INDIANAPOLIS – Rewind to just two seasons ago and talking about Johnnie Dixon and the NFL Scouting Combine in the same sentence seemed to just be a pipe dream. The Ohio State wide receiver had only seven career receptions, could not stay healthy and seemed to be a likely candidate for a medical hardship.

Fast forward to today and Dixon is at the combine, is coming off of a productive 42 reception, 669-yard, eight touchdown season and has the attention of many NFL decision makers as part of Ohio State’s talented wide receiver trio that includes Parris Campbell and Terry McLaurin.

Dixon continues to be an underdog however. Many ‘experts’ have Dixon topping out in the 7th round or the undrafted free agent route, but Dixon has proven through his time with the Buckeyes that he was always up for a challenge.

Knee injuries made it so Dixon could not only find his way to the field early in his career, the conditions were so bad that Dixon had a hard time stringing more than one practice together at a time. It would have been easy to let the frustration mount and just give up the game. Dixon was not going to let that derail his dreams to play football.

“The biggest thing is I’m just happy I didn’t give up," Dixon said. "I would’ve let myself down, my family, so I’m just blessed to be in this position today to be at the combine among so much great talent.”

With a history of injury concerns, the NFL doctors will be conducting every test on Dixon before a team would make the decision to move forward with Dixon. Or so you would think.

“Just can I be durable," Dixon said. "Can I do it on a consistent basis. I think that’s what it’s all about. I haven’t had too many questions about it from coaches so I’m just going with the flow.”

Dixon had a lot of great words about what Ohio State did for him as a person and as a football player.

“Ohio State I think the biggest thing was when I came out of high school, I wanted to be a part of something that was going to lead me further than just football itself," Dixon said. "Every time I got an interview and am asked a question about why Ohio State, I told them that it was the job fair, things like that. It set you up because we know at any moment this game can be taken away from you. I think that’s one of the biggest things when you’re looking at the school and it’s not just going to be football because in the blink of an eye you could be out of here and you want to have something set for you once you’re done.”