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There was a bit of a lull on the pro day schedule Thursday as Notre Dame and Florida headlined the workouts. And as expected, Joe Alt of the Fighting Irish stated his case to be an early pick in the draft.
Florida Pro Day
The Gators pro day was not as well attended compared to previous years. That’s because the program has only two draftable prospects; receiver Ricky Pearsall and center Kingsley Eguakun. Both project as late day two/early day three prospects.
Eguakun had a solid day on Thursday. He timed 7.3 seconds in the three cone, 4.4 seconds in the short shuttle, touched 32 inches in the vertical jump and 9-feet in the broad. The mobile center, who measured 6-foot-3.5 and 304 pounds at the Combine, looked good in position drills.
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Eguakun is getting a lot of interest from center needy teams Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s conceivable whichever team does not come away with Jackson Powers-Johnson in round one use a pick on Eguakun later on in the draft.
Notre Dame Pro Day
There was a massive crowd on hand in South Bend for the Fighting Irish. Among those in attendance were head coaches Dan Quinn and Mike McCarthy as well as Commanders general manager Adam Peters. And the Fighting Irish players put on a show.
Offensive tackle Joe Alt was sensational for the more than half dozen teams who traveled to see him. A massive lineman at 6-8.5-inches and 321 pounds, people were impressed by how incredibly Alt moved around the field. He looked flexible, smooth and “bendy”. People said they felt bad for his teammate Blake Fisher- not because the underclassman offensive lineman did poorly, rather it was impossible to match Alt’s performance. The Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars ran the position drills while coaches from the Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers and New York Jets followed the action closely.
Sam Hartman looked good throwing the ball and did not miss. The problem for Hartman at pro day was he was unable to drive passes or get speed on throws- something I mentioned from Senior Bowl practices and Combine workouts.
Running back Audric Estime fared much better today than in Indianapolis, where he timed 4.71 seconds in the forty. Clocks had Estime under 4.60 seconds today and he moved well in position drills.
Linebacker Marist Liufau continued his upward momentum on draft boards. Liufau, who timed 4.64 seconds at the Combine, ran 4.27 seconds in the short shuttle and 7.15 seconds in the three cone. He looked terrific in position drills. Scouts love Liufau’s versatility and compare him to Frankie Luvu of the Commanders. Liufau is forceful off the edge or against the run but also shows the ability to play in coverage and is expected to be a special teams ace.
UAB Pro Day
Entering the season Tejhaun Palmer was not on the scouting radar but that changed after a senior campaign which included 47 receptions for 858 yards and 7 TD’s. His draft stock continued to climb after three solid days of Shrine Bowl practice and really took off after today’s pro day.
Twenty teams showed up in Birmingham solely for Palmer, including wide receiver coaches for the New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals.
Palmer who measured 6-foot-1.5-inches and 210 pounds at the Shrine Bowl, timed as fast as 4.44 seconds in the forty at pro day, touched 35 inches in the vertical jump and 10-foot-2 in the broad jump before pulling a hamstring.
The Jets, Bengals, Broncos and Chargers all spent extensive time with Palmer. I’m told the Jets and Broncos want to workout Palmer individually in the coming weeks but that will be decided based on how quickly his hamstring get back to 100%.
Holy Cross Pro Day
Thirty teams attended Holy Cross pro day, a large number for a small northeast school. Most were on hand to primarily watch two draftable players who performed at the Combine. Among the attendees from the NFL were Kansas City Chiefs Director of Pro Personnel Tim Terry and Dan Shamash of the New York Jets.
Holy Cross offensive lineman C.J. Hanson weighed in at 306 pounds, six heavier than Indianapolis, and completed 25 reps on the bench press. He was run through position drills by the New England Patriots and looked smooth in all his movements. The Philadelphia Eagles had a scout on hand who took special interest in Hanson.
Dylan Laube of New Hampshire also took part in the workout, participating in drills, including catching punts for more than 20 minutes. Laube had a solid Senior Bowl week followed by a good Combine workout and has cemented himself as a day three pick. He’s a Swiss army knife handing the ball at running back, as a pass catcher and return specialist. I’m told Dan Shamash, listed as the Jets special teams assistant, was locked in on Laube.
But the star of the show was the mother of C.J. Hanson, Diane Macchia, fondly known as “Mama D.”
Mama D prepared a homemade wedding reception buffet for scouts on hand complete with Italian hero’s, shrimp cocktail, Ceasar salad and homemade football-shaped oreo cookies. Mama D also had doggy bags prepared for scouts as they left the pro day workout.
Several scouts on hand quipped they would push their franchise to draft Hanson with the promise his mother would accompany the offensive lineman and cook for the team!
