LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The football season never stops. It barely pauses.

Everybody who is anybody, or who wants to be somebody, will gather in Indianapolis starting Thursday for the four-day NFL Scouting Combine.

At last count, 329 players were invited to be measured, timed, poked, tested, questioned and monetized with live television coverage. Of those 329 prospects, 11 players with connections to the Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana or Western Kentucky programs will have the pleasure of discovering what is required to play football at the game's highest level.

The breakdown is four Cardinals, four Wildcats, two Hoosiers and one Hilltopper.

The Bengals, Steelers and Packers are not the only ones who have questions about the local attendees.

I'm certain you have your list just as I have mine.

To begin, is there anybody who benefited from investing one season in Jeff Brohm's U of L offense more than Cards' quarterback Tyler Shough?

I'll answer that: Yes, receiver Ja'Corey Brooks.

Prior to the season, football guru Phil Steele didn't rank Brooks among the top-65 receiving prospects for the 2025 draft off his work at Alabama. Today, you can find Brooks ranked as high as the eighth-best receiver by one scouting service.

But not everybody sits in a better position than they sat in August. I took another look at the college football preseason magazines. A glowing list of superlatives were written about Louisville defensive end Ashton Gillotte and Kentucky defensive tackle Deone Walker.

Both were named second-team preseason all-Americans in the Athlon Sports college football yearbook. Steele bumped Gillotte to a first-team all-American with Walker on his second team.

Don't look for either guy to be selected on the first day of the draft in April. One group of rankings has knocked Gillotte all the way down to the seventh round.

Confronted by more double teams, Gillotte saw his sack total slide from 11 in 2023 to 4.5 last fall. He has work to do in Indianapolis to force his way into a stronger draft position.

Ditto for Walker, who seemed to disappear in too many Kentucky games. His total tackles dropped from 55 to 37, his sacks from 7.5 to 1.5. Walker was credited with one assisted tackle against Louisville. This weekend, NFL general managers might ask him what happened.

The forecast suggests that Brohm has another quarterback to add to his development tree. Not only did the Cards' coach keep Shough healthy for an entire season, Shough appears to have played his way into being drafted as high as the fourth round.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti also has video results to show recruits. Quarterback Curtis Rourke was a longshot NFL candidate before the season. Today, he projects as a sixth-rounder, with Pro Football Focus writing that Rourke is the Sleeper to Watch at quarterback.

"He avoided negative plays at a better rate than (Miami's) Cam Ward, PFF's No. 1 quarterback prospect," PFF said.

Rourke will be asked to share his development story in Indianapolis, another key milestone of the path to April 24 and the start of the NFL Draft in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Here is a look at the 11 local players who earned Combine invitations.

Louisville

Ja'Corey Brooks, receiver

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: No. 66 receiver
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 37 receiver, No. 295 overall, free agent
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 8 receiver, second round

Tyler Shough, quarterback

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: No. 56 QB
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 12 QB, No. 207 overall, seventh round
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 9 QB, fourth round

Ashton Gillotte, edge rusher

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: No. 10 defensive end
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 19 edge rusher, No. 105 overall, fourth round
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 29 edge rusher, seventh round

Quincy Riley, cornerback

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: No. 21 cornerback
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 16 cornerback, No. 152 overall, fifth round
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 24 cornerback, fifth round

Kentucky

Eli Cox, center

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: No. 5 center
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 6 center, unranked overall, free agent
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 10 center, free agent

Deone Walker, defensive tackle

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: No. 5 defensive tackle
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 13 defensive tackle, No. 96 overall, third round
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 12 defensive tackle, third round

Jamon Dumas-Johnson, linebacker

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: No. 5 inside linebacker
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 14 inside linebacker, No. 209 overall, seventh round
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 17 linebacker, fifth round

Maxwell Hairston, cornerback

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: No. 4 cornerback
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 8 cornerback, No. 81 overall, third round
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 7 cornerback, second round

Indiana

Kurtis Rourke, quarterback

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: No. 36 QB
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 10 QB, No. 175 overall, sixth round
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 12 QB, sixth round

C.J. West, defensive tackle

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: Unranked
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 18 defensive tackle, No. 158 overall, fifth round
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 30 defensive tackle, seventh round

Western Kentucky

Upton Stout, defensive back

  • Preseason Phil Steele Position Ranking: Unranked
  • Pro Football Focus 2025 Draft Ranking: No. 10 safety, No. 159 overall, fifth round
  • All Access Football Draft Prediction: No. 29 cornerback, sixth round

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