Pro Day musings
By Paul Dehner
Nothing quite brings out the boring like Pro Day - at least for us media folks. Sure, for the players, there's plenty to prove, months of hard work to show off and impressions to make. Yet, for the most part, even if "something" happens, nothing happens.
Some of the eight UC seniors working out had better days than other, but unless you are in the brain or meeting rooms with the 27 teams represented nobody knows who really made an impression that will be parlayed into a move up or down a draft board.
That said, with all this standing around, there's plenty of chatting done with current players, former players, coaches and even the contingent of us media stiffs on hand.
--- There were a few favorite moments - none including the impromptu 40-yard dash myself and The Enquirer's Joe Reedy posted chasing after what we thought was a departing Vidal Hazelton.
First, great talking to OL Jason Kelce, who didn't work out after posting fantastic numbers at the combine. Kelce also spoke with Tommy G, if you'd like to hear his interview here. When discussing the uncertainty of the lockout, Kelce called it "awkward" before joking around about contingency plans.
"I haven't talked to me agents yet. I have thought that if there isn't a season maybe I'll do some construction or something to stay busy with my hands."
Few prospects endured a more eventful last few months than Kelce. He dealt with appendicitis around his time at the combine and weighed in much lower than his desired weight. He hoped to show up at 295 and show off his quickness while carrying the extra poundage. He ended up at 280 after all was said and done with his medical problems. He's attempting to pack those pounds back on for the three private meetings he has planned with teams over the next month.
While his combine numbers were among the best by offensive linemen, he understands an asterisk is next to them because of how light he was in Indy.
"The interest has upped (since the combine), it's better," he said. "It would have been up even more had I weighed even heavier."
--- Best single number of the day? Ben Guidugli pushed up 28 reps of 220 pounds on the bench. That would have been the best number for a tight end at the combine.
This was a big day for Guidugli, who fell off after being a two-year starter entering his senior season as a Sporting News Preseason second team All America.
Guidugli looked like a guy in the best shape of his life owned the weight room portion of the proceedings. His 34-inch vertical was tops on the team and darn impressive from a guy weighing in at 234 pounds.
Clearly, Guidugli has trained and worked out like a player who feels he has a point to prove. Not unlike during his career, Guidugli wasn't afraid to talk openly about it.
"I definitely did (have a point to prove)," Guidugli said. "Three-year starter, no invite to the combine? I definitely have a chip on my shoulder."
Guidugli was frustrated with his performance during the drills session in the bubble. Many of the players expressed concern with the turf in the bubble which is so new that is softer than that in Nippert. The temperatures were chilly in the low 40s, so the decision was made to work out inside rather than force the athletes to attempt to stay warm in the cold.
Yet, Guidugli thought it might have been a faster track in Nippert, but realizes risking tweaked hamstrings and other side effects to working out in the cold made the move a necessity.
"Everybody feels like this turf is slow because its newer and longer," he said. "I don't know, it's not as fast as Nippert's turf. It hasn't been used as much. That's something we can't control, but I would have liked to have been out on The Nip. Everyone wanted to go outside, but with the weather you can't really run when its cold out."
--- Jake Rogers enjoyed a nice day. Not only did he boomed what we gueestimated to be about a 60-yard punt in the air when kicking to Vidal Hazelton outside, but did extremely well on kickoffs and field goals.
He was booming kickoffs that were nearly scrapping the top of the bubble and landing in the end zone.
Rogers was very accurate from all over the field during the field goal session. Considering his leg strength he showed off, it would be hard to foresee some team not giving him a chance.
--- One of the biggest downsides of the lockout for many of the players who participated on Monday, is that there will be no signing of undrafted free agents until the labor situation is settled. That places more emphasis on being among those selected in the seven-round draft. Without being selected, they could be waiting another five or six months to see their stock rise or fall or find out what their next move will be. Far from ideal.
--- Ran into Maalik Bomar, who said he is up to 218 pounds. He said he played last year at 206. He's hoping to be at 225 pounds by the time the season comes.
That means plenty of trips through the buffet line.
"I hate all food right now," he said. "Even stuff that looks great is hard to eat because I am eating so much."
--- Even with Bomar's addition of lbs, he's saving all his fat jokes for Walter Stewart, who looks huge.
"I call him Pillsbury Doughboy," Bomar said.
Stewart put on about 20 pounds since the season ended as part of his transition to the hybrid defensive end position.
--- Much of the focus of the day was on Vidal Hazelton. He may have been a little nervous and had some problems with rolling starts and some slipping in the cone drills. His 40-yard dash time was a little low at 4.63 and 4.62 in two attempts.
Yet, the time in his cone/acceleration drills were great prior to the slips and once he took to the field running routes, it became apparent why he's such an intriguing prospect. Hazelton looked great breaking in and out of cuts and even made a nice spinning catch a pass behind his back.
As I mentioned at the top, it's hard to say how much anybody helped or hurt themselves today, but Hazelton certainly showed off his health and athleticism.
"I think it was real important for scouts to see me catch the ball," Hazelton said. "The film (game) isn't there but you can tell talent when you could see it. That was the biggest thing for me here today. All the agility and testing is cool. The biggest thing is to catch the ball, get upfield."
He's expecting a busy next month of meeting with teams and workouts.
--- As for pure numbers, John Goebel's popped off the page more than anyone else's.
Goebel ran workout-low 4.48 40-yard dash with a fantastic 10-foot-6 in the broad jump and 33-inch vertical leap.
http://www.gobearcats.com/blog/2011/03/pro-day-musings.html
