Tag: EXOS

2023 NFL Draft: Inside the last-minute prep for the combine’s biggest names

Draft prospects have been training for weeks to ace the combine. Here’s how it looks as the clock ticks down to the on-field drills.

INDIANAPOLIS — The scene is several rooms of the lower lobby of the Omni Severin Hotel in downtown Indy. TCU receiver Quentin Johnston and Tennessee receiver Cedric Tillman are running alternating practice 40-yard dashes in a makeshift training center. Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell is stretching on the floor next to a television replaying a Steelers-Ravens game. Down the hall, a staff of nutritionists are putting together food plans for 99 scouting combine participants in which the amount of meat is measured in actual cows.

There’s a hot tub and a cold tub in a small fitness center, and in that same 40-yard dash place, there are massage tables and exercise bikes and treadmills aplenty. Tulane running back Tyjae Spears is leaping and hopping when he’s not running his own practice dashes, and guys are burning up those treadmills in frantic shifts as everybody gets ready for the biggest set of job interviews of their young lives.

The pressure isn’t just on the prospects. It’s also on EXOS, the multi-state performance center charged with making these prospects the best they can possibly be for everything from positional drills to interviews with teams. Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik has been hired as a consultant to prepare everyone for the latter, and there’s a very large staff of professionals working frantically to get those last few reps in before things get very real on the Lucas Oil Stadium turf Thursday through Sunday.

EXOS’s list of combine participants reads like a lot of the first round of any mock draft when you filter it up top: There’s Johnston, Alabama edge-rusher Will Anderson Jr., Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez, Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon, LSU edge-rusher BJ Ojulari, Alabama safety Brian Branch, Tennessee receiver Jalin Hyatt, Ohio State receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Florida guard O’Cyrus Torrence, Ohio State offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr., and on and on.

EXOS’s efforts are just as (probably more) important for the prospects on the fringe, though — the guys who are hoping to perhaps move from the third day of the draft to the second, or from an undrafted free agent future to any part of the draft at all.

Exos gets top NFL draft prospects ready for the combine in every way

For over 20 years, Exos has been preparing the top talent in the NFL draft for their biggest job interview

If you’re looking for the top prospects in any given NFL draft class this time of year, chances are you’ll find a sizable chunk of them gathered at an Exos training facility.

One of the premier athletic performance hubs in the business, Exos has been providing elite training and preparation for the NFL’s most talented draft hopefuls for more than 20 years.

Among this year’s talented players training at Exos’ facility in Arizona are a pair of Texas Longhorn defenders in linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and Keondre “Snacks” Coburn, as well as Tennessee Volunteers offensive tackle Darnell Wright.

“Well, for one thing, they’re making everything easier,” says Overshown, a potential Day 2 selection in this year’s draft. “You don’t have to go too far, they’ve got food, massage tables, treatment. The physical therapists are the best. Some of the best in the business that work with some of the best athletes, some guys that just won the Super Bowl. Being here is one of the best decisions I’ve made in this process.”

(Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

Exos’ attention to detail in how they customize training plans and prepare athletes for specific combine events continues to stand out for the players.

“They’ve helped me in so many different ways,” says Coburn, one of this year’s top interior defenders. “They’ve helped me get my flexibility better than it has been, working on little things like that. Not trying to strain to where you’re killing yourself, but knowing how to work in a step-by-step process to get better. My time out here has been amazing.”

Just as important as the physical training is the mental preparation for making the jump from college to the pros, and Exos makes sure their athletes are as prepared in the classroom and the playbook as they are on the field.

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

“We’ve done everything from specific training drills, to what we’re gonna do at the combine,” says Wright, who could end up being a first-round pick. “That’s what everybody’s doing right now. We’ve been on the board, going over some NFL stuff, NFL terms. We’ve gone over pretty much everything.”

Most recently, three of the top four picks in the 2022 NFL draft were Exos trained (Travon Walker, Derek Stingley and Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner), along with 4 of the top 10 picks, 13 (40%) first-round picks, and 43 of the Top 100 draftees.

A stellar performance at the combine can launch a prospect up the board on draft day, and spending time at Exos continues to be one of the most proven ways to make that happen.