STARKVILLE -- Darius Slay may not know when he'll be taken in the 2013 NFL draft, but he always will be able to tell people where he was when his named was called.

Last week, NFL officials announced Slay, a second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection in 2012, replaced University of Washington cornerback Desmond Trufant as an attendee of the draft at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Slay will be there tonight and until he is selected. Trufant, who is seen as a more likely first-round pick by analysts at the NFL Network and ESPN, declined the invitation due to his grandfather's sudden illness.

Slay didn't have time Wednesday to enjoy the media spotlight in New York. Instead, he tried to explain a recent report by ESPN's Adam Schefter that said he tore the meniscus in his knee in the offseason. Schefter's reporting said the injury has labeled Slay as a medical red flag, or undraftable.

Slay and his public relations team attempted to downplay those reports Wednesday by having the former Mississippi State University cornerback go on the NFL Network to talk about his knee. Slay said doctors told him he wouldn't require surgery on the knee. Since suffering the injury, Slay has worked out for the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. He he worked out for 16 teams, and only one asked for an extra Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan of the knee.

"They say I just need to ice it down because it's not that bad and then I can get right back up," Slay said on the NFL Network. "Nobody said I needed surgery."

Coverage of the first round of the draft is scheduled to begin at noon on the NFL Network and at 2 p.m. on ESPN. The draft begins at 7 p.m. The second and third rounds will be Friday. The final four rounds will be Saturday.

In what some analysts have called one of the most wide-open and unpredictable drafts of the past decade, major intrigue remains at the top of the first round because of the lack of impact skill position players, specifically at quarterback. The Kansas City Chiefs own the first pick, and while Texas A&M University offensive tackle Luke Joeckel once was viewed as a near-consensus No. 1 pick, now analysts are reporting Central Michigan University offensive tackle Eric Fisher will be the selection. Kansas City General Manager John Dorsey confirmed Wednesday to NFL.com he has received phone calls from teams that want to move up to the top spot in the draft.

While the top of the draft remains fluid, MSU isn't projected to have a first-round selection, which means Slay may wait more than 24 hours to get drafted.

ESPN.com draft analyst Mel Kiper suggested Slay could be a third-round selection last week in a media teleconference.

"Oakland is a team with no second-round pick, so maybe you come back around in the third round and address maybe that cornerback spot with Darius Slay from Mississippi State," Kiper said.

In 2011, the Green Bay Packers selected former Bulldog Derek Sherrod with the final pick of the first round. Last year, the Philadelphia Eagles selected former MSU defensive tackle Fletcher Cox No. 12.

This past season, Slay and Jonthan Banks, MSU's Jim Thorpe Award winner at the opposite cornerback, made for one of college football's most dangerous defensive back duos.

Attempts by The Dispatch to contact Slay and Banks were unsuccessful. Repeated messages weren't returned.

Slay had 40 tackles, six passes defended, and five interceptions. He returned one of the interceptions for a touchdown. He impressed scouts at the NFL combine workouts in Indianapolis, Ind., when he ran a 4.36 40-yard dash, the fastest time of all the defensive backs.

"These guys are NFL guys," former University of Tennessee coach Derek Dooley said about Banks and Slay before the Volunteers played the Bulldogs last October. After being fired by Tennessee, Dooley is an assistant coach with the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

"There are not that many big-time corners out there who have the size, the athleticism, and the instincts, and these guys have it," Dooley said. "They are good. You don't that many interceptions by luck."

Banks, who received the award that goes to the country's top defensive back, has fallen from a mid-to-late first-round pick to a second- or third-round selection after perceived negatives about his draft workouts. Banks had 59 tackles, seven pass breakups, four interceptions, two tackles for loss, a fumble forced, and a fumble recovery this past season. The senior co-captain ranked first in career interception yards (320), was tied for third with 16 career interceptions, was tied for sixth in interceptions returned for touchdowns (three), and was tied for eighth with 26 career pass breakups in the Football Bowl Subdivision. However, a 4.61-second time in the 40-yard-dash and 10 repetitions of 225 pounds left scouts questioning the Maben native's ability to play in the league. However, Banks' size (he is 6-foot-2) and his production at MSU likely will make him no worse than a day-two selection.

"When I worked under Packers General Manager Ted Thompson as a scout for the Seattle Seahawks, I was told to give cornerbacks with size, athleticism, and great ball skills a long look because of the growing trend of big bodied receivers," NFL.com contributor Bucky Brooks said. "Banks would fall into that category."

Former MSU defensive tackle Josh Boyd, wide receiver Chad Bumphis, linebacker Cam Lawrence, and cornerback Corey Broomfield also hope to get selected. NFL.com projects Boyd as a seventh-round selection, while the other three prospects aren't in any national mock drafts. Bumphis wasn't invited to the NFL combine, but he could be a middle-round selection as a slot receiver. MSU hasn't had a wide receiver drafted since the Buffalo Bills picked Eric Moulds in the first round in 1996.

"Chad is an outstanding football player because he's one of the smartest players I've ever had a chance to be involved with," former MSU wide receiver coach Tim Brewster said in December. Brewster coached tight ends and wide receivers in the NFL with the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos.

Since MSU coach Dan Mullen was hired in 2009, the most players MSU has had selected in a draft was four in 2011, which tied a school record under the draft's current seven-round formula. Linebackers K.J. Wright and Chris White and defensive end Pernell McPhee joined Sherrod in being drafted.