Category: College Pro Days

Georgia DT Jalen Carter comes in heavy, doing position drills only at pro day

Jalen Carter won’t do anything but positional drills at the Georgia pro day.

This is not how Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter envisioned his offseason. Carter went into prep for the 2023 NFL draft as the consensus top defensive tackle in the draft and could have made a statement to earn a pick in the Top Three. But instead, things have spiraled for Carter stemming from an off-field tragedy we are still seeing the effects of at his pro day.

According to Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy, Carter weighed in at the Georgia pro day up nine pounds from the combine and has opted not to do any testing including the 40-yard dash. Carter will only do positional drills.

Carter’s draft status remains in limbo with just over a month to the NFL draft. Carter’s film is outstanding. His game and stature remind pundits of guys like Philadelphia’s Fletcher Cox or Kansas City’s Chris Jones and if we are just going off the film, some team will get a perennial All-Pro. But his off-field concerns are real and if they spill over into his football world, teams will rightfully be cautious of investing a Top 10 pick in him.

Adetomiwa Adebawore continues his outstanding offseason at Northwestern’s pro day

Northwestern DT Adetomiwa Adebawore is both an athletic handful for blockers and a mouthful for announcers

It’s a real mouthful to say his name. Adetomiwa Adebawore takes a little practice to pronounce. It’s even harder to slow down the Northwestern defensive lineman and his momentum up the 2023 NFL draft boards.

After Adebawore’s performance on Tuesday at Northwestern’s pro day, his name should be on the lips of every NFL talent evaluator.

Adebawore continued his torrid offseason at the Wildcats’ pro day. Measuring 6-foot-2 and 282 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine, the freakish level of athleticism he showed in Indianapolis was on full display in Evanston, too. Other than being undersized, Adebawore is a supremely athletic lineman with outstanding testing scores. He’s faster and more agile than several linebackers in this draft class.

During the Senior Bowl, Adebawore thrived while playing more of a DT role than he did at Northwestern, where he spent more time playing as a supersized end. His initial burst, hand and foot quickness and ability to sink under taller blockers allowed him to dominate as a 3T. He’s got some anchor strength and understands how to use his more compact build to win the leverage battle, and his ability to smoke past slow-footed interior blockers makes those attributes more than good enough.

That’s his optimal NFL usage — think Grady Jarrett of the Falcons or Geno Atkins from the Bengals a few years ago. Atkins went in the fourth round in 2010, while Jarrett was a fifth-rounder in 2015. With his athleticism and youthful promise (he just turned 22), expect to hear his name on Day 2 of the NFL draft.

By the way, it’s pronounced add-E-TOMMY-wah add-E-BARR-eh.

 

Oregon pro day: 31 teams check out the Ducks prospects

Oregon pro day: 31 teams check out the Ducks prospects including CB Christian Gonzalez and WR Chase Cota

The Oregon Ducks held their pro day for 12 aspiring NFL draft prospects on Tuesday. Every NFL team was represented at the Ducks’ indoor training facility except the Los Angeles Rams. Most teams had multiple representatives on hand.

The headliner for the Ducks draft class is CB Christian Gonzalez, but he opted to stand pat on his outstanding NFL Scouting Combine workout numbers. Gonzalez, a potential top-10 overall pick and strong contender to be the first defensive back selected in April’s draft, did participate in position drills. He looked good, as expected,

The other top Oregon prospect, linebacker Noah Sewell, also opted not to participate in the athletic testing outside of agility drills. Sewell did position drill work as well. The 250-pound backer was cheered on by older brother Penei, the Pro Bowl right tackle for the Detroit Lions. The younger Sewell had a rough workout in Indianapolis but elected not to try and run more at the pro day, which indicates the sluggish combine performance wasn’t a fluke. Sewell currently projects as a middle-round prospect for a team that doesn’t mind heavy, slower LBs.

Wideout Chase Cota didn’t get a combine invite, but he had himself an impressive workout. Catching passes from 2024 draft prospect Bo Nix, Cota certainly helped himself according to Ducks beat writer Jared Mack,

Cota, who measured in at 6-foot-4, put up staggering numbers for his size with a 37.5 inch vertical jump, 10-foot-6 broad jump, and a 4.50 40-yard dash. With those numbers, Cota would have ranked 24th in 40 times, 14th in vertical jump, and 20th in broad jump.

