NFL Rescinds Jaylon Ferguson’s Combine Invite

Louisiana Tech edge rusher Jaylon Ferguson broke the NCAA’s all-time sack record last December and is draft-eligible, but he won’t be attending the NFL’s scouting combine later this month. The league rescinded Ferguson’s combine invitation after a background check revealed he was convicted of simple battery during his freshman year, according to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com.

Ferguson becomes the third 2019 prospect to be barred from the combine, joining Mississippi State defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons and Colorado State wide receiver Preston Williams. The NFL previously announced that any player found to have been convicted of a felony, or of a misdemeanor that involved violence, wouldn’t be admitted to the combine. Unlike Simmons and Williams, Ferguson’s case had not been made public.

While NFL teams won’t be able to observe Ferguson at the combine, they’ll still line up pre-draft visits with the pass rusher. In fact, Rapoport and Pelissero report Ferguson will likely take more club meetings now that he’s been banned from the combine, as teams surely want to have a face-to-face sit-down with Ferguson prior to the draft. Teams had been aware of the incident involving Ferguson and don’t seem to view it as “disqualifying,” tweets Rapoport.

Ferguson, a potential first-round pick, put up 45 sacks and 67.5 tackles for loss during his four-year run with Louisiana Tech. 17.5 of those sacks came in 2018, when Ferguson was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year.

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