullings could also go that day as the first U-M running back off the board. Even with NCAA cover man Donovan Edwards also earning a combine invite, he projects as either a day three pick or a very highly coveted un-drafted free agent.

Hinton, the offensive tackle, and Wagner, a long snapper, both are expected to sign as UDFA’s.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.