“I’m excited for them,” said Cincinnati head coach Butch Jones. “You look at everything they’ve brought to this football program, and then they’re able to display their skills today and for the National Football League.”
Scouts watched with keen eyes as players were put through a variety of tests and drills, including the 40-yard dash, 225-pound bench press, 20-yard shuttle run and 3-cone drill.
For Gilyard, Pro Day was a chance for the wide receiver to improve upon his 40-yard dash performance from the NFL Scouting Combine, where he ran the drill in 4.56 seconds.
“At the combine he did OK. He didn’t really hurt himself, but he didn’t really help himself,” said Clif Marshall, Gilyard’s trainer from Ignition Athletics Performance Group. “So what happened today was he improved on his 40-yard dash.”
Gilyard’s unofficial 40-yard dash time Wednesday was 4.47 seconds. Gilyard said the look on Marshall’s face as he crossed the finish line was all he needed to see to know he had improved his time.
“I did way better than I did at the combine. I mean, way better,” Gilyard said. “I feel like in my 40 I ran smoother, I ran better. I didn’t even need to see my time, because I know it’s better.”
Gilyard had set a goal of running a 4.5-seconds 40-yard dash and isn’t concerned when some say his time in the drill might not be fast enough to compete with top-level NFL defensive backs.
“I’m not a straight-line guy,” Gilyard said. “That’s not me, that’s not my M.O. I run away from people that run 4.3s. I’m not a 4.3-in-a-straight-line guy. I haven’t run track in forever.”
Gilyard ran a 4.03-seconds 20-yard shuttle run and posted a time of 6.71 seconds in the 3-cone drill. Both times were the lowest of the day in each event.
“I don’t think I could have run better,” Gilyard said. “I slipped a little bit in my 3-cone, but I still ran a stupid time.”
Pike elected not to run in the timed drills, but did throw for the NFL scouts on hand in passing drills and came away happy with his performance.
“I was happy with how I came out and threw today compared to the combine,” Pike said. “Overall I had a good day.”
Associate head coach and defensive backs coach Kerry Coombs was pleased with the way Pike, Gilyard and their teammates performed Wednesday.
“I think our kids have shown up extremely well,” Coombs said. “I’m very pleased with the way they’ve run and with the way they’ve tested.”
Coombs is the lone member of the Cincinnati coaching staff to have coached this year’s senior class. Jones, hired near the end of last season, wishes he could have had the chance.
“I wish we had them all back,” Jones said of the departing seniors. “But that’s the beauty of college football. Players graduate and they move on, and it’s up to the next senior class to provide stability and leadership.”
The goal of Wednesday’s Pro Day was to improve the participants’ draft stock, but Pike remains unsure of where he’ll be selected in April’s upcoming NFL Draft.
“It could be anywhere,” Pike said. “You can sneak to the late first [round], or you can drop anywhere. [Scouts] are kind of saying second or third [round] right now, but as far as that goes, you don’t know anything.”
http://www.newsrecord.org/sports/gilyard-improves-at-uc-pro-day-1.2187761