Image courtesy of NFL

Dreams are often broken or made at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

It’s a chance for guys to put on a show in front of the NFL world and state their case why they belong at that next level. For some, the dream might die in Indy. One bad weekend of drills, tests and interviews and it may be back to the real world, although, there are more options today to play professional football than there’s ever been and you can always bounce back at your individual Pro Day.

When hundreds of college players take that next step starting on February 29, you’ll be able to follow nine New England players’ journey as the region has arguably its best representation ever at the combine.

Here’s the list:

Dylan Laube, New Hampshire
Jalen Coker, Holy Cross
Kiran Amegadjie, Yale
C.J. Hanson, Holy Cross
Christian Haynes, Connecticut
Christian Mahogany, Boston College
Zak Zinter, Michigan (BB&N)
Eric Watts, Connecticut
Elijah Jones, Boston College

Laube has created the most buzz for himself with a stellar showing at the Reese’s Senior Bowl practices. Coker still has those highlight reel plays from the Hula Bowl week and Mahogany was the best lineman at the East-West Shrine game. Both studs from UConn have shown they can get nasty with the best of them and have seen their stock rising. Jones is an interesting case after being benched the last few weeks of the season for some off-field issues, but he was trending towards a Day 2 pick during the year.

All of these kids’ stories are just beginning, but they and all of us should take pride in the fact that the NFL is seeing what type of talent this area can produce more and more each season.

It’s still New England vs. Everybody.