The Kansas football team will be well represented at the NFL combine later this year.
A couple of weeks after watching 2022 teammate Earl Bostick Jr. accept an invitation to the combine, former KU defensive end Lonnie Phelps Jr. got his call on Friday.
Both invitations were announced by the Kansas football program on their social media channels. This year’s NFL Combine is slated for Feb. 28 through March 6 in its usual spot in Indianapolis.
Bostick, an offensive lineman who started at left tackle for the Jayhawks throughout the 2022 season, is projected by some to be a late-round pick (5-7) in this year’s NFL draft.
Bostick, who was a Jayhawk for six seasons, earned honorable mention all-Big 12 honors last season after being a key part of a unit that surrendered just 12 sacks all season.
As for Phelps, he declared for the NFL draft earlier this month despite still having college eligibility. He said at the time that he was ready for the challenge of chasing his NFL dream and the combine invitation could play a huge role in that.
The Miami (Ohio) transfer led the Jayhawks with seven sacks during the 2022 season and was a consistent disruptive force for the KU pass rush despite playing through injuries for a lot of the season.
In all, Phelps added 57 total tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, six QB hurries and a forced fumble to his seven sacks.
Shortly after he declared for the 2023 NFL draft, his father, Lonnie Phelps Sr., told the Journal-World that he knew the day would come as soon as he accepted the offer to play football at Miami (Ohio).
That day, the two had a conversation that included a glimpse into the future and the father telling his son to take things slow and go one step at a time.
When the younger Phelps asked his father if he thought he would be good enough to make it, Phelps Sr. asked his son if there was anyone better than him in high school.
The answer? “Hell no,” Phelps Sr. recalled his son telling him then.
“Lonnie is special,” Phelps Sr. said. “I’m happy for my son for working so hard to achieve half of his goal of making it to the NFL. The other half of his goal is to be in the NFL Hall of Fame. He has been the underdog his whole football career and every time he has rose to the top.”
Some draft scouting sites have Phelps projected as a potential seventh-round pick in the draft. But both he and Bostick will have a chance to show they belong higher on the biggest pre-draft stage in all of football in a little more than a month.
Nick Krug
