The annual pro day schedule doesn’t really heat up in earnest until this week, however, there were a half dozen or so workouts last week just to get the ball rolling. In fact, things actually kicked off last Monday when Miami of Ohio hosted the first of at least a couple of hundred pro days this year. The most anticipated of last week’s workouts, though, was at Auburn on Thursday where every NFL team was represented. That included at least a couple of teams – Detroit and the NY Giants – which had their coaches at Auburn. And with the Lions scheduled to pick 3rd and 4th respectively at the upcoming draft, both Detroit’s Matt Patricia and the Giants’ Joe Judge were there at least in part to check out Tigers’ DT Derrick Brown, one of the top 4-5 defensive prospects in the 2020 draft class. Brown, though, opted to stand on his numbers from the combine as did most of Auburn’s other top prospects. Unfortunately, neither OT Prince Tega Wanogho nor DE Marlon Davidson, both of whom sat out the combine because of injuries, were able to participate in the Tigers’ pro day. For the record, Wanogho is still rehabbing from a post-season knee scope and hopes to have a private pro day for scouts some time next month, while Davidson suffered an ankle injury at the Senior Bowl.
In fact, the most interesting pro day last week may actually have been downstate at Troy where a couple of veteran Trojans put up some very athletic numbers. CB Will Sunderland, an Oklahoma transfer who was named an All-Sun Belt defender this fall after he picked off 4 passes, reportedly ran in the mid-to-high 4.4 range for the 40, had a 36-inch vertical jump, and a 4.16 short-shuttle clocking, each of which would have ranked among the leaders at the combine. Add in the fact that Sunderland also has excellent length at 6-2, 195 pounds should get him some late round looks. Meanwhile, DE Marcus Webb, a 6-2, 247-pound edge rusher who had something of a breakout year in 2019 when he posted 7 sacks, also had a productive day with a 40 time in the mid-4.6 range, along with an athletic 35-inch vertical jump. And staying with the state of Alabama for another moment, Alabama-Birmingham DT Garrett Marino also had a solid outing at the Blazers’ pro day. Marino, a quick interior defender who had 6.5 sacks this past season, measured in at 6-2, 290 and then posted 41 reps in the bench press, which would have been the second best figure at the combine this year, while also running in the 5.0 range, although at least one team reportedly had him as low as 4.9.
Elsewhere, Jacksonville State WR Josh Pearson likely also had NFL personnel people taking another look at his game tapes after he ran in the mid-4.4 range at the ‘other’ Gamecocks’ pro day. Pearson, who measured in at 6-3.5, 203 pounds was very productive at JSU, hauling in over 120 passes for over 2,000 yards and 30 scores over the past couple of seasons, and was thought of more as a possession type receiver with projected 4.6 speed. Indeed, Pearson also posted a very impressive 41.5 inch vertical, while his times in both the short shuttle and 3-cone drill were very competitive with those posted at the combine. In fact, if the first few pro days tended to indicate anything, its that this year’s WR class is indeed really deep. At Kansas State. for example, WR Dalton Schoen, who averaged almost 16 yards per catch in 2019, was the most impressive player at the Wildcats workout, where he weighed in at a solid 6-1, 206 while running the 40 in the mid-to-upper 4.4 range.
