photo by: AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Kansas running back Devin Neal works out at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Saturday, March 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

The current iteration of the Big 12 features 16 teams, yet one-eighth of the players at the league-wide Big 12 Pro Day event, which begins on Tuesday at Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, come from the Kansas football program.

That’s a testament to the sheer size of the Jayhawks’ outgoing senior class and the proportion of those players attempting to take advantage of this chance to pursue their professional football dreams.

The event will provide these NFL hopefuls the opportunity to participate in workouts and interviews with pro scouts, while also taking advantage of “robust programming in dynamic leadership, branding and mental health to help prepare these future NFL athletes for life on and off the field,” according to a Big 12 press release.

The group of 29 former Jayhawks includes all four who took part in the centralized, higher-profile version of this event, the NFL Scouting Combine that wrapped up earlier this month in Indianapolis: cornerbacks Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson, offensive lineman Logan Brown and running back Devin Neal. Each has a solid shot of hearing his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft, set for April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

However, as last season demonstrated, taking part in the leaguewide combine was hardly a prerequisite to receiving an NFL opportunity. Both Jayhawks who were invited to the combine, Austin Booker and Dominick Puni, were picked in the draft, but quite a few who were not received opportunities as undrafted free agents and several of those — quarterback Jason Bean (of the Indianapolis Colts), center Mike Novitsky (Seattle Seahawks) and linebacker Craig Young (Cincinnati Bengals) — are still under contract with teams.

This year’s Big 12 Pro Day includes a pair of additional Jayhawks, besides the top four draft prospects, who took part in collegiate all-star games: offensive lineman Bryce Cabeldue, who participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl, and safety O.J. Burroughs, from the Tropical Bowl.

The rest of the group includes, from the 2024 season, five of KU’s top six wide receivers (Lawrence Arnold, Luke Grimm, Quentin Skinner, Trevor Wilson and Torry Locklin), its top three tight ends (Jared Casey, Trevor Kardell and Tevita Ahoafi-Noa), its top three strong-side defensive ends (Jereme Robinson, Dylan Wudke and Ronald McGee) and its top three linebackers (Cornell Wheeler, JB Brown and Taiwan Berryhill Jr.), as well as assorted other former Jayhawks: defensive tackle Caleb Taylor, guards Michael Ford Jr. and Darrell Simmons Jr., linebackers Dylan Downing and Alex Raich and safety Marvin Grant, plus kicker Tabor Allen and long snapper Luke Hosford.

This is the second year that the Big 12 has held a Pro Day event encompassing all the league’s teams, as opposed to schools staging individual events on their various campuses. The event is open to the public Wednesday through Friday, as linemen and linebackers work out Wednesday; quarterbacks, defensive backs, running backs and tight ends take the field Thursday; and specialists work out Friday.

photo by: AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Kansas defensive back Cobee Bryant runs the 40-yard dash at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025.

photo by: AP Photo/George Walker IV

Kansas defensive back Mello Dotson runs a drill at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025.

photo by: AP Photo/George Walker IV

Kansas offensive lineman Logan Brown lifts weights at the NFL football scouting combine Monday, March 3, 2025, in Indianapolis.