Pro Days Notebook Part III

Since our last edition of the Pro Days Notebook there have been some interesting results at some schools across the country. We will start with Penn State. Penn State – March 19th Adrian Amos – Safety This draft isn’t exactly a strong year when it comes to the safety position with Alabama’s Landon Collins most likely being the only one selected in the first round. Amos really helped himself when he ran 4.38 and 4.41. That makes him as fast as any safety in the draft. Jesse James – Tight End – The knock on James was that he couldn’t run well. That wasn’t the case at the Penn State pro day as he ran 4.67 and 4.72. That speed may move him up a round. Donovan Smith – Tackle – He may have been the surprise of the day when he ran a 4.98 on his first forty. Not many linemen weighing 328 can run like that. Smith slightly pulled a hamstring on his second 40 and was unable to finish the workout. Word is he may try to do positional drills at a later time. Missouri – March 19th Shane Ray – OLB – Shane only lifted at the Combine, so he needed to do just about everything. He ran well, averaging 4.65 with his two 40’s. He looked tight in the hips when he did the agility drills, the times of 4.52 and 7.70 are not very good. The same held true when doing position drills. He was not as smooth as expected when doing pass drops. He lacks a smooth turn and his transition was average. Marcus Golden – OLB – Golden was Mizzou’s other DE, playing opposite Ray. He also had an average pro day. His speed was fine (4.75 average) but his jumps and agilities were below average for the position. His vertical was 28.5” and the standing long jump was 9’2”. His short shuttle and 3-cone were also average when compared to other players at the position (4.55/7.36) Stanford – March 19th Andrus Peat – Tackle – I have Peat as my highest rated offensive linemen. He is only a third year junior and will be a 21 year old rookie. At 6066 – 316, he has ideal size. At the Stanford pro day, the only measurable drill that Peat did was the standing long jump when he leaped 10’ 1/2'”. That is excellent for a man his size. While doing position drills for the coaches, he looked quick, explosive, and athletic. Don’t be shocked if he is the first offensive linemen drafted. Henry Anderson – DE – The only measurable drill that Anderson did was the bench press where he did 23 reps. The big 5 technique had a strong positional workout for the coaches. Add that to his good Combine performance, and Anderson will most likely get drafted in the late second or top part of the third round. Alex Carter – corner – Carter needed to improve on his 40 times and he did averaging 4.51 on his two attempts. He’s a solid mid round pick. Ty Montgomery – WR- Ty was 220 at the combine and ran 4.55, he weighed in at about 211 for his pro day and his time improved a little, averaging 4.50. Clubs will note that he ran the faster time at a lower weight. Colorado State – March 23rd Garrett Grayson – QB – I have Grayson as my third rated quarterback. Starting with the Senior Bowl, he has had a strong off season and that included his pro day. He showed speed and athleticism that some didn’t realize he had. He ran two 40’s and averaged 4.75. His agilities were 4.33 and 7.00 and he had a 10’1” long jump. He threw about 70 passes and showed very good accuracy as well as good arm strength and a tight ball. While I don’t see Grayson going in the first round, it wouldn’t shock me if it happened. More than likely he goes in the second. Central Florida – March 25th Breshad Perriman – WR – Perriman did not work out at Indy so there were scouts and coaches from just about every team in attendance. He didn’t disappoint. He ran twice, timing 4.25 and 4.27. He also had a 37” vertical jump and a 10’7” standing long jump. He also was very consistent catching the ball. I doubt Perriman gets out of the first round. Duke – March 25th Jamison Crowder – WR/RS – Crowder did not run well at Indy and needed to improve on his time which he did. Crowder ran twice and both times, broke 4.50, with his fastest being 4.47. At 5086 – 176, Crowder is limited to being a slot receiver, but he also has enough return talent to eventually be a club’s top return specialist. Houston – March 26th Deontay Greenberry – WR – The junior entry had a very productive career at Houston but was not invited to the Combine. At his pro day he measure 6’1 – 211 and he ran 4.51. He also had a 35.5” vertical and a 9’8” long jump. Don’t be surprised to see his named called around the sixth round come draft weekend. LSU – March 27th Most of the top prospects at LSU stood on their Combine numbers and did only positional drills. OT La’el Collins and LB Kwon Alexander both had strong positional workouts. Corner Jalen Collins recently had foot surgery and did not workout. The surgery could drop him a little but not much. Danielle Hunter – OLB/DE – He weighed in at 251 and had an outstanding workout. He jumped 10’10” in the long jump as well as 36.5” in the vertical. His 3-cone was an outstanding 6.98. He already ran fast at Indy (4.58), so speed wasn’t a question. In drill work, he looked comfortable dropping into coverage and catching the ball. TCU – March 27th Paul Dawson – ILB – As I mentioned yesterday in my top Inside Linebackers article, Dawson improved on his slow 40 time at Indy, running an average of 4.80 in his two 40 yard dashes. While that will help him, I doubt he gets into the first round. Coming up There are still a number of important pro days in the coming days. Tuesday, Florida State will work out. After that, there is Miami on Wednesday, Washington on Thursday, and Florida on Friday. Indiana running back Tevin Coleman will work out April 15th. Randy Gregory tests positive One of the bigger news items of the week was Nebraska defensive end Randy Gregory admitting he tested positive for marijuana at the Combine. I don’t think it will hurt him as much as some people think. The fact that he was the one who made the announcement shows he owned up to his mistake and didn’t come out with some BS excuse. While he will drop some, it won’t be drastic. If clubs had him tied with someone like Vic Beasley or Dante Fowler, it could mean he losses the tie breaker. In the end, I don’t think he drops more than about 6 to 8 slots. Instead of being a potential top 10 selection, he may get drafted in the teens. Follow Greg on Twitter @greggabe

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