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PROVO — For a smaller pro day crowd that featured only five BYU players working out for 29 NFL scouts, the hoots, hollers and cheers were impressive.
Maybe most impressive was whose performance they followed the most.
With likely NFL draft pick Tyler Allgeier in attendance to boost some of his combine numbers from a month ago, it was wide receiver Samson Nacua who drew the biggest reactions when the Cougars held their annual pro day event Friday morning in the school's indoor practice facility.
"I left it all out there," said Nacua, the 6-foot-4 receiver who caught 21 passes for 329 yards and three touchdowns after transferring from Utah. "It was a good day. I woke up, did my daily affirmations, a nice cold shower, and was just ready to rock.
"My coaches gave me a daily routine, and I just stuck with it, believing in their process — that what they know is going to help me get where I need to get. They got me this far, and I believe everything they've done helped me."
So did Friday.
Nacua posted a 4.48 40-yard dash — unofficially, of course, and the Timpview High product contends it was a little faster than that — before rounding up several numbers that could earn him a shot at an NFL roster this April.
For a player who was mostly off the radar prior to Friday's event, which featured personnel from every NFL team except the Minnesota Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, that's all one can ask.
"As soon as they started the bench I started getting a little anxiety... I think I could definitely be ready for this moment next year"@AsapPuka shares his Pro Day thoughts as he watches his brother put up numbers.#ProDay2022 | #BYUFOOTBALLpic.twitter.com/zjDpxZDEDS
— BYU Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation) March 25, 2022
Nacua also posted a 4.34-second 20-yard shuttle run that would've ranked sixth at the NFL Combine, a 6.75 three-cone drill that would've ranked eighth at the combine, and a vertical leap of 32 inches.
With older brothers Kai and Isaac on the sideline along with younger brother Puka and the rest of the family to cheer him on, Nacua showed he's not ready to give up on his NFL dream. At least, not yet.
Kai Nacua, the former BYU safety who spent time with Cleveland, Baltimore, Carolina, Indianapolis and San Francisco before most recently landing on the New York Jets' active roster as recently as last Christmas, was especially helpful in helping Samson Nacua go from former Utah receiving touchdown leader to one-year BYU wide out to NFL hopeful.
With a couple of tweaks, that is — most notably to his diet.
"All the eyes are on you constantly, with little details on the field and off the field," Nacua recalled of his brother's advice. "No more McDonald's; that was the biggest thing, and I was sad about it. But eat lots of vegetables, carrots, asparagus; that was probably the biggest thing for me."
There might be time for one cheat meal after Friday's numbers, though.
"I'm going to call some guys up from Utah and here, and go get a nice dinner with everybody," Nacua said. "Maybe some all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue … or some glazed doughnuts."
Like Allgeier at the NFL Combine, who ran a 4.6 40 in Indianapolis, Nacua's new numbers won't hurt him. Neither will those for Allgeier, who ran a 4.33 shuttle and 7.09 cone drill, with 21 reps on the bench press in addition to agility drills and catching passes from former BYU quarterback Baylor Romney.
"This was just the icing on the cake," said Allgeier, the former walk-on to record-setting BYU tailback who is projected between the third and fifth round by Pro Football Network, NFL Mock Draft and CBS Sports. "Just topping it all off, especially after the season we had last year.
"They're all pretty impressed with how I finished everything. … After the last two years we had, I thought I was ready for the league. I just believed in myself."
About Romney: the senior isn't expected to try out for the NFL. He recently announced his retirement from the game, accepting a job with Adobe and moving on with his life.
But with only five players available for pro day and no quarterbacks in the group, Nacua and fellow wide out Neil Pau'u needed someone to throw to them. So Romney came out, hurled a couple of dimes for old times' sake, and even worked some drills to Allgeier out of the back field.
"Baylor was throwing dimes today," Nacua said. "He hit me with a post corner, and it was right over my head; I'm like, wow, we didn't practice this catch before. He wanted to sling it, and I had to make him look good.
