Elflein puts in hard work while turning pro
INDIANAPOLIS — Phoenix might be the last place an Ohio State football player would want to linger after the Buckeyes’ shutout loss to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl.
But Pat Elflein didn’t leave that metropolis. He didn’t have time to decompress before embarking on the next phase of his career, preparing for the NFL combine.
“There is so little time to try to get yourself ready for the combine so you had to switch it right away,” Elflein said. “It wasn’t fun. But a whole new door just opened up. You have to switch it over and put your focus on that.”
Elflein is eager to show how he has transformed himself from the training he has done under former Ohio State star LeCharles Bentley.
It’s not that Elflein needed to prove himself that much. He won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s best collegiate center. Elflein did so despite switching from guard and having offseason surgery to remove a cyst in his shoulder, which limited his ability to lift weights in 2016.
“That was a scary moment,” he said of the shoulder issue, which took time to diagnose. “I remember meeting with the doctors and coach (Urban) Meyer one morning not knowing what the fate was. It was nerve-wracking — not knowing if I was going to miss the whole season or half the season or what the issue was.”
He said he is now fully healthy. He weighed in at the combine at 303 pounds after changing to a ketogenic diet consisting of high-fat, low-carb and low-sugar foods.
“My body is changing,” he said. “I feel great. My mobility is way up. Inflammation is down. My health is way better. It has been a big transformation.”
Elflein’s agility is one of the few questions scouts have about him. He is considered a highcharacter, powerful and versatile lineman. The early projection is that he likely is a second-round pick.
The Pickerington North graduate said his pitch to NFL teams is simple.
“I can play left guard, center and right guard at a high level,” he said.
The combine is a whirlwind for players, with medical testing, interviews and workouts.
“This place is a machine, how they’re pumping guys through — doctor’s exams one after another, a full examination of everything,” Elflein said. “Those teams know what they’re getting.
“It’s actually a pretty cool process when you take a step back. It’s everything I was prepped on. (Wednesday), I was up at 4 for a drug test and was busy all the way till 10:30 or 11 o’clock at night — psychological testing, formal and informal interviews with teams. It’s a grind. But it’s really exciting. This is the dream.”
Elflein was Ohio State’s lowest-rated recruit in 2012. As he addressed reporters on Thursday, he was asked to look back on how far he had come.
“Man, pretty cool,” Elflein said. “I never thought that, barely making it to Ohio State, I’d be on this podium at the combine. I still reflect on it every chance I can.
“Thanks for bringing it up again because it has put a big smile on my face. It’s a dream come true. I’m living my dream every day. To have the career I had at Ohio State, really not knowing what I was going into, but just knowing I wanted to be a Buckeye, I don’t think you could write a better story.”