Five Cavaliers Invited to NFL Combine
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CHARLOTTESVILLE Former Virginia football players Eugene Monroe, Kevin Ogletree, Cedric Peerman, John Phillips and Clint Sintim have been invited to attend the NFL Scouting Combine next week in Indianapolis.
The Combine will be held Feb. 18-24 at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts. Players are put through a series of drills, tests, physical evaluations and interviews with NFL coaches, general managers and scouts who evaluate the players for the NFL draft. Players must be invited by the NFL to attend.
One of the nation’s top offensive linemen, Monroe received the Jacobs Blocking Trophy this past season as the best blocker in the Atlantic Coast Conference in a vote of the league’s head coaches. He was named second-team All-American and had the team’s highest grade among offensive linemen in seven of 12 games.
Ogletree led the team in receiving this past season with 58 catches for 723 yards and five touchdowns, the second 50-catch season of his career. He finished fifth in the ACC in receptions (4.8/g), and third in receiving yards (60.2/g) and touchdowns (five) and was an honorable mention All-ACC selection. He is an early entrant in April’s NFL draft.
Peerman led Virginia in rushing with a career-high 774 yards and ranked fourth in the ACC. He also led the team in all-purpose yards (1075) and was third with 44 receptions. He had three 100-yard rushing games, including a season-best 173 yards against East Carolina.
Phillips continued UVa’s tradition of excellent tight ends, earning first-team All-ACC honors for the first time in his career. He was the team’s second-leading receiver with 48 receptions for 385 yards, figures that were the most by a tight end in the ACC.
Sintim was a second-team All-ACC choice in 2008. He was the most dominating rush linebacker in the country, leading the nation in sacks by a linebacker for the second year in a row. He was the team’s third-leading tackler with 70 stops and led the team with 24 quarterback pressures.
All five players have received their undergraduate degrees from Virginia.