INDIANAPOLIS -- Florida State, Alabama and Louisville had more participants in last year's NFL Scouting Combine than any other school, but being there and excelling in the combine's various events are two different things.
Instead, it was the draft prospects from Clemson and Oregon that actually performed best among all schools represented.
NFL.com will publish a daily medal count throughout this year's combine, awarding schools with gold, silver and bronze credit for first-, second- and third-place finishes in each combine event and for each position group. By the end of the combine on Feb. 29, the results will provide a clear picture of which school's athletes performed best in Indianapolis.
Clemson and Oregon would have won a medals count last year with nine each (Clemson three gold, six silver; Oregon four gold, five bronze). That belies any notion the schools with the most players competing at the combine are certain to gather the most top-three finishes. FSU had 12 players at last year's combine, more than any other school, while Alabama and Louisville were next with 11 each. Clemson and Oregon sent just seven players each to Indianapolis in 2015.
In fact, UConn, with just two players at last year's event, amassed six top-three finishes for what would have been the sixth-highest medal count of all schools. Defensive back Byron Jones, the eventual first-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys, collected four of those, including first-place finishes among defensive backs in the broad jump, vertical jump and 60-yard shuttle.
This year's combine contingent from Ohio State includes 14 players, the most of any school. And while that will give the Buckeyes the most opportunities to win medals, only a top-three finish will earn one.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
