Today’s Topic: How Is Ohio State’s Pro Day Run?
Wednesday is Ohio State’s annual Pro Day. Fourteen Buckeyes will be taking part in front of what should be all 32 NFL teams, some AAF teams, a Canadian team or two, and maybe even some XFL personnel.
Those OSU players who will be taking part are linebacker Dante Booker, defensive end Nick Bosa, receivers Parris Campbell, Terry McLaurin and Johnnie Dixon, quarterback Dwayne Haskins, defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones, offensive linemen Michael Jordan, Demetrius Knox, Malcolm Pridgeon, and Isaiah Prince, running back Mike Weber, cornerback Kendall Sheffield, and kicker Sean Nuernberger.
1️⃣4️⃣ #Buckeyes continue their pursuit towards the next level tomorrow
⏰ 11:30AM ET
? @espn @nflnetwork #GoBucks #DevelopedHere pic.twitter.com/gEXTJZyJjw— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) March 19, 2019
The NFL Network has a two-hour block of time starting at 1:00 pm, but their daily viewing schedule is usually pretty fluid. ESPN’s NFL Live will air in its usual 1:30 pm time slot, so that may be when their coverage could kick in.
Today’s topic was one that was sent in by a reader a while ago because they were curious about OSU’s pro day process, so today is a good time to finally get around to addressing it.
This year the event will begin at 11:30 and lasts for three hours or so. Strength coach Mickey Marotti keeps things organized, as one position group works out in the middle of the field at a time. Coaches and scouts run the drills.
The day usually begins with players running the 40-yard dash so that they can be at their fastest.
Times are not given at the time, so reporters generally have to check with players after the fact, or talkative NFL personnel, or family. If the time isn’t very good, don’t expect a player to broadcast it.
Under Jim Tressel, strength coach Eric Lichter would be at the end of the 40-yard mark with a stopwatch and would send hand-signals to each player after they ran. If a player ran a 4.42, Lichter would hold up four fingers, then another four, then a two. It was a great way to gather the one piece of info that everybody actually wants to know coming out of these things.
Nowadays, there’s just a bunch of us mediafolk standing on the sideline using the stopwatch on our phones and seeing times range from 3.8 to 5.5 seconds. If you just average them all, it’s probably kind of accurate.
Each year, there is also a player or three from nearby smaller schools participating as well. Last year, Otterbein WR Hunter Joseph and Urbana WR Trevon Saunders took part, but probably because JT Barrett needed bodies to throw to. Even Brian Hartline helped out in that regard last year.
With three Buckeye receivers taking part this year, Hartline shouldn’t be needed. For Dwayne Haskins, having his three receivers to throw to should make everyone look good.
Nick Bosa will be in attendance, but has let teams know that he will not be working out. He is standing pat on his Combine performance.
That’s something else about Pro Day — not every player will do every drill. If they feel they nailed the 40 in Indianapolis, there would be no reason to run it again in Columbus. Parris Campbell and Terry McLaurin have no reason to run it, for instance, after running in the 4.3s at the Combine.
Don’t expect Kendall Sheffield to do too much following his pectoral injury at the NFL Combine while taking part in the bench press.
The bench press, by the way, takes place in the weight room away from the media’s prying eyes.
Each position group will be put their their paces during the day, and later in the afternoon we will have coverage of much of it.
It can be a bit chaotic, but some good stuff generally comes from it.
