 |
 |
 |
|
LOS ANGELES -- With all due respect to the hype surrounding recent Pro Days at Boston College and LSU, Southern California's Pro Day on Wednesday proved to be the preeminent collegiate workout of the year.
|
|
| DT Sedrick Ellis believes he solidified his stock as a high first-round pick. (US Presswire) |
Rivers kicked off the morning wowing scouts with a 42-inch vertical jump -- a full 8 inches better than any outside linebacker recorded at the Combine in February -- and a 10-7 broad jump that also topped any other linebacker tested in Indianapolis.
Ellis saved his dramatic effort for the 40-yard dash, where in recording times at 5.01 and 5.05 seconds, he shaved nearly three tenths of a second off of his Combine times. Rivers' efforts weren't limited to leaping, as he also impressed scouts in the 40, recording a 4.57 and 4.51 second times.
"These kids were prepared," Packers general manager Ted Thompson told NFLDraftScout.com. "They have some athletic players here -- everyone knows that. But they also came in very prepared and ready to show what they could do."
Rivers, who didn't work out at the Combine due to an ankle injury, had the most to prove Wednesday. While most viewed him as the top linebacker of the class, strong workouts by Penn State's Dan Connor and Tennessee's Jerod Mayo left Rivers vulnerable -- and needing a strong performance. When told Connor graded himself as a "13" on a scale of 1-10 following his workout, Rivers offered his own self-assessment.
"I'd give myself a 6 or 7," Rivers told NFLDraftScout.com. "My vertical, broad and 40 were good, but I didn't do as well in my positional drills as I would have liked to have done."
Ellis was quite proud of his performance. After a senior campaign in which he was voted a unanimous All-American selection and the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, Ellis' stock was never higher than following a dominant showing at the Senior Bowl. Poor times at the Combine, however, had his stock slipping. He felt his improved workout Wednesday would force scouts to rethink their perception of his athleticism.
"I think it has to mean something," he said. "If the people ranked ahead of me put up one number and I put up a better or faster number, that has to mean something. I'm a competitor. For the coaches and scouts that came today, I think they saw that."
A host of other potential first-day picks worked out at USC on Wednesday:
• Mackey Award winner Fred Davis, who elected to only compete in the positional drills and bench press at the Combine, secured his position among this year's top tight ends with a solid showing. Davis recorded a 33-inch vertical jump and was twice timed in the high 4.6s in the 40. Most important, Davis caught the ball very well during position drills. In uncharacteristically dropping several passes during drills at the Combine, Davis needed to ease scouts' concerns. He did so Wednesday, contorting his body easily to snatch passes from a variety of angles. To show his versatility, Davis was lined up outside as a receiver, inside as the slot, in motion and in the three-point stance as a typical tight end. In all cases, he caught the ball cleanly, suffering only one drop -- and that was a poorly thrown pass.
• The poor pass to Davis was uncharacteristic of quarterback John David Booty's performance Wednesday. While he doesn't blow anyone away with his arm strength, Booty's accuracy -- especially on post and slant routes -- made life easy on his fellow skill position players looking to impress scouts.
• It was a player thought to be a late-round prospect, however, who caught many scouts off-guard.