Cota, a transfer from UCLA, caught 36 passes for 497 yards and three TDs in 2022, missing three games with an injury in his one season at Oregon. He is the son of former NFL safety Chad Cota.

The other Ducks who worked out:

OL Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu

P Adam Barry

OL T.J. Bass

LS Karsten Battles

OL Alex Forsyth

LB D.J. Johnson

DT Jordon Riley

OL Ryan Walk

CB Bennett Williams

South Carolina Gamecocks pro day: Cam Smith, Zacch Pickens bulk up

Clemson Tigers pro day: Trenton Simpson puts on an athletic show

Clemson Tigers pro day: LB Trenton Simpson puts on an athletic show as all 32 NFL teams watched 13 players work out

All 32 NFL teams made the short trek from Monday’s pro day circuit stop at South Carolina to the northwest corner of the state for Clemson’s athletic testing event. The Tigers have steadily churned out NFL talents over the last few years and the 2023 NFL draft will be no exception.

Many teams sent defensive coaches to Clemson’s pro day, while Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin was the only head coach in attendance. The Steelers also sent GM Omar Khan. They all got to see an impressive display from several of the 13 Tigers prospects.

Linebacker Trenton Simpson, as expected, put on quite an athletic show. The 6-foot-3, 235-pound LB showed off his explosiveness and agility in testing:

Short Shuttle 4.22
3 cone 6.89
Vertical 40.5”

Simpson clocked a 4.43 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine and also nailed the interview podium portion in Indianapolis. He’s scheduled for a private visit with the Houston Texans on Wednesday. Simpson projects in the 25-50 overall range.

The consensus top Clemson prospect in 2023, EDGE Myles Murphy, did not work out due to a minor injury. Murphy, a potential top-10 overall pick, will hold a private workout in April for interested teams.

A third Clemson defender with some first-round buzz, DT Bryan Bresee, worked out for interested coaches. His combine testing was solid but not exceptional for a 298-pound attack-style DT.

EDGE K.J. Henry, who had an impressive week of action at the Senior Bowl, also continued to help his draft stock. Henry projects on Day 2 for a team that values power-to-speed on the edge.

Tight end Davis Allen caught the ball well. His workout was run by Bengals TE coach James Casey, a former NFL tight end of similar build himself.

Pro days aren’t normally critical for kickers, but BT Potter nailed a 55-yard field goal. At minimum, Potter helped raise himself up the rung of kickers who should get several calls immediately after the draft concludes. He rewrote the placekicker record books at Clemson.

Others who worked out:

LB Jesiah Carlton

QB Hunter Johnson

LB Keith Maguire

OL Jordan McFadden

WR Joseph Ngata

TE Luke Price

DT Jabriel Robinson

CB Elijah Rodgers

2023 NFL draft: Full pro day schedule

South Carolina Gamecocks pro day: Cam Smith, Zacch Pickens bulk up

South Carolina Gamecocks pro day: CB Cam Smith and DT Zacch Pickens each added some much-needed weight

South Carolina held its annual pro day for prospective NFL players on Monday. All 32 teams made the trek to Columbia to check out the Gamecocks’ prospects for the 2023 NFL draft.

The Gamecocks have several draft-worthy players who went through testing. Most notable is CB Cam Smith, who projects as a top 50 overall talent.

2023 NFL Draft: Cam Smith scouting report

Smith weighed in three pounds heavier on Monday than he did at the NFL Scouting Combine. The jump from 180 pounds to 183 might not seem like much, but NFL teams wanted Smith to get bigger to become more comfortable with his outlook. Smith didn’t do any of the athletic metric testing but did work with the other DBs in position drills on the field.

Getting bigger is important for Smith, who mostly played the slot CB role at South Carolina.

“A lot of people value that inside position, but I need to get bigger because most of the time you’re more of a linebacker, not really a nickel,” Smith said via Emily Adams of the Greenville News. “I’m eating healthy options, but really a load of it. I do some shakes — I get two shakes a day that are like 1,300 calories so each day I’m getting like a pound off of that.”

Fellow CB Darius Rush also chose to stand on his NFL Scouting Combine testing numbers. Rush clocked a 4.36 40-yard dash time at the combine. He is generally projected in the draft’s middle rounds.

Defensive tackle Zacch Pickens, a Senior Bowl standout, also elected not to try and improve upon his combine testing. Pickens weighed in at 298 pounds, up seven from his time in Indianapolis two weeks ago. That’s an important jump for a player who has questions about his ability to anchor on the defensive interior.