AUBURN, Ala. – When Nick Coe went to Indianapolis in February, it marked the second straight year he attended the NFL Scouting Combine.
In 2019, Coe joined fellow Auburn defensive lineman Derrick Brown at the NCAA Elite Student-Athlete Symposium in Indy, an event that seeks to prepare top prospects for professional football and includes an up-close look at the combine process.
Coe earned the invitation after a productive redshirt sophomore season in 2018 in which he recorded seven sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss.
Coe concluded his Auburn career with 71 tackles and 21 TFLs, passing up his senior season to enter the NFL Draft.
"It's been a long process, a great experience," Coe said after his Auburn Pro Day workout on March 6. "I really enjoyed it overall, meeting new players, great players who you will be playing with and might play against.
"The whole process and coming back here also has been a great experience, training-wise. Everything you worked for to reach the level that you really want to go to."
While primarily a defensive end on the Plains, Coe worked at outside linebacker at the combine.
"It shows how versatile I am," he said. "And shows how my athletic ability can be used in very many ways. I feel like I can be used at any position. They want to see me work the edge, and also outside linebacker, so drop coverage, just like the buck position at Auburn. That's what they expect to see out of me and I showed them at the combine because I played linebacker at the combine."
NFL COMBINE
40-yard dash: 4.89 seconds
Bench press: 21 bench reps
Vertical jump: 29 inches
Broad jump: 116.0 inches
DRAFT ANALYSIS
"Good size and strength, but finding a positional fit could be a little bit challenging. Coe has the body type and natural power of an odd-front defensive end, but he needs to play with better anchor and feel for the blocking scheme in front of him. He flashes rugged tendencies but needs to embrace that part of his game at the point of attack as he lacks the quickness and twitch to be a consistent playmaker or pass rusher. If a team can pair better technique and body control with his traits, he might develop into an NFL backup along the interior." – Lance Zierlein/NFL analyst
SIGNATURE MOMENT
When the stakes were at their highest, Coe came through as a redshirt freshman in 2017, earning SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors for his performance in Auburn's 26-14 Iron Bowl win.
Coe helped Auburn defeat a top-ranked opponent for the second time in three weeks by making five tackles, one sack and a quarterback hurry. Earlier that season, Coe twice won the SEC's freshman of the week award vs. Arkansas and Mississippi State.
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer