Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas

Fifteen Texas Bowl alumni participated in last weekend’s NFL combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, including 2010 Texas Bowl MVP Mikel Leshoure and the potential overall number 1 draft pick in the 2011 NFL draft, Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert. Highlights include:

Mikel Leshoure, RB, Illinois: Leshoure, who rushed 29 times for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 2010 Texas Bowl, put on an impressive performance in the combine. Leshoure finished 4th in the broad jump with a distance of 10 feet 2 inches and jumped 38 inches in the vertical jump, putting him 3rd at his position. Ranked as the number 2 runningback by scout.com and projected to go in the late 1st or early 2nd round of April’s NFL Draft, Leshoure remains confident that he will be the first runningback selected.

“I definitely think I can be the number 1 back taken,” Leshoure said in an interview with ESPN.com. He continued; “With my versatility and the things I can bring to the table, I will show a lot of scouts and GM’s that I can be their guy.”

Martez Wilson, ILB, Illinois: Wilson’s combine performance confirmed many scouts’ opinions that he will be one of the first inside linebackers taken in the draft. He finished 1st among inside linebackers in the 40 yard dash (4.49 seconds), 3rd in the broad jump (10 feet 4 inches), and 6th in the vertical jump (36 inches). Illinois’ leading tackler in 2010, Wilson added 7 more tackles in the Illini’s 38-14 victory over Baylor.

Blaine Gabbert, QB, Missouri: Gabbert, who lead the Tigers to the 2009 Texas Bowl, has been rumored to be selected as high as number 1 overall and will more than likely be the first quarterback drafted. In the combine on Sunday, Gabbert excelled in the quarterback drills, while also posting exceptional numbers in the workouts. He finished 5th in the 40 yard dash with a 4.62 and broad jumped 10 feet, which was the 4th longest distance jumped by a quarterback over the weekend and 8 inches short of the combine quarterback record established by fellow Missouri Tiger alum Brad Smith in 2008. 

Aldon Smith, DE/LB Missouri: Smith is another Missouri Tiger predicated to go extremely high in April’s draft. After setting the Missouri single season sack record at 11.5 during the 2009 Texas Bowl, Smith fought through injuries during the 2010 season but still impressed scouts and GM’s in attendance at the combine last weekend. Turning in a 40 time of 4.78, a broad jump of 9 feet 10 inches, and a vertical jump of 33.5 inches, Smith cemented his status as a first round pick for a team looking for a disruptive edge rusher that can get to the quarterback.

Other Texas Bowl Alumni at the combine (projected draft round in parenthesis):

• Corey Luiget DL, Illinois (1-2)
• Phil Taylor DL, Baylor (1-2)
• Danny Watkins OL, Baylor (2)
• Kevin Rutland DB, Missouri
• Cheta Ozougwu DL, Rice
• Marcus Cannon OL, TCU (2)
• Andy Dalton QB, TCU (3)
• Wayne Daniels DE, TCU
• Jeremy Kerley WR, TCU (4-5)
• Jimmy Young WR, TCU
• Joe Lefeged SS, Rutgers (4)

Projections provided by CBSSportsLine.com