NEW ORLEANS – Four of the Sun Belt’s best are headed to Indianapolis for the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine as it was announced that Appalachian State’s Jalin Moore, South Alabama’s Jamarius Way, Texas State’s Keenan Brown and Troy’s Blace Brown were invited to show off their skills in the event that begins later this month.
Labeled by many in the fall as the Sun Belt’s top NFL prospect, Moore increased his career totals to 3,570 rushing yards and 34 total touchdowns before he suffered a season-ending ankle fracture and dislocation Oct. 9. He finished as App State’s all-time leader at 6.13 yards per carry for his career and is No. 6 in career rushing yards.
The ankle injury occurred at the end of a 27-yard touchdown run in which Moore, whose ability to squat 650 pounds helped put him at No. 1 among running backs on NFL.com's list of the most "freakish athletes" in college football, pulled a defender on his back for the final 10 yards.
A two-time, All-Sun Belt Second Team selection, Way concluded his Jaguar career third in program history with 108 catches and 1,617 receiving yards as well as fourth with 11 touchdown receptions. His five games with 100 or more yards receiving are also one shy of the school's all-time mark.
In 2018, he was third in the league in both catches and receiving yards per game after pacing South with 61 receptions for 855 yards and eight touchdowns. Way was voted the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week after posting 11 catches for 173 yards and a score in a win over Texas State, and the following week added 10 receptions for 185 yards and a touchdown at Memphis. He also caught a school game-record three touchdown passes in a defeat of Coastal Carolina in the regular-season finale, finishing the day with 141 yards on six catches.
A graduate transfer from Oklahoma State, Texas State’s Brown was named All-Sun Belt First Team by a panel of Sun Belt coaches and media after leading the conference and ranking third nationally among tight ends during the regular season with 51 receptions for 577 yards and five touchdowns.
His 51 catches during the regular season ranked sixth among league reception leaders and his 577 receiving yards was ninth. His five touchdown receptions tied for sixth among Sun Belt pass catchers.
Troy’s Brown finished his career with 12 interceptions after the former walk-on converted from wide receiver prior to his sophomore season. His interception tally was the third most among active players nationally and he ranked second among active players with at least 10 career interceptions with 0.30 picks per game (he is first with 0.32 per game when not counting three games at receiver in 2014).
He earned All-Sun Belt Third Team honors this season after bouncing back from an ACL injury he suffered in Troy's Sun Belt title clinching victory at Arkansas State in the 2017 finale. Brown started the final seven games of his senior season and recorded 44 tackles with six pass break ups, an interception and blocked a field goal on the final play of his career.
Brown earned first team league honors as a junior after he ranked 11th nationally with five interceptions following a breakout sophomore campaign where he intercepted six passes to finish seventh in the country.
The NFL Scouting Combine will be held in Indianapolis from Feb. 26-March 4. Each member of the position group will arrive on site on Wednesday, Feb. 27 and conclude their participation on Saturday, March 2. During that time participants will undergo on-field and psychological testing, interview with NFL teams, take part in medical examinations, conduct media interview sessions and a attend a National Football League Players Association meeting.
Top executives, coaching staffs, player personnel departments and medical personnel from all 32 NFL teams will be on hand to evaluate the nation's top college football players eligible for the upcoming NFL Draft. Participants were determined by a selection committee that included the directors of both National and BLESTO scouting services, and members of various NFL player personnel departments.