John Cominsky isn't a name that immediately makes an NFL fan perk their ears.
It isn't Nick Bosa, Montez Sweat or Quinnen Williams, but one of a Division II defensive lineman who's finding himself closer than ever to the dream of playing in the NFL.
Cominsky spent the weekend in Indianapolis at the 2019 NFL Scouting Combine, where he found himself on the same field as the top prospects in the upcoming draft. It was the biggest stage to date for Cominsky in his football life. He didn't waste the moment.
Cominsky, a 6-foot-5 defender from the University of Charleston, impressed scouts with his Combine performance, posting a 4.69 in the 40-yard dash at 286 pounds. That's not common and was enough to land Cominsky on NFL.com's All-Combine team.
More from NFL.com's Chad Reuter:
"The Division II product performed well at the Senior Bowl, then wowed scouts even more with an outstanding show of athleticism in Indy. At 6-5, 286 pounds, Cominsky proved he could be a very good 5-technique in a three-man front (or possibly a base end for a 4-3 scheme) by running a 4.69 40 (with an excellent 1.61-second 10-yard split) and outperforming linebackers in the three-cone (7.03) and short shuttle (4.38), even though they tend to weigh 40 pounds less. Small school or no small school, those numbers will help him rise up draft boards."
Cominsky's rise to notoriety seems as if it came out of nowhere. His University of Charleston student-athlete page's bio section doesn't include a single line of information.
There is reason for his unusually athletic test results, though: The defensive lineman played quarterback in high school in Barberton, Ohio.
Cominsky weighed 215 pounds when he graduated from Barberton and moved to defensive line as a freshman at Charleston. He got the most out of his college experience, using all of his eligibility before departing. That amount of time allowed him to develop into an NFL prospect, and now, he feels he can take an even greater step.
"I'm at the very bottom of what I can be because I just started defensive line four or five years ago and I can only develop so much at a Division II level," Cominsky said Saturday at the Combine. "Now I have all these resources that I didn't have in school, and it can only go up from here."
Cominsky's development will also include figuring out where he'll play as a pro, which could serve as an additional boost to his stock. He played in a 3-3-5 at Charleston but could end up playing defensive end in a 3-4 (as a five-technique, as Reuter said) -- or as a base end in a 4-3.
That would open a route to the hometown Browns.
"This whole 4-3, 3-4 that's all over the NFL, I'm all new to that," Cominsky said. "I'm still learning it. I haven't in my mind created an image if I'm going to be on the edge of a 4-3 or a 3-4 or inside of one of the two."
Cominsky, who's referred to himself as "a Browns supporter" when asked if he was a fan of the team, is confident at this point in the pre-draft process that he can excel in the NFL. Those big names are nothing but the competition to him.
"After the Senior Bowl, now if I'm asked that question I can just point to the film," Cominsky said. "Just go check out the Senior Bowl. Check me out in practice. Check me out in the game. It's evident I can handle this and I can make plays against these guys."
