Dykes won’t let snub change his NFL dreams

The Chaney High graduate thinks it was a mistake to not invite him to last month’s combine.

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

The NFL likes achievers such as defensive lineman Keilen Dykes. He was a four-year starter in high school, then a four-year starter at West Virginia.

The NFL likes productivity. Dykes was an all-state defensive end at Chaney as a senior in high school, then an All-Big East selection at defensive tackle in each of his final two seasons at West Virginia.

The NFL likes leaders. Dykes was the captain of a West Virginia team that won 11 games and finished with a No. 6 ranking in 2007.

The NFL likes work ethic. Dykes won West Virginia’s Iron Mountaineer Award as the top performer in the team’s off-season conditioning program in 2007.

The NFL likes intelligence. Dykes graduated in December with a degree in athletic coaching education.

The NFL likes everything about a player like Keilen Dykes except, apparently, Dykes himself.

The NFL invited the top 333 draft prospects to Indianapolis for its annual scouting combine last month, including former area standouts Mike McGlynn (Fitch, Pitt), John Greco (Boardman, Toledo) and Mario Manningham (Warren Harding, Michigan).

Dykes wasn’t one of them. Fifty-two defensive linemen were invited, but not Dykes.

“I was shocked,” Dykes said before the combine. “I believe they made a mistake. But I’m not going to let it get me down. I still have my pro day.”

So does Missouri running back Tony Temple. The last time we saw Temple, he was shredding the Arkansas defense for 281 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the Cotton Bowl.

Temple started in the Missouri backfield for two seasons and rushed for 1,000 yards both times. He played in two bowl games and was the MVP of both; he rushed for 194 yards and two touchdowns against Oregon State in the 2006 Sun Bowl.

There are nine running backs who are forgoing their senior seasons on campus to enter the 2008 NFL draft. Temple was the only one not invited to the combine.

The New York Giants reminded the NFL of the value of a pass rush, battering NFL MVP Tom Brady into submission in the Super Bowl.

Michigan State’s Jonal Saint-Dic was one of the NCAA’s premier pass rushers last season. His 10 sacks earned him a spot on the All-Big Ten team, and he set a conference record with eight forced fumbles. Yet Saint-Dic was not one of 33 defensive ends invited to the combine.

“This is hard,” said Saint-Dic by phone. “I don’t know what else I could have done. I sacked quarterbacks, broke records. I make plays. The stats don’t lie.”

Saint-Dic collected one of his sacks against Michigan, lining up against Jake Long, a two-time All-American regarded as the best offensive tackle in this draft. Long projects as a top-10 overall pick this April and is at the combine.

“This keeps me motivated,” Saint-Dic said. “Football is football. Give me an opportunity, and I know what I can do.”

The Mid-American Conference is not the Big Ten or Southeastern Conference.

But its best players have proved they can play at the next level with the elite: Ben Roethlisberger (Miami-Ohio), Randy Moss (Marshall), Jason Taylor (Akron), Asante Samuel (Central Florida), Greg Jennings (Western Michigan) and Michael Turner (Northern Illinois), to name a few.

Jabari Arthur was one of the MAC’s best players in 2007. He caught 86 passes for 1,171 yards and 10 touchdowns, leaving Akron as the school’s all-time leading receiver. Yet he was not one of the 51 wide receivers invited to the combine.

Fortunately for Dykes, the NFL scouting combine is just one step in the draft process. Players overlooked in February do not always get overlooked in April.

There are 250-plus selections in each NFL draft. Every year, about 110 players who get invited to the combine do not get drafted — and about 40 players who do not get invited to the combine do get drafted.

Just because a player isn’t one of the 333 players invited to Indianapolis in February doesn’t mean he can’t be one of the 255 players drafted in April.

“If you can play, they know it,” Dykes said. “They’ll find you. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”