Tony Temple Snubbed of Combine Invitation

National Football Scouting invited 333 players to the annual Indianapolis Scouting Combine, and only 255 players will be drafted in April. That means at least 78 players who have spent the last few days in Indianapolis won't hear their names called on draft weekend.

But it will actually be more than 78, because some players who weren't invited to the Combine will be drafted. One of those uninvited players likely to be drafted is Missouri running back Tony Temple, who ran for 281 yards in his final college game, the Cotton Bowl, looking like the best player on the field that day.

And looking like the best player on the field in the Cotton Bowl is a particularly impressive accomplishment considering that another player on the field that day was Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, whom many observers consider the best player in this year's draft. While McFadden has been one of the top Combine performers, draft expert Rick Gosselin lists Temple as one of the top 10 Combine snubs.

So why wasn't Temple invited? Part of it is that he entered the draft late, after dropping an appeal for another year of eligibility with the NCAA. Another part of it is his size; he's listed at 5-foot-9 and 200 pounds and looks smaller than that. But it was mostly just an oversight, and one that some NFL team should correct in April.