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Florida’s Vernon Hargreaves battling FSU’s Jalen Ramsey at the NFL Combine
By John Crist
Published:
INDIANAPOLIS — Florida and Florida State play for state bragging rights on the football field every November, yet now the rival schools are doing battle at the Scouting Combine in February.
Most talent evaluators believe that former Gator Vernon Hargreaves and former Seminole Jalen Ramsey — each declared after his junior year — are the two best prospects at the cornerback position, and both of them could come off the board in the top 10 of the NFL Draft. Right now Ramsey appears to have the upper hand based on the mock drafts currently floating around, but Hargreaves isn’t far behind.
Hargreaves was first to take the podium Saturday for his interview session with members of the media, and the Tampa native was asked about his competition with Ramsey during the evaluation process.
“It’s great,” he said. “We don’t really talk about it when we see each other, but we know. We all see the stuff. It’s kind of like a silent rivalry between us. He wants to be first, I want to be first. I’m going to say I’m the best, he’s going to say he’s the best. That’s what football is about. That’s what it’s supposed to be about, and we’re going to go to work on Monday.”
Hargreaves and Ramsey will get after each other on the bench press with the rest of the corners Sunday, and then Monday they are scheduled for their on-the-field testing.
The ability to contribute not only on defense but also on special teams could end up being the tiebreaker, as NFL teams need to be much more efficient with their roster than college programs — there aren’t 85 scholarship players available on the sideline. Both Hargreaves and Ramsey have return skills, although neither was ever the primary punt or kick returner in college.
When Hargreaves was asked if he’d like to continue returning punts in the pros, he gave the impression that he’s turned the page on that aspect of his game.
“Not necessarily,” he said. “But if it comes down to it and I have to do it, I’m going to do it.”
John Crist is an award-winning contributor to Saturday Down South.
