2015 NFL Draft: Five Takeaways from this week's Pro Day workouts

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2015 NFL Draft: Five Takeaways from this week’s Pro Day workouts
By Rob Rang | The Sports Xchange/CBSSports.com
March 13, 2015 8:25 pm ET

It isn’t often that the Pro Day at Alabama is a relative after-thought but with projected first round picks Amari Cooper and Landon Collins standing on their sterling workouts from the NFL Scouting Combine, the biggest news from Week Two of the Pro Day season was elsewhere.

That isn’t to say that Tuscaloosa wasn’t a popular or worthwhile stopping point for scouts. Running back T.J. Yeldon shaved a tenth of a second off of his 40-yard dash time and he, Cooper and Collins each enjoyed outstanding positional workouts. Nothing they did during their on-campus drills, however, significantly altered their already lofty stock. That wasn’t the case elsewhere.

NFLDraftScout.com reviews the five biggest storylines of this week’s on-campus Pro Day workouts and how they will impact the 2015 NFL Draft.

5. WVU much more than just Kevin White:

No player boosted his stock more this season than White, who leapt past Cooper on some draft boards by measuring in bigger, stronger and faster than the Biletnikoff Award winner at the combine. At West Virginia’s Pro Day on Friday, however, White elected to sit on his stellar combine performance (which included a 4.35 second 40-yard dash), which provided an opportunity for fellow receiver Mario Alford to steal the spotlight. The 5-foot-8 (and a 1/2), 180 pounder was clocked at 4.28 seconds in the 40-yard dash according to a scout in attendance, which would have tied Alabama-Birmingham’s J.J. Nelson for the fastest time at the Combine. Alford, who was clocked at 4.43 seconds in Indianapolis, is hardly just a workout warrior. He caught 65 passes for 945 yards and actually led the Mountaineers (and Big 12) with 11 touchdown receptions last season. He also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.

Alford currently sits just outside of NFLDraftScout.com’s draftable rankings as the No. 46-rated receiver in 2015 but given the explosiveness he’s demonstrated, it isn’t difficult to imagine a team investing at least late round selection in the speedy Mountaineer, a program that also boasts underrated talent in defensive end Shaq Riddick and offensive lineman Mark Glowinski.

4. Brett Hundley makes his case to be the No. 3 QB:

A few years ago, a dubious Pete Carroll expressed doubt that his then-young quarterback Mark Sanchez was ready to make the NFL jump. That didn’t stop Sanchez from becoming the No. 5 overall pick of the 2009 draft. After a stellar performance at his on-campus workout Tuesday, Hundley showed the combination of size, athleticism and arm talent to also climb up draft boards, though Jim Mora questioned whether his former pupil could be walk into the NFL and start immediately.

With Hundley’s experience coming from a spread scheme that took full advantage of his graceful running, perhaps he isn’t yet ready to start in a traditional pro-style attack. Given Hundley’s production (11,718 total yards and 105 touchdowns over three seasons), upside and high character grades, however, he’s distancing himself from the other quarterbacks in this class in the race to follow Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota off the board.

“I’m really, really happy with what I did and satisfied with it. I felt like I put on a show today,” Hundley said after completing 57 of 60 passes in the workout. “I feel like I can just relax a little but there’s no break. I’ve got to keep going and keep getting better.”

3. DGB doing AOK

While Cooper, White and Louisville’s DeVante Parker generally get most of the buzz in yet another exciting wide receiver class, the most gifted receiver in the 2015 draft is Dorial Green-Beckham. The former top prep prospect was a man amongst boys while starring for Missouri early in his career and wowed scouts at the combine by registering a 4.49-second 40-yard dash after measuring in at a Calvin Johnson-like 6-foot-5, 237 pounds.

Green-Beckham was even better during his Pro Day workout at Oklahoma, according to scouts who were in attendance. He showed off his remarkable fluidity and acceleration for such a big man and easily plucked the ball out of the air, showing off the massive catch radius and concentration that should ultimately make him an NFL star.

Most importantly, Green-Beckham earned positive reviews at the combine and his Pro Day for his accountability and honesty during interviews with clubs. Further, I’m told coaches at Oklahoma are vouching for Green-Beckham’s commitment and hold no grudges for his declaring early for the draft.

2. Other well-known pass-catchers boost stock at Pro Day

The stock of Michigan wideout Devin Funchess took a tumble at the combine when he was clocked at 4.70 seconds in the 40-yard dash. However, the 6-foot-4, 232 pounder was clocked much faster on Thursday, recording a time of 4.48 seconds, according to the Wolverines’ official athletic website — a performance that could vault him right back into second round consideration.

In reality, Funchess is probably not as fast as he was clocked at his Pro Day nor as slow as he appeared during his Combine workout. Frankly, Funchess looks like a 4.55 player on tape. He possesses the long-strides, body control and sticky hands that have helped standouts in the NFC South like Vincent Jackson (Tampa Bay) and Kelvin Benjamin (Carolina) emerge as touchdown machines.

While Funchess needed an improved 40-yard dash time to steady his stock, scouts were eager to see Southern Cal’s Nelson Agholor work out after his combine performance was interrupted by a dislocated finger suffered during pass-catching drills. The slippery 6-0, 198-pounder “looked good” according to a high-ranking scout on hand for the Trojans’ Pro Day, standing out in his position drills almost as much as his teammate Leonard Williams — NFLDraftScout.com’s top-ranked prospect overall — did in his.

1. Mariota under center and under attack?

The biggest storyline of Week Two of the Pro Days was unquestionably the throwing session from Oregon’s Marcus Mariota. I attended the workout personally and was generally impressed with Mariota’s workout, though I acknowledge that completing 57 of 65 passes “against air” is not ideal.

The workout designed by QB tutor and new Cleveland Browns’ quarterback coach Kevin O’Connell for Mariota was not an easy one. For a passer whose success was come almost strictly out of shotgun, to take each snap from under center and fire with rhythm and accuracy to all level of the fields is asking a lot. I saw improvement from Mariota in the post-corner routes in which he struggled most during his combine workout and thought that his receivers might have been as much to blame for missed connections on deep outs and verticals as the quarterback.

Some have criticized Mariota’s performance and they are certainly entitled to their opinion. I wonder how much of their critique is based on Mariota’s video game-like numbers in Oregon’s relatively easy system that saw him complete 68.3% of his passes and throw 42 touchdowns against just four interceptions. The throws O’Connell asked Mariota to make Thursday were not of the quick-screen variety.

Was it a scintillating performance that closed the gap between he and Winston to be the first quarterback selected? No.

But given Mariota’s minimal experience throwing out of three, five and seven step drops and the significantly more difficult passes he was attempting, I thought it was a good demonstration of his natural talent and a workout likely to keep him among the first six players selected in the draft.

Mario Alford is another WVU receiver getting some attention. (USATSI) Mario Alford is another WVU receiver getting some attention. (USATSI)