Brown, Samuel ready to put questions to rest
INDIANAPOLIS — Of the eight Ohio State Buckeyes at the NFL combine, Curtis Samuel and Noah Brown are the only ones whose decisions to turn pro were not wholly expected.
Samuel was considered a toss-up. Brown was a surprise.
Both receivers arrived here intent on putting to rest many of the questions that NFL teams have about them. In Samuel’s case, it’s about whether he really is a receiver.
He was a hybrid back at Ohio State, and he dazzled as both a receiver and runner last year. Samuel scored 15 touchdowns while running for 771 yards on 97 carries and catching 74 passes for 865 yards.
Even now, he doesn’t really want to choose between the positions. It wasn’t his decision to be listed as a receiver at the combine. against Oklahoma. The rest of the season, he was mostly an afterthought in the Buckeyes’ sputtering passing game.
“I focus on controlling what I can control,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, I’m not a play-caller. I can only execute the play to the best of my ability. I tried to do that. I took a lot of pride in doing what I did — blocking or whatever it was — to the best of my ability. Putting that on film can go a long way.”
Brown missed the 2015 season with a compound leg fracture suffered late in fall camp. He said that knowing how fragile a football career can be influenced his decision to pursue the NFL now.
“This is the dream of my childhood,” he said. “So I decided that with everything I did last year and being injured the year before that, this was the best opportunity.”
Brown is considered at best a mid-round pick. But he believes that both he and Samuel will make it in the NFL.
“We both know what we’re able to do,” Brown said. “We’re both very confident in our ability.”
“The NFL chose what position they wanted me to play,” Samuel said Friday. “It didn’t really matter to me whether it was running back or receiver.”
But he trained in