2015 Cotton Bowl: Michigan State vs. Alabama - Dec. 31, 2015

Malik McDowell has the tools to be dominant on the defensive line.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

Twenty-two players have accepted the NFL's invitation to attend this week's draft. For all of them, getting selected will be a dream come true, and the culmination of all the hard work put in to reach football's highest level.

But someone has to be that guy -- the one who is awkwardly left behind as player after player struts across the stage, bro-hugs Roger Goodell and cracks a smile while trying on an awkwardly fitting hat.

Someone will be the last man standing in the green room Thursday night. And it might be Michigan State's Malik McDowell.

McDowell departed East Lansing after his junior season as an unquestioned first-round talent on the defensive line, but with a notable red flag. Fair or not, NFL scouts have questioned his work ethic.

"That is not a problem at all," McDowell told reporters at the NFL combine. "We had a long year. I had a lot of stuff going on this past year health-wise, just body stuff. Little stuff. I was out there and (maybe shouldn't) have been playing. It is what it is.

"That's not something we'll have to worry about in the future."

McDowell missed the final three games of Michigan State's awful 3-9 season.

He finished 2016 with just 1 1/2 sacks. Facing endless double teams inside, the Spartans also tried him at defensive end. At 6-foot-6 and 295 pounds, some scouts have suggested his best fit is in a 3-4 scheme.

An NFC North scout told NFL.com: "He has a chance to be a dominant player in our league. I mean dominant. It hasn't turned on for him all the way yet but if it does, he could be like Mario Williams. He's just a little lazy and I worry about whether he is going to be a self-starter."

Whenever he's picked, the question marks surrounding McDowell will come up again. So will talk of his immense talent. And if he slides, he'll turn into the "bargain" or "steal of the draft" because of what he might become in the NFL.

But all of that might not come before he's the focus of some unwanted attention.

Here are the 22 players scheduled to attend the draft:

Jamal Adams, S, LSU

Jonathan Allen, DT, Alabama

Chidobe Awuzie, CB, Colorado

Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee

Garett Bolles, T, Utah

Gareon Conley, CB, Ohio State

Corey Davis, WR, Western Michigan

Leonard Fournette, RB, LSU

Adoree Jackson, CB, USC

Kevin King, CB, Washington

DeShone Kizer, QB, Notre Dame

Marshon Lattimore, CB, Ohio State

Malik McDowell, DT, Michigan State

Takkarist McKinley, LB, UCLA

Ryan Ramczyk, T, Wisconsin

Haason Reddick, LB, Temple

Cam Robinson, T, Alabama

John Ross, WR, Washington

Solomon Thomas, DE, Stanford

DeShaun Watson, QB, Clemson

Tre'Davious White, CB, LSU