photo by: AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez

East's Jalon Daniels (15), of Kansas, scores a touchdown on a keeper in the first half of the East West Shrine Bowl NCAA college football game Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026, in Frisco, Texas.

Updated 3:16 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026:

Former Kansas football players Enrique Cruz Jr., Jalon Daniels and Emmanuel Henderson Jr. are among the 319 NFL hopefuls invited to the Scouting Combine, the league announced on Wednesday morning.

Each of the three players, alongside numerous other former Jayhawks, recently took part in all-star events. Cruz played in the American Bowl on Jan. 22 in Lakeland, Florida, while Daniels and Henderson both received invitations to the East-West Shrine Game. Henderson did not play in the actual game on Jan. 27 in Frisco, Texas, while Daniels went 8-for-14 for 52 yards and ran for a 3-yard touchdown.

Cruz, who is originally from Willowbrook, Illinois, spent one season with the Jayhawks as the starting right tackle. A transfer from Syracuse, he played 673 offensive snaps with a Pro Football Focus grade of 70.3. The 6-foot-6, 320-pound veteran had spent four years with the Orange across two different coaching staffs and served as Syracuse’s left tackle in 2023.

Daniels played in 49 games across his six seasons at KU and served as the Jayhawks’ starting quarterback for essentially the final four years, including two healthy seasons in 2024 and 2025. He finished his career second in program history in career passing yards, passing touchdowns, attempts and completions. During the 2025 season, the native of Lawndale, California, threw for 2,531 yards with 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions, adding 404 yards and four scores on the ground.

Henderson, another one-year transfer, earned a pair of all-conference honors as a first-team returner and third-team wide receiver. The former Alabama wideout, who was once a highly touted high school running back, came to Lawrence with just five career catches. As one of Daniels’ top targets in 2025, he caught 45 passes for 766 yards and five touchdowns. He also averaged 23.9 yards per kickoff return and brought back one kick for a touchdown.

The NFL Combine begins on Feb. 23 in Indianapolis.

Kicker Laith Marjan was not on the list of invitees for the main combine, but according to a KU Athletics press release on Wednesday afternoon, he was invited to the NFL Combine Specialist Showcase, an auxiliary event for special-teams players entering its third year of existence. Marjan, a South Alabama transfer who received a Hula Bowl invite this offseason, went 14-for-17 on field goals and 40-for-40 on extra points in his lone year with the Jayhawks.

Last year, four Jayhawks — Logan Brown, Cobee Bryant, Mello Dotson and Devin Neal — received invitations to the combine. Neal got drafted in the sixth round, as did Bryce Cabeldue, who was not invited but impressed at the Big 12 Pro Day event later that spring.