"Even though he's done with football, if anyone needs it, he's still got it."
Friday was audition day for five players, and maybe six if something comes of Romney's limited engagement. But the real audition started months, and sometimes even years, ago.
"I think they just have to have fun and do their best," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "A lot of focus goes on this one day, but the resume and the audition was during the season, when they had the pads on. When they're on that field, I think these guys made enough plays that they should get a shot in the NFL.
"Once they get their shot, I hope they take advantage of it. It's a tough business … but those who make it have a lot to be proud of."
Other BYU players went through their own drills, and some probably furthered their chances at a professional job in the ultimate interview, an under Olympics that has become as much a part of the college football calendar as Saturday game days and mid-December bowl games.
Pau'u ran a 4.71 40, which may be disappointing, but his 31-inch vertical and the catches he made from Baylor Romney might catch a few wandering eyes.
Four-year starting center James Empey pumped out 23 reps on the bench press, added a 26.5-inch vertical leap, a 4.76-second shuttle run and a 5-second 40. But most importantly, he showed he's healthy — something he's struggled to show, especially this past 2021 season when the 6-foot-4, 303-pound lineman from American Fork missed six games due to a leg injury.
But was there more Empey could show Friday that he didn't through 41 starts on a BYU offensive line still looking for respect, when he made all the line calls and max protections while stabilizing the offensive line?
"The game speaks for itself"@unga45 talks to @DaveMcCannTV about Tyler Allgeier's draft projection.#ProDay2022 | #BYUFOOTBALLpic.twitter.com/oBJUIowtKG
— BYU Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation) March 25, 2022
"I think the biggest thing for me was just to prove that I'm healthy and ready to go after not being able to finish the season," said Empey, who has been tabbed as a possible late-round draft pick. "Lots of people helped me recover, and I was able to get back to 100%. I feel great, and I think that's the most important thing."
BYU defensive lineman Uriah "Lopa" Leiataua briefly retired from football following the Cougars' loss to UAB in the Independence Bowl and one of the longest careers in BYU football's modern era. Beat up and broken, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound defensive lineman whose weight swelled as high as 270 pounds wasn't sure he wanted to take a chance on the NFL until a meeting with NFL liaison Jasen Ah You and head coach Kalani Sitake convinced him to give it a try.
After Friday, he's glad he did, putting up 23 reps on the bench press and a 28.5-inch vertical among his tangibles that he'll now take to three or four NFL teams that have shown him some interest.
"I'm more than satisfied," Leiataua said. "I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to talk with Jasen and Kalani a bit more; that was something that I would regret for the rest of my life, if I had just given up in December.
"Talking with my agent, I'm more than satisfied with the work. I only need two pair of eyes on me, and I feel like I got that."
He also showed that he has the speed and flexibility to get after the quarterback — even if he was often too preoccupied with double teams and drop-eight schemes in his career to accrue more than five sacks, 2.5 of them in his senior season.
"Our scheme is a little different, a little unorthodox. It's effective at times, but I feel like it doesn't always highlight certain players with certain abilities," Leiataua said. "It's nothing crazy; it is what it is. But I feel like I was able to show some of that bend and agility more, instead of just holding double teams like I did this past year. That's something I was happy with."
The next steps are the hardest: a lot of waiting, a lot of interviews, and scheduling time to visit team facilities and speak with scouts, general managers and other NFL personnel before April's draft.
Allgeier and Empey are the most likely draft targets from BYU. But pro day showed that other players have particular talents or skillsets that can help a team.
And for players like Nacua, who only suited up for one season in Provo, it was a chance to give thanks to a school that took him in for a year and made a potentially life-changing difference on him.
"If you knew the old Samson back at Utah, the kid was very reckless and just having fun," Nacua said. "I got to lock in a little more (at BYU), hone in on what I want, and where I see me in the future.
"Stepping away for the last three months helped me lock in and know what I want. Coach Fesi and coach Kalani helped a lot, growing me as a man off the field, too."