Syracuse, N.Y. -- Syracuse football's recent NFL draft history is a glaring reminder of the talent deficiency that has swept through the program since it joined the ACC.

Punter Riley Dixon has been the only player drafted in the last three years, and Tuesday's release of the list of participants in the 2018 NFL Scouting Combine is foreboding ahead of this year's NFL Draft.

No Syracuse football player was invited to the combine for the first time since at least 1986, according to data compiled by NFLCombineResults.com. The first scouting combine as we know it began in 1985.

It means the best chance for Syracuse football's draft-eligible players to impress NFL scouts and front-office personnel will come during the school's pro day, typically held in March.

Syracuse last year sent wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo, who in one season as a graduate transfer set multiple school records. Syracuse's offense this year featured another record-breaking receiver in Steve Ishmael, who broke Marvin Harrison's school record for career receiving yards.

Ishmael was part of a senior class that also featured receiver Ervin Philips, the school's all-time receptions leader, and linebackers Parris Bennett and Zaire Franklin, the program's second three-time captain since the 1890s.

Certainly, not getting invited to the combine does not extinguish NFL dreams, just as participating in the premier pre-draft scouting event does not lead to getting selected.

Former linebacker Marquis Spruill did not participate despite boasting freakish athleticism. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2014 draft by the Atlanta Falcons.

None of the eight participants in the last three years were drafted. Dixon, a Christian Brothers Academy grad, was the most recent Syracuse player taken in the draft. He was selected in the seventh round by the Denver Broncos.

Duke and Georgia Tech were the other two ACC schools to not have a player invited to the combine.

The 2018 NFL Scouting Combine will be held Feb. 27 to March 5 in Indianapolis.

The 2018 NFL Draft will be held April 26-28 in Arlington, Tex.

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