Pro day offers second chances

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Shut out from this year’s NFL combine, 11 former Jayhawk football players had their opportunity to impress NFL scouts Tuesday with Kansas’ annual pro day.

Scouts from eight NFL teams were on hand to observe wide receiver Ray Brown, center Ryan Cantrell, wide receiver Dexton Fields, cornerback Kendrick Harper, wide receiver Marcus Herford, linebacker James Holt, offensive guard Adrian Mayes, linebacker Joe Mortensen, safety Pat Resby, linebacker Mike Rivera and defensive lineman James McClinton.

Photo by Ryan Waggoner

Former Kansas football player James McClinton runs a drill for scouts at KU’s pro day at Anschutz Sports Pavillion on Tuesday morning. The event is organized as an opportunity for KU players with hopes of being drafted to work out for pro scouts in a comfortable setting.

The players were weighed and measured then participated in a series of drills — including the 40-yard dash, bench press, and vertical leap, among others — before finishing the day with positional drills.

“It was an awesome day,” Rivera said afterward in a released statement. “It was a lot of fun to come back out here one more time with this group of seniors to see what we can do.”

A fixture alongside Rivera at linebacker, Mortensen also participated as a fullback in some drills.

“I was all-state at fullback in California,” Mortensen said. “I just love to hit, so it doesn’t really matter which side of the ball it is.”

breakbox

Mark your calendars

Today: Practice open to public, 3:30 p.m.

March 27: Practice open to public, 3:30 p.m.

April 11: Spring game, 2 p.m.

For McClinton, pro day was a second chance to land on a pro roster. A senior in 2007, McClinton missed the East-West Shrine Bowl in 2008 after suffering a seizure prior to that week. He didn’t place in the top 10 of any combine tests posted by NFL.com and returned to campus as a student assistant coach for the 2008 season.

Check the Through the Uprights blog for more on the start of spring practice.

This time out, McClinton tied with Mayes to top the bench press with 23 reps of 225 pounds. Each of his 40-yard dash times were unofficially clocked at 5.2 seconds, which — if official — would be an improvement on the 5.47 he was clocked running at the 2008 NFL combine.

This year’s NFL hopefuls follow a 2008 draft that saw four Jayhawks land on NFL rosters: Aqib Talib (Tampa Bay, first round), Anthony Collins (Cincinnati, fourth round) Derek Fine (Buffalo , fourth) and Marcus Henry (New York Jets, sixth). Fine joined several of his former teammates Tuesday watching the evaluations.

— — Edited by Chris Hickerson

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