There’s never a quiet period in the National Football League, and the month of February is not exempt from its influence.
The NFL announced early Tuesday morning the list of 319 invitees to their upcoming Amateur Scouting Combine, set to take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana at the end of the month.
Amongst the number are four former MAC stars who impressed on the Collegiate All-Star circuit, including MAC Western Michigan EDGE rusher Nadame Tucker, and a trio of Toledo defensive
backs in Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Avery Smith and Andre Fuller.
(The full list of invitees can be seen here.)
Western Michigan’s Nadame Tucker, the league’s first defensive Player of the Year since 2018, finished the 2025 season with 55 tackles, 21 tackles-for-loss, 14.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and a pass break-up in his lone campaign as a starter. Tucker, a former transfer from Houston, was a breakout candidate with the Broncos after spending three seasons as a reserve for the Cougars.
Tucker’s lack of experience will have NFL scouts a bit reserved in terms of projecting him at the professional level, but his Senior Bowl tape and performance at practices showed he is athletic enough and fully capable of standing up to higher-profile players. Tucker projects currently as a mid-to-late Day 2 prospect; a good Combine could help boost his resume in a weak EDGE class. (For the record, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. projects Tucker as an outside linebacker, though most other prognosticators see Tucker as a defensive end.)
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren was the clear-cut professional prospect heading into the 2025 MAC football campaign, the inheritor to the legacy of former Rocket defensive backs who have gone on to have successful NFL careers. A hybrid safety, McNeil-Warren finished his senior season with career-highs in solo tackles (36), assisted tackles (41) and total tackles (77), while also picking up 5.5 tackles-for-loss, two interceptions (including a pick-six), three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries en route to being named a first-team all-MAC defensive back and an Associated Press All-American.
McNeil-Warren finishes his tenure at Toledo with 214 total tackles, 11.0 tackles-for-loss, a sack, five interceptions, 13 passes defensed and nine forced fumbles. The six-foot-two, 202 lb. prospect projects to be a Day 2 pick, with some mock drafts even projecting McNeil-Warren as a first-rounder.
Avery Smith has emerged as a name to watch during the all-star circuit, standing out at the American Bowl before receiving an invitation to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl.
Smith finished the 2025 season with 42 tackles, including five tackles-for-loss, with 11 pass break-ups, an interception and a forced fumble, cementing his status as one of the MAC’s better cover corners. Over his career, Smith brought in 127 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, three interceptions, 26 pass break-ups and a forced fumble.
Though he is slightly undersized at five-foot-10, 185 lbs., Smith’s experience on special teams (where he has multiple blocked kicks), blazing-fast GPS speed (20.47 MPH) at the Shrine Bowl and upside in coverage makes Smith an intriguing late-round prospect.
Andre Fuller will join his fellow Toledo DBs in Indianapolis after pulling together a first-team all-MAC campaign in his lone season as a starting corner. It took four years to see Fuller at full bloom, but once he slotted in, he was a shutdown corner, finishing with 49 tackles, 10 passes defensed and an interception on the season. Fuller’s season performance is all the more impressive due to the fact he was coming off an injury which kept him out all of 2024 and fought to earn a spot in a loaded backfield.
Fuller participated in the East-West Shrine game, and like Smith, also registered over 20 MPH via GPS, hitting 20.52 MPH. He has excellent frame for a corner, standing at six-foot-one, 201 lbs.
The NFL Amateur Scouting Combine is set to take place from February 23rd to March 2nd, 2026, with all television coverage (starting on Feb. 26th) provided by the NFL Network.
