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PROVO — The BYU Cougars held their annual NFL Pro Day on Friday morning in Provo. There were representatives from twenty-one NFL teams in attendance to see the 12 participants.
Former Cougars, Kyle Van Noy, JD Falslev, Cody Hoffman, Spencer Hadley, Marcus Mathews, Eathyn Manumaleuna, Richard Wilson, Kaneakua Friel, Daniel Sorensen, Manaaki Vaitai, and Uani Unga (who did not perform drills due to knee injury) were the participants. Dixie State and former Ute quarterback Griff Robles also participated.
The goal for the players is to catch the eye of an NFL team in hopes their name is called during the NFL Draft in May. BYU has been holding pro days for some time and scouts seem to like coming to Provo to see the talent. "Just like every year we come here you see players that are coached well and they're (in) pretty good shape and they work out hard," said Rick Reiprish, New Orleans Saints director of college scouting. "It's just another look from what we had seen during the year in film and in games … it's always a good visit and it's always a good workout here."
Linebacker Kyle Van Noy participated in position drills but did not run the 40-yard dash. Van Noy said he was comfortable with his time at the NFL Combine and didn't need to run it today. The next few months for Van Noy are setting up to be pretty remarkable. Besides finding out where he will play professional football, Van Noy is engaged to be married.
"It's kinda now the waiting game," Van Noy said. "I'm just looking forward to this final segment of going places and having people coming in and working out. It's gonna be good."
For wide receiver Cody Hoffman, Friday's pro day was an opportunity to improve on some things from the NFL Combine. "Mainly my jumps," said Hoffman, "I didn't jump as well as I wanted to at the combine, so I felt like I really put in a lot of work towards that to do better here, and I did. I feel like I came and got (it) accomplished."
Between now and the May draft, players will schedule private workouts with teams that are interested in getting a closer look. Hoffman's agent said that Cody has workouts scheduled with the Atlanta Falcons and the Miami Dolphins.
The feedback that players get from the scouts during the combine and pro days can be invaluable — the problem is that more often than not, the feedback is minimal.
"There's not much feedback, they don't necessarily tell you much," former safety Daniel Sorensen said. "That's kinda what's hard about this situation, you do what you can and you gotta hope they value what you were able to do on the field. They don't exactly tell you what they're thinking."
One player who felt he really needed Friday's Pro Day was linebacker Spencer Hadley. Hadley injured his knee on Nov. 9 at Wisconsin and missed the rest of the season.
Hadley has been back to full strength for some time and is willing to do whatever it takes for a chance to fulfill his dream of playing in the NFL.
"I'll go anywhere, I'll play anything," Hadley said. "The (Tennessee) Titans asked if I could play fullback, and I said ‘sure,' it really doesn't matter."
Playing in the NFL is a dream for a lot of people and players like those who participated in the pro day are closer to that dream than they have ever been.
"I love this game. I'll be around it my entire life," former receiver and punt returner JD Falslev said. "It's been very rewarding for me to be where I am, it's a blessing to be where I am. I'm not ready to be done playing, I'm not ready to be done putting a helmet on. The next two months are kinda out of my hands. I'm glad with how today went and we'll see what happens."
