Iowa Hawkeyes Arizona Wildcat Proday Recap

Proday reporting isn’t the greatest, but here is some news I could find on the two prodays of note on Monday: Iowa’s and Arizona’s.

There is only one first round prospect between the two schools and that is Iowa OL Riley Reiff. But there are a lot of solid mid-round range prospects who have such a wide draft range. Does  a team fall in love with Nick Foles and take him as high as second round? Juron Criner has second round ability, just not second round speed.

The two Arizona prospects had their eye on were WR Juron Criner and QB Nick Foles.

As for his much-maligned workout numbers, Foles improved pretty much across the board on Monday, as he said he ran in the 4.95 range and improved his vertical to 33.5 inches. Frank Scelfo, Foles’ former position coach at the UA, conducted the workouts for Foles and the receivers and said the 40-yard dash is irrelevant in his opinion.

There were alot of people at the Iowa Proday

There were many notables in attendance to observe the talent in Iowa with the strongest contingent being from the Kansas City Chiefs. Representing the Chiefs at Iowa’s Pro Day were: General Manager Scott Pioli, Head Coach Romeo Crennel, offensive line coach Jack Bicknell and wide receivers coach Nick Sirianni.

Others notables at the Hawkeyes Pro Day were: Bengals defensive backs coach Mark Carrier, Dolphins offensive line coach Jim Taylor, Packers General Manager Ted Thompson, Panthers Director of College Scouting Dan Gregory, Steelers Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert and offensive line coach Sean Kugler, and Vikings Director of College Scouting Scott Studwell and offensive line coach Ryan Silverfield.

The more you hear from scouts the less likely it seems that Riley Reiff will be drafted as a LT in the N.F.L.

Reiff did not look like a premier athlete worthy of a top 10 pick. At 312 pounds, he looked the same as he did at the Combine, a little fleshy with a bit of a gut. He did 26 reps on the bench press and had a 29 1/2-inch vertical jump. His positional workout was solid and he showed the strength and hand use that NFL teams expected, but he also displayed a narrow base and was slightly straight-legged in drills. As a result, he leaned and reached more than expected from a top athlete. Despite the so-so workout, Reiff will still be drafted in the first round.

But then again if you read other reports you might think Reiff is destined to be a Hall of Fame LT!

In short Proday reporting is terrible!

Offensive tackle Riley Reiff was the obvious star attraction. He improved in the bench press (26 reps at 225 pounds Monday) after registering 23 in Indianapolis and also improved three inches in the vertical jump (29.5 on Monday). Reiff also focused on wowing coaches with his quick feet and technique during blocking drills.

 Reiff is one of three junior offensive tackles scouts believe could earn top 20 picks in April’s draft. Southern Cal’s Matt Kalil is the unquestioned top prospect at the position, but depending on which scout you talk to Stanford’s Jonathan Martin and Reiff each get votes to be the next blocker off the board. One area in which scouts have some concerns about Reiff is the fact that he possesses shorter arms (33 1/4″) than scouts generally prefer at offensive tackle. Some scouts simply will not consider prospects with arms shorter than 34 inches at the position due to the reach they need to possess to corral today’s speed rushers.

Iowa Offensive linemen did not work out and will workout on April fourth.

Marvin McNutt continues to be sliding down draft boards:

McNutt did nothing to ease concerns about his lack of explosiveness and speed. He caught the ball well, but he looked upright and stiff in routes. He showed no explosiveness in routes or burst out of cuts. McNutt will likely be a late-round pick because of his hands.

Shaun Prater clearly had the best day

At the Iowa pro day cornerback Shaun Prater, who did not run at the combine due to a minor right knee flare-up, posted 40 times as fast as 4.39 seconds today. He also timed 4.19 seconds in the short shuttle.

A few more notes:

Adam Gettis, OL ( 6-2 1/2, 293) — Gettis did 20 strengths reps and looked good in position drills, but he needs to get stronger.

Tyler Nielsen, LB (6-3 3/8, 237) — Nielsen posted 4.64 and 4.66 40-yard dashes, a 37-inch vertical jump, 9-8 broad jump, 4.47 short shuttle, and a 7.13 three-cone. He showed off a polished technique in position drills.

Shaun Prater,  CB (5-10 1/4, 192) — Prater ran 4.48 and 4.49 40-yard dashes and a 4.29 short shuttle, but he did not do position workouts because of a bad knee.

This one says 4.49 Tony Pauline says scout had him at 4.39. Big difference.