One Nebraska football player gets "specialist" invite to NFL combine
While no Nebraska football players got an official invite to the NFL combine this year, long snapper Marco Ortiz is headed to the Specialist Showcase
If you needed one more reminder about the state of the Nebraska football program that Matt Rhule inherited from Scott Frost, there isn’t a single Husker currently taking part in the NFL Combine. At least not officially.
However, Amie Just of the Lincoln Journal Star reported earlier this week that one Cornhusker is getting to take place in a special showcase which also happens to be a specialist showcase. If you don’t recall hearing long snapper Marco Ortiz’s name called that much this season, it’s because he did his job well.
He did his job well enough, in fact, that he’s caught the attention of the NFL as they roll out a new branch of the NFL combine that will allow punters, kickers, and long snappers to show off what they can do to more professional scouts.
As Just points out, that allows the Nebraska football team to put a little asterisk next to the zero in the column showing how many team members are participating this week. It should be pointed out that Ortiz was brought to Lincoln by Rhule not long after he took over the head coaching job.
Perhaps an even better sign that Ortiz is considered among some of the best at his position, those invited to this Specialist Showcase is not a long list, according to NFL Draft Diamonds.
Nebraska football long snapper among those invited to special NFL Combine event
Punters
- Bramblett, Jay
- Constantinou, Nik
- Hayball, Matthew
- McNamara, Austin
- Rehkow, Ryan
- Sanborn, Ryan
- Taylor, Tory
- Wilson, Porter
Long Snappers
- Bowden, Peter
- Mote, William
- Ortiz, Marco
- Shimko, Joe
- Vinson, Michael
Kickers
- Browning, Jack
- Dalmas, Jonah
- Hale, Alex
- Karty, Joshua
- Little, Cam
- Mevis, Harrison
- Rauschenberg, Noah
- Reichard, Will
- Shrader, Spencer
It’s a safe bet, the Nebraska football long snapper isn’t expecting to get drafted, but this Specialist Showcase at the NFL Combine could make it easier for Marco Ortiz to hook on with an NFL team after the draft.