The 2019 NFL Draft Combine officially got underway Tuesday in Indianapolis. Some of the best and brightest NFL-bound football stars have arrived to begin meeting with teams and get their measurements taken. Washington State has a trio of former players making the trip. QB Gardner Minshew II, OL Andre Dillard and RB James Williams will all try to impress NFL brass this week.

Dillard is likely the player on that list that will be taken the highest later this spring. The tackle impressed at the Senior Bowl last month and his stock has continued to rise ever since. A lot of mock drafts have him coming off the board mid-way through the first round, and NFL.com even rates him as 6.19 on a scale from 1-10. While that might not sound great, the metric projected Dillard to be an instant starter in the NFL.

Williams, on the other hand, has a tougher hill to climb. ‘Boobie’ left school early, but he is expected to go undrafted out of the NFL draft. But just by going to the combine, Williams is making history. He becomes the first WSU running back since Jerome Harrison in 2006 to make the trip. He’ll also be the first Mike Leach coached running back to participate ever.

Dillard is part of group 2, along with all the other offensive lineman, while Williams and the running back group are part of group 3. Here’s a look at the schedule for both groups, including what they started with on Tuesday:

• Tuesday, Feb. 26: Registration, hospital pre-exams, X-rays, overflow testing, orientation, interviews
• Wednesday, Feb. 27: Measurements, medical examinations, overflow testing, interviews
• Thursday, Feb. 28: Psychological testing, NFLPA meeting, media availability, bench press, interviews
• Friday, March 1: On-field workouts (timing, stations, and drills) and departure from Indianapolis

Gardner Minshew has also received his share of praise since the Senior Bowl. Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network is particular is high on the signal caller. During a conference call this week, Jeremiah told Coug Fan, “he’s fun to watch. He’s a little bit of a poor man’s Baker Mayfield. He’s energetic, he’s bouncing around.” Jeremiah adds that he projects Minshew to be taken in the 5th round. NFL.com also rates Minshew with a grade of 5.16 which, again, doesn’t sound great... But on their system it translates to “better than average chance to make an NFL roster.”

Minshew and the quarterbacks are part of group 4. They’ll get things going later today with their opening day tests and events. Here’s a look at their scheduled over the next four days.

• Wednesday, Feb. 27: Registration, hospital pre-exams, X-rays, overflow testing, orientation, interviews
• Thursday, Feb. 28:Measurements, medical examinations, overflow testing, interviews
• Friday, March 1: Psychological testing, NFLPA meeting, media availability, bench press, interviews
• Saturday, March 2: On-field workouts (timing, stations, and drills) and departure from Indianapolis

Once on field workouts begin on Friday, you can see wall to wall coverage each day starting at 6 AM and running to 4 PM until the final day of workouts on Monday. ESPN will also have live coverage all weekend, including two hours of coverage on ABC Saturday at 10 AM.

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