INDIANAPOLIS – When the Buckeyes were busy recruiting cornerback Jeff Okudah, there was a lot of discussion that the Grand Prairie (Texas) product could end up being one of the next first round cornerbacks to come out of Ohio State.

Now it appears that we are only a handful of weeks away from seeing that prediction coming true as Okudah goes through the paces at the NFL Scouting Combine this week.

It cannot be overstated how big of a week this is for draft eligible players as they are put through the ringer by NFL scouts, coaches and executives as multi-million dollar decisions are discussed. While there is just a little less than two months to the upcoming draft in Las Vegas later this year and courses can change, have a bad combine experience and it might be a difficult hill to overcome.

Many top prospects are not going through testing, but Okudah won't be one of them to skip that.

"(I am going to do) everything. All the drills," Okudah said. "I want to prove that my footwork is really, really good for someone that is my size."

When asked further as to why he wanted to do all of that, potentially exposing himself to a bad day of work, his answer made complete sense.

"I think coming to the combine has always been a dream," Okudah added. "Just being here is a dream come true. You go back and watch some of these combine videos, for me, I watched Jalen Ramsey's combine video, Patrick Peterson's combine video… I want someone down the road to say they want to turn on Jeff Okudah's combine video."

Nobody is expecting that Okudah will raise any red flags as he proved time and time again why he was one of the nation’s top defensive backs, especially if you disagree with the awarding of the Thorpe Award to someone else.

Okudah has been mentioned as high as the No. 3 overall pick in this draft but a lot of things could happen if Detroit decides to move that pick but there is no mistaking that Okudah should be the first corner off the board, be that at No. 3 or No. 5 or wherever that may occur.

Some unfortunate unnamed reporter either had Okudah confused with someone else or had not done his homework when he asked the Ohio State corner about 'sloppy play' and such, something that Okudah had not exhibited this season.

"I had zero pass interferences, zero holdings, so cut the tape on again, I think you might see something else," Okudah said.

Even though former defensive backs coach Jeff Hafley is gone from Ohio State and now at Boston College with his own program to run, several Ohio State defensive backs, Okudah included, spent a little time with their former coach in the lead-up to the combine. Okudah was very appreciative of the time that he had under Hafley at Ohio State.

"I think (coach) Hafley, I credit him for the leap I have taken in my career," Okudah said. "He has had a tremendous impact on my life. The way that he has taught me the game, the way he has developed me as a person, the way he has helped my technique a lot, I think without coach Hafley, I might not be in the in this position right now."

Many people were surprised to learn that Okudah had two very different hand measurements at the combine. This seems to be the only time of the year that anyone really talks about hand size (sorry Joe Burrow) and Okudah checked in with a left hand that was measured at 9-and-1/8th while his right came in at 8-and-1/2.

Okudah went on the explain that scene.

"I jammed my finger in high school, dislocated it really, so I told the guy to do my left hand because the right hand has a dislocated finger from a long time ago," Okudah said. "He made me do both and when I got up there he was like, 'Pinky Deformation' so for everyone who wants to see the pinky, you can all say it is deformed, but I would say that it has a little nub on it."

That 'nub' certainly did nothing to slow Okudah down during his career. Several receivers over the course of the combine singled Okudah out as the top corner they went against in their careers.

"I take a lot of pride, I think it kind of validates the work that was put in all year," Okudah said. "Those are some great receivers that said that, so for me I felt honored that they felt that way."