TCU mainstay aims to make mark on NFL scouts at Senior Bowl

The plan for Joseph Noteboom this week and during Saturday’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., is to stand out.

That is something Noteboom, a TCU left tackle who started the last 40 games of his career, has done on and off the field.

The Plano Senior High alumnus graduated with a degree from TCU in four years. He was a graduate student during his senior season in the fall. That made his senior season a little less hectic, not that classwork had ever slowed him down before. He was named to the Big 12 All-Academic team all four seasons.

“I could get to football earlier and do some extra stuff and not worry about coming from class and rushing,” Noteboom said. “[My study ethic] comes with the football mentality. Everything I do now is 100 percent. I don’t like to slack off. I think that came with being a football player for so long.”

During Senior Bowl week, he hopes to improve his draft stock among NFL scouts. He’s currently projected as a third- or fourth-round pick. Nothing shabby about that, but Noteboom thinks he can rise.

“I fee like I can climb a little bit,” he said. “If I show some versatility, athleticism, the effort. I’m going in there giving 100 percent effort.”

It’s not just showing off his size — 6-foot-5, 310 pounds (up 50 pounds since he graduated from Plano) — but showing his technique, his athleticism and his desire to compete. His performance in the classroom also looks good in a scout’s report. Noteboom and running back Kyle Hicks have been invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis at the end of February.

“I think they’ll look at it as how fast you can take up the playbook,” said Noteboom, who says he’s comfortable at tackle, guard and even center. “I think it’ll come into play a little bit. I feel completely comfortable at both guard guards, both tackles. Center I could do, I would just need a little more work.”

In the past three seasons, the only extended game action Noteboom has missed was the second half of the Liberty Bowl in 2016 after he rolled an ankle.

Other than that, Noteboom has been, as some of his teammates have said, like a robot on the field.

“Just being prepared, doing the same thing every play, the same technique every single play,” he said. “Not being out of sorts makes it less likely of getting hurt than if you were out of control.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 7:49 PM with the headline "TCU mainstay aims to make mark on NFL scouts at Senior Bowl."