INDIANAPOLIS -- The NFL Scouting Combine medal count following Saturday's workouts (gold for first-place finish, silver for second, and bronze for third):
Not surprisingly, the school that sent the most players to the combine (14) made a big move in the medals count Saturday: Ohio State. The Buckeyes piled up six medals to give them seven for the combine thus far, tying them with Cal and TCU for the most after two days. Braxton Miller picked up three of the Buckeyes' six medals for the day with first-place finishes in the 20- and 60-yard shuttle runs among receivers, and a third-place finish in the three-cone drill. Tight end Nick Vannett had two top-three finishes for medals at his position, while Cardale Jones picked up a gold medal in the vertical jump before a hamstring injury suffered during a 40-yard dash ended his day early. OSU WR Michael Thomas picked up a bronze medal in the bench press event, as well.
Also of note: Harvard.
Don't ask us how an Ivy League school that doesn't even offer athletic scholarships is sitting right behind the Buckeyes with six medals halfway through combine workouts, but there it is: a gold, four silvers and a bronze, thanks largely to tight end Ben Braunecker. One of only two representatives of the Crimson at the combine, Braunecker made quite a splash Saturday with top-three finishes among tight ends in the vertical jump, broad jump, three-cone drill, 20-yard shuttle and bench press.
The lesson to be learned from Ohio State and Harvard being within one medal of each another with two days of workouts remaining?
Anything can happen.
Here is a look at the rest of the field to win medals thus far:
8t. Oklahoma -- GOLD: 2, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 3
8t. UCLA -- GOLD: 2, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 3
8t. UTSA -- GOLD: 2, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 3
8t. South Carolina St. -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 2, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 3
8t. Montana St. -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 3
8t. Oregon -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 3
8t. Auburn -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 2, TOTAL: 3
8t. San Jose St. -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 3, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 3
8t. North Carolina St. -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 2, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 3
8t. Alabama -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 2, TOTAL: 3
19t. Arizona State -- GOLD: 2, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 2
19t. Georgia -- GOLD: 2, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 2
19t. West Virginia -- GOLD: 2, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 2
19t. Memphis -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 2
19t. Missouri -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 2
19t. South Carolina -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 2
19t. USC -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 2
19t. Stanford -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 2
27t. Clemson -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Liberty -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Michigan State -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Nebraska -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Notre Dame -- GOLD: 1, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Appalachian State -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Miami -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Temple -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Texas A&M -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Texas Tech -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Virginia Tech -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 1, BRONZE: 0, TOTAL: 1
27t. Baylor -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 1
27t. Cincinnati -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 1
27t. Colorado -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 1
27t. Kansas State -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 1
27t. Vanderbilt -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 1
27t. Wisconsin -- GOLD: 0, SILVER: 0, BRONZE: 1, TOTAL: 1
Six things to watch for on Sunday:
- Who emerges as the most athletic of a large pack of defensive tackles for whom a case could be made? For Ole Miss' Robert Nkemdiche, after Friday's flop of a news conference, it's a must to finish high. And he could finish on top.
- Shawn Oakman has heard the knocks on his game, from overly-raw technique to questions about his down-to-down effort. The Baylor defensive end can't answer those questions in Indianapolis, but with freakish athletic ability for his size, he's capable of making scouts overlook the negatives. He'll run a fast 40 time, to be sure, but look for big numbers from Oakman in the explosiveness drills (vertical jump, broad jump) as well.
- Here's a combine sleeper that could make money Sunday: BYU DE Bronson Kaufusi. He played a season of basketball early in his Cougars career, and blocked four kicks as a senior. Yeah, he's 6-8, but even at that height it takes some real athleticism to block that many kicks - especially when you weigh 280.
- Michigan State DE Shilique Calhoun is one of the draft's most accomplished pass rushers, but an NFC scout told College Football 24/7 that Calhoun shows some stiffness on film and lacks the ability to "bend and flatten" his route to the quarterback. That suggests the agility drills -- the 3-cone drill and shuttle runs -- could be an issue for the former All-Big Ten star. The same scout suggested the same concern about Virginia Tech pass rusher Dadi Nicolas.
- Keep an eye on Javon Hargrave. The South Carolina State defensive lineman was the talk of the East-West Shrine Game and, based on that, became a mid-week substitute addition to the Senior Bowl roster. And with only a brief opportunity, he turned heads again in Mobile. Guys like him are why defensive tackle depth in the 2016 draft is considered off-the-charts impressive.
- The draft's top two linebackers, UCLA's Myles Jack and Notre Dame's Jaylon Smith, will sit out drills. That opens a wide door for a number of other linebackers to make a name for themselves. Two we expect to make themselves some money Sunday: LSU's Deion Jones and Arizona's Scooby Wright.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
