An Opportunity Missed

This is not how Texas A&M's draft prospects expected to spend Pro Day: Swimming in a pool at a vacant house, punting in an open field, running through neighborhoods and on public tracks and doing body weight workouts. But that's exactly what 10 former football players will do Tuesday.
 
Instead of working out in front of NFL scouts at the McFerrin Athletic Center, Braden Mann, Charles Oliver, Mitchell Howard, Quartney Davis, Justin Madubuike, Kendrick Rogers, Marquez Johnson, Debione Renfro, Antonio Howard and Nick Harvey will work out on their own as they practice social distancing.
 
"It's tough for sure," Madubuike said. "Not all my teammates got invited to the combine, so I wanted them to have the opportunity to showcase what they can for NFL scouts. Without having that, it's pretty unfortunate. I believe the NFL is working on different ways to contact people and get film in some way, somehow, in some form.
 
"I know I wanted to get better on some jumps and stuff like that. It's too bad for all of us."
 
A&M announced the cancellation of the Pro Day on March 17, the same day the SEC canceled the seasons for the league's spring sports.
 
By then, many NFL teams already had pulled their scouts off the road in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only a handful of colleges that had a Pro Day scheduled for early March held it with scouts in attendance as planned.
 
It's turned the NFL Draft, scheduled for April 23-25, into something of a crapshoot for teams.
 
"Let's just take one position this year," Hall of Fame scout Gil Brandt, a draft analyst for NFL Media, said. "There were 42 corners at the combine this year. Only 14 of the 42 did everything that was expected. What happens is when you go to these schools and you work these guys, there are other guys who come to your attention. Those other guys who come to your attention every year are guys that turn out to be low draft choices. A perfect example is Wes Martin, a guard from Indiana, who Washington drafted in the fourth round last year. He wasn't at the combine, and if it were not for Pro Day, he would never have gotten drafted. He started five games for the Redskins last year.
 
"There are all kinds of guys who, because of Pro Day, get selected higher than they would have otherwise."
 
Most of the Aggie prospects spent thousands of dollars training for their one day to impress. Only Madubuike, Davis, Mann and Rogers were invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis in February.
 
That left the school's other six prospects with one chance to run, jump, lift and do position drills for scouts.
 
"I was up in McKinney at the Michael Johnson Performance Center for 10 to 12 weeks training for the Pro Day," Oliver said. "When I got word, it was canceled, I was looking for somewhere to work out. I went back [home] to Fairfield, but everything is closed. I couldn't get into my high school weight room or anything like that. So I'm back in College Station, just trying to work on speed work and things I can do on the field. I can't focus too much on the weight room right now.
 
"It's tough not to be able to compete at the Pro Day. Not only me, but I know there were a lot of us who needed this exposure. It does hurt. But we've just got to stay focused and wait for our opportunity."
 
Mann remains in College Station, punting wherever he can find a field. The 2018 Ray Guy Award winner recently sent film to NFL teams of him kicking field goals just to show he can do it.
 
Madubuike has found a unique way to train: He's swimming laps at his parents' old house, which currently is vacant after their move to a new house in the Dallas area. He also is running at Melissa High School and stretching at home.
 
Madubuike had visits scheduled to some 10 NFL teams' training facilities. Those, like the Pro Day, were canceled, other than the one visit he got in before the NFL imposed travel restrictions. He has had some Facetime visits with teams.
 
"The film speaks for itself," Madubuike said. "That's all we have now."
 
The Aggie prospects hope that's enough.
 
Renfro and Oliver might have benefited from A&M's Pro Day more than anyone else. Renfro started all three seasons at cornerback after arriving in 2017 but never had an interception in 28 starts. Oliver moved from outside corner into the slot as a senior and led the Aggies with 14 pass breakups.
 
Both could have improved their odds of being drafted with a good Pro Day.
 
Defensive backs' workout numbers are more important than at any other position, with the three-cone drill and short shuttle providing a clue whether a prospect has a realistic shot of playing in the NFL.
 
Oliver predicts he would have surprised scouts with his speed.
 
"I would have loved to have seen those two corners workout," Dane Brugler, the draft analyst for The Athletic, said. "When you look at it, cornerback is a stop-watch position more so than another position. If you go out there and run in the 4.4s, you're going to get drafted, especially a guy like Oliver. He's 6-2, pushing 200 pounds. If he would have gone out there and run a really good time, at that size, that's something that's going to get you extra looks at the very least. Renfro, too, he's over 6-1, 200 pounds."
 
As it stands, Brugler projects only the four Aggies who went to the Combine to hear their names called during the three-day draft.
 
Madubuike, a defensive tackle, is at the head of the class. He ran a 4.83 in the 40-yard dash, did 31 reps in the 225-pound bench press and ran a 7.37 in the three-cone drill at the combine.
 
Brugler projects him as a second-day draft choice, with a "good chance" Madubuike hears his name called in the second round.
 
"He's still a little raw," Brugler said. "He's not really a refined player right now. But he's power-packed. He's twitched up. He can win the point of attack. I think you project him as being that three-technique with upside. He's not at his ceiling yet. He can get better and better. He plays with power. I really like the way he uses his hands, his pad level. He's got those heavy hands where he can work through guys but also has the quickness where he can be a little too much for blockers at times. I want to see him be a little more efficient as a pass rusher, but at least I think you know he has the ability to do it. It's about getting with the right coaching and unlocking that ability."
 
Brugler projects Davis, who made 99 catches for 1,201 yards and 11 touchdowns the past two seasons, as a mid- to late-round pick; Mann, as the top punter, will hear his name called "somewhere on day three"; and Rogers, who had 68 catches for 786 yards and seven touchdowns the past three seasons, should go late in the seven-round draft.
 
There's nothing any of them can do now to improve their draft stock.
 
With no Pro Day, no visits to team facilities and no private workouts, the waiting game has begun earlier than usual.
 
"With this whole COVID-19 thing, it's all weird," Mann said. "Staying healthy is obviously the No. 1 priority. I've had all my opportunities, and now, it's just kind of waiting for the process to play out. There's nothing else I can really do except send film and try to keep in shape as best I can."