INDIANAPOLIS – Ohio State wide receiver Terry McLaurin is in a familiar place as he returns home to the capital city of Indiana, the place where he grew up and scored a few big touchdowns in Big Ten Championship football games.

Now he comes back to the Circle City for a business trip as he is part of the ongoing NFL Scouting Combine. It will be a chance to run and catch and interview in front of the biggest decision makers in the NFL as McLaurin currently projects to potentially go on the second day of the draft.

2018 has to be considered a breakthrough year for McLaurin as he caught 35 passes for 11 touchdowns and 701 yards on the 13-1 Buckeyes team. McLaurin did much more than just catch passes for the Buckeyes and was an anchor of a strong special teams unit and probably had just as much impact as anyone did in a hard-fought win against Michigan State in East Lansing (Mich.) where McLaurin downed several punts inside the 10-yard-line.

Many first-year skill players who don’t go in the first round often see their path to the field go through special teams, much like at Ohio State and McLaurin has already shown the ability to change games in that role, something that NFL executives will take notice of as the 53-man roster does not allow much opportunity to carry players who are not multi-skilled.

With the combine being in Indianapolis, you can imagine that there is a high demand for tickets for the McLaurin family and friends.

"A lot of them are trying to get tickets to get in there," McLaurin said. "They’ve been doing a good job of letting me focus but obviously being the hometown kid they’d love to see me in a Colts uniform."

McLaurin was asked what one word that comes to mind when talking about the process and it did not take the former Ohio State receiver long to come up with that word.

"Blessing. I’ve been very blessed to stay healthy. I’ve been blessed to have great coaches to push me," McLaurin said. "My parents pushed me as well. I’ve been surrounded by a great support system. When I hear my name called, whatever round it is, I’m not really worried about it, I just know it’s an opportunity to live my dream. There were times where I didn’t necessarily believe I could get here. There were times where some people may not necessarily have thought that that as well. One thing people couldn’t measure was my faith in my work ethic. I feel that’s gotten me to this point."

McLaurin already had a dress rehearsal for many of the combine aspects taking part in the Senior Bowl and already helped his stock with his performance in Mobile (Ala.).

"It was an added advantage because I was a familiar face when they came here," McLaurin said. "It’s like they do more homework on me after they saw my showing at the senior bowl, where I felt I had a great week. a lot of scouts remember me from that. This week was kind of like follow-ups and has shortened my process a little bit because some teams I haven’t had to meet with twice."