By Tom James
INDIANAPOLIS — Three former Missouri Valley Football Conference players are working out for National Football League scouts, coaches and player personnel directors at the NFL Combine.
Missouri State tight end Clayton Harbor, Youngstown State wide receiver Donald Jones and Southern Illinois punter/placekicker Scott Ravanesi will be representing the conference at the week-long combine, which began Thursday in Lucas Oil Stadium.
Ravensi’s story is an interesting one. A former baseball and soccer player while growing up in the Chicago area, he was initially planning on attending SIU on a baseball scholarship.
Going to the school was never a real issue, although he had been recruited by most of the Division I baseball programs in the state. Both of his parents were Southern Illinois graduates and he liked the school.
When Ravensi made his official baseball recruiting visit to Carbondale, the Salukis’ head football coach at the time — Jerry Kill — made sure than an assistant was also waiting to talk to him. He was offered a football scholarship during the visit. It was quickly accepted.
“Since football was my first true love, and the sport that I enjoyed playing the most, the decision was pretty easy for me,” Ravenesi said Thursday. “I was a shortstop in baseball, but I really loved playing football.
“I did a little bit of everything in high school. I was a quarterback as a freshman and sophomore, played wide receiver some later on. I had something like 40 catches and five touchdowns my senior year.”
Being one of three MVC players at the combine means a lot to the former Saluki.
“Coming from a smaller school, being here with players from some of the biggest [college] programs in the country, it’s kind of hard to believe,” Ravenesi said. “I’m probably one of the smaller punters here and I didn’t think that I was that small.
“But after seeing some of the other punters and kickers here, I’ll be working on the weights more before the draft and try to get a little bigger. I’ve already gained some weight since the end of the [football] season.”
He is primarily being viewed as a punter, but has experience as a placekicker as well. He can also kick off and hold, two things that could help his draft status. His ability to handle the lost art of situational and directional punting can’t hurt his chances either.
“I’ve noticed that’s what a lot of the teams in the NFL are looking for now — punters who can do a little bit of everything, like kick off,” Ravenesi said.
“Coach Kill really worked with us on [situational and directional] punting when he was [at SIU]. We didn’t do quite as much of it when Dale Lennon took over [as the Salukis’ head coach], but we did do it on occasion.”
• Tough Harbor — The Southern Illinois kicker was quick to praise Missouri State’s Harbor.
“That guy just killed us the last several years. He always caught a lot of passes and scored against us. I know that he had a couple touchdowns when we played them this year,” Ravensi said.
The Dwight, Ill., native is being touted as a Dallas Clark clone, a tight end who can also cause matchup problems for defenses when he lines up as a wide receiver. He was also a basketball and track prospect in high school.
“I hurt my knee my senior year of [high school] football and Missouri State was the only school to offer me a scholarship,” Harbor said Thursday. It also helped that his older brother, Cory, was also a defensive end/linebacker for the Bears who finished his collegiate career in 2008.
“I depend on my brother a lot. He kept telling the coaches [at Missouri State] about me, trying to get them to take a look at me. He was telling them what I could do,” he said. “I came from a small town and a small high school. [Missouri State] did [take a look] and coach [Terry] Allen offered me a scholarship. I’m glad that they took a chance on me.”
Harbor understands that he, along with Ravenesi and Jones, is carrying the banner for the MVC at the combine. He played in a couple of postseason all-star games, impressing NFL scouts with his size and his speed (he has reportedly turned in 40 times around 4.5 heading into this week’s workouts).
“A friend of mine, [former North Dakota State running back] Pat Paschall, we talked about that before I came here,” the 6-foot-5, 252-pounder said. “There’s a lot of good football that’s played in the Missouri Valley Conference. A lot of good players have come through the league over the years.
“We just want to show people that while we may be a [Football Championship Series] conference, we can play with the people from the bigger schools and leagues.”
• Three Illini working out — Three University of Illinois players — wide receiver Arrelious Benn, tight end Michael Hoomanawanoi and offensive guard Jonathan Asamoah — are working out at the combine.
Benn is considered to be one of the top five receivers available in this year’s draft class.
• Change in draft schedule — The NFL draft is coming to prime time in April.
Instead of a two-day Saturday-Sunday draft schedule, as been the case in recent years, the first round will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 22.
The second and third rounds are set for 6 p.m. Friday, April 23. Rounds four through seven are 10 a.m. Saturday, April 24.
