Tag: Southeastern

Pro Day roundup: Jaguars well-represented at South Carolina workout

The Jaguars are making the pro day rounds, which has included stops at South Carolina, Texas, and Clemson.

Teams across the NFL are dishing out big money to acquire free agents, but the Jacksonville Jaguars have been watching from the sideline.

After weeks of reports that the Jaguars are focusing on building through the 2023 NFL Draft following their 2022 spending spree, those prognostications have come to fruition. Through the first 24 hours of the legal tampering period, Jacksonville reached no agreements with any pending free agents and watched as right tackle Jawaan Taylor and tight end Chris Manhertz found deals elsewhere.

Much of the Jaguars’ attention was instead in Columbia, S.C. where the South Carolina Gamecocks held their pro day. Reportedly in attendance for the workout were the team’s defensive backs coach Deshea Townsend and defensive line coach Brentson Buckner.

South Carolina has one of the top cornerback prospects in Cam Smith as well as cornerback Darius Rush, who may be a Day 2 selection. The Gamecocks also have defensive tackle Zacch Pickens, who was put through his Monday workout by Buckner.

Pickens measured in at 6’4, 291 pounds at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine. He was one of six defensive tackles at the event to finish his 40-yard dash in under 4.9 seconds and one of four to eclipse 30 inches in the vertical jump.

Other pro days:

  • The Jaguars were one of two teams (along with the Buccaneers) present at the Southeastern University Pro Day, according to running back Bryan Bell. The back was a four-time All-Conference selection in the NAIA’s Sun Conference.
  • The Jaguars were one of six teams spotted at the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks Pro Day. The top prospect to watch was Mac Hippenhammer, a former Penn State receiver who twice earned All-MAC honors after transferring in 2020.
  • All 32 teams were reportedly in attendance at the Texas Pro Day. The headliner, running back Bijan Robinson, didn’t participate but Texas also has defensive lineman Moro Ojomo and running back Roschon Johnson among the other notables.
  • The Jaguars were among 13 teams at the UNLV Pro Day last week where all eyes were on linebackers Adam Plant Jr. and Austin Ajake.
  • All 32 teams were in attendance at the Clemson Pro Day on Tuesday where pass rusher Myles Murphy, defensive lineman Bryan Bresee, and linebacker Trenton Simpson are all hoping to be first-round selections.

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Power 5 administrator on college football starting on time: ‘Everyone is pessimistic’

One Power 5 administrator says everyone is not exactly sure that college football will happen on time this fall.

On Wednesday, the Ivy League announced that it will not be holding any fall events. It seems that might be the case for more conferences to come, per 247Sports’ Brandon Marcello.

“Everyone is pessimistic,” in regards to an on-time start to the season, one Power 5 administrator told 247Sports this week.

With the COVID-19 pandemic still hitting parts of the nation, including the Southeast, hard, the idea that playing college football this fall is becoming one less that seems reasonable.

“We said from the onset of this pandemic that circumstances around the virus would guide our decision-making, and it is clear recent developments related to COVID-19 have not been trending in the right direction,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said. “There are important decisions to be made in the coming weeks and by late July there should be more clarity about the fall season. In the meantime, our athletics programs will continue to effectively manage the health and safety of our student-athletes as they continue voluntary activities on their respective campuses.”

From Marcello:

“Several conferences will utilize as much time as possible before making decisions throughout the fall. The SEC is expected to make a decision on whether to continue the season as planned in late July or early August, but they are not expected to entertain a full cancellation of fall sports as early as August, a source said. Most Power 5 conferences are willing to wait until the 11th hour and re-evaluate circumstances on a week-to-week basis through the fall, though many within the conference offices, particularly in the ACC, Pac-12 and SEC, have questioned the logistics of keeping players on campus if the season is delayed more than once.

“As it relates to thresholds of numbers of teams to conduct a season, we have modeled out many different scenarios for conducting a season but have not set thresholds in this regard,” Larry Scott said of the Pac-12

Meanwhile, on the ground, FBS schools continue to fight the virus on campuses that resemble ghost towns without student populations. Some athletic programs have been successful maintaining a bubble (Notre Dame has one positive test among 252 COVID-19 tests conducted within its athletics department since mid-June) while others shut down team activities (Kansas, Kansas State, Houston and Boise State) amid small outbreaks.

Optimism ebbs and flows.

“It depends on the week,” said a Power 5 head coach requesting anonymity. “I’m trying to stay positive and keep our guys safe and healthy right now.””

The upcoming weeks are going to be extremely important for whether we see our favorite teams take the field on time in September.