ALTOONA, Pa. -- Before we begin, can we all agree that the NFL is basically just doing a big guessing game when it comes to drafting quarterbacks?
How the heck else can you explain the pre-draft love affair right now with Will Levis? It's absurd.
Or, all the terrible draft picks over the years, including:
• JaMarcus Russell going No. 1 overall, and Tim Couch. Yikes!
• Mitchell Trubisky and Zach Wilson going No. 2.
• Ryan Leaf going No. 2 and even challenging Peyton Manning for the top spot on some teams' draft boards.
• Dan Marino being the sixth QB selected in the first round. SIXTH!
• Christian Hackenberg going in the second round and never playing a single snap in the NFL.
• Brock Purdy being Mr. Irrelevant and then pulling off a miracle this season with the 49ers.
• And, of course, the greatest of all time, Tom Brady, going in the sixth round.
I could go on and on with examples here, but you get the idea. Determining who will be a good NFL quarterback is preposterously difficult, and there have been many, many mistakes made in the draft over the years.
Wednesday, the list of players who have been invited to the NFL combine was released. These are the Penn State players who were invited:
• S Ji'Ayir Brown
• DL PJ Mustipher
• CB Joey Porter Jr.
• OL Juice Scruggs
• TE Brenton Strange
• WR Mitchell Tinsley
• WR Parker Washington
That list is pretty much spot on. All of those guys deserve a shot to showcase their skills at the combine.
But rather than the guys who were invited being the main story, instead it was the Penn State player who was not invited -- Sean Clifford.
We've gone round and round about what kind of college player Clifford was for the Nittany Lions. He was basically an average quarterback for most of his career, then he came on strong late and rewrote some of his legacy by going 11-2 and winning the Rose Bowl as a senior.
So, less than two months after thousands of Penn State fans booed their own quarterback before a game at Beaver Stadium against Minnesota, all of a sudden, Clifford was being heralded by some as being a better quarterback than he was being given credit for.
Which made it somewhat surprising, therefore, to some Penn State fans that Clifford did not get an invitation to the combine.
Did he deserve an invitation?
No.
Let's be clear about that. Because, even with the strong finish to his career, Clifford has never been considered much of an NFL prospect, despite playing in college for what seemed like a lifetime.
His chances of getting drafted are very slim. That's just the way it is after he put up these career numbers.
Now, to be fair, Clifford did improve in several areas in 2022, and his strong Rose Bowl performance improved his NCAA ranking in some categories.
But the fact of the matter is that Clifford is still ranked very low on draft boards for quarterbacks. For instance, at Walter Football, he's not listed in the top 17. at CBS Sports, he's not listed in the top 13. At NFL Draft Buzz, he's No. 19. At Sports Illustrated, he's No. 23.
None of those rankings suggest Clifford is going to be drafted. And if there's pretty much no chance he'll be drafted, then he shouldn't be at the combine. What he does at his Penn State pro day will have to suffice.
Clifford already has competed at the Hula Bowl and NFLPA Bowl. There were NFL scouts there. If he had done well enough in front of scouts at those places, you'd better believe that he would have received a combine invitation.
Lastly, Clifford will turn 25 in July. While he did improve his final year of college, it wasn't enough given his age to warrant more consideration from NFL scouts.
OK, OK, so it's very difficult to make a valid case that Clifford should be at the combine.
But what about as a peculiarity? As a look-see? As a flyer?
Penn State did finish No. 7 in the country and won the Rose Bowl. Clifford played well there and has played in a ton of big games. The fact that he has so much experience on the big stage might be intriguing to some NFL teams, and if they wanted to sit down with Clifford for interviews, he certainly would do well in that environment as an intelligent leader.
Sheerly on curiosity, it might seem like there would be some value in teams wanting to get to know him at the combine. Given his age, experience and leadership, it might make sense for an NFL team that has a young quarterback to take a flyer on Clifford -- as an undrafted free agent -- to come in as a practice squad player who can help the younger QB in film study or other mentoring areas. Really, what Clifford did this past season for Drew Allar.
As it stands, Clifford won't be heading to the combine, and he almost certainly will not be drafted. But if he has a big pro day and impresses teams with his knowledge of the game, he might be able to carve out a spot somewhere in the NFL as a practice squad guy.