An estimated 100 scouts and NFL personnel were on hand at the McFerrin Athletic Center on Wednesday to scout 12 players from the Texas A&M football team at the 2014 Texas A&M
Pro Day.
Johnny Manziel and Mike Evans attended the pro day in support of their teammates, but did not participate in any drills after performing at the NFL Combine Feb. 24. Head coach Kevin Sumlin said having high-caliber prospects like Manziel, Evans and Jake Matthews at the pro day increased visibility for the other nine participants.
“I think a lot of guys that are here today obviously are benefitting from the exposure,” Sumlin said. “Just because you didn’t go to the combine there’s been a lot of stories that have come out of pro day.”
Manziel will have his own open tryout on March 27, when he will throw to many of the receivers who were at Wednesday’s pro day.
Matthews performed some lineman drills for scouts, but did not participate in any of the official drills. Matthews met with both the St. Louis Rams, who have the No. 2 overall pick, and the Cleveland Browns, who have the No. 4 pick.
A standout Wednesday was 6-foot-3, 241-pound linebacker Nate Askew. Askew converted to linebacker last season after spending his entire football career as a wide receiver. Askew said he feels his speed is what sets him apart from the other linebacker prospects in the draft, which showed with his 4.45-second time in the 40-yard dash – tied for the fastest time of the day.
“I’ll play wherever – I’m that much of an athlete,” Askew said. “You can put me wherever and I’ll pick it up. I’ve been doing it my whole life.”
Askew said the help of current and former teammates prepared him for moving to the next level.
“Sean Porter has been a big inspiration to me throughout not only today, but the whole season,” Askew said. “I kind of call him and ask for a lot of things because he played the same position as I did, so I called him on a week-in, week-out basis to pick his brain.”
Defensive back Tony Hurd Jr. met with various teams, but was unable to participate due to injury.
“I’ve been doing therapy,” Hurd said. “After the bowl game, I had surgery on my shoulder – I had a torn rotator cuff. My agent told me to get it cleaned up, so right now I’m just in the process of doing therapy and getting my shoulder back to 100 percent for training camp.”
Ben Malena finished last season with 551 rushing yards, second-most on the team. He also cranked out 22 repetitions of 225 pounds in the bench press – just five shy of team-leader Kirby Ennis – and clocked a 4.54 second 40-yard dash.