Notre Dame Pro Day Observations
Notre Dame’s Pro Day had a different feel to it than last year’s, mostly because there wasn’t a highly touted quarterback involved. There were five prospects this year that play other positions that several NFL teams are interested in, though. Two of them were obviously being watched more than the others.
- Most of the NFL was represented (I counted scouts, coaches, or executives from at least twenty three teams). Included in that was Indianapolis Colts general manager Chris Ballard. He was one of a few Colts representatives there, including offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo. DeGuglielmo even kept Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey out on the field a little longer to watch them go through some extra drills after they finished their workout with the Philadelphia Eagle’s assistant offensive line coach, Eugene Chung.
The Colts were one of many teams that had more than one person in attendance. The Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears (no Harry Hiestand), Cincinnati Bengals, and Los Angeles Chargers were the others I noticed.
McGlinchey has been frequently slotted in to the Chargers in recent mock drafts.
- It's really hard to say anything about Nelson and McGlinchey's Pro Day other than to say that it's clear they have been well-trained by Hiestand and they are very coachable players.
It felt more like a practice with Nelson asking Chung about doing a certain technique the right way. That's not something that happens often during these Pro Days.
Nelson and McGlinchey looked great and certainly did nothing to hurt their stock today.
- We don’t have official numbers yet, but Josh Adams looked incredibly fast out there. ISD’s Matt Freeman heard from a source that Adams ran 4.48. I heard whispers it was closer to 4.40. We’ll see what the official time will be, but he looked great physically after not being able to run at the combine.
- Durham Smythe had one drop on a corner route that I’m sure he would love to have back, but he also made some catches on some throws that more than made up for it. He performed well running routes and looked solid in the drill work.
It’s weird to say that the drill work, as well as how he blocked at the Senior Bowl, are more important than anything he could do catching the ball. His value has do with the fact he can play in-line. He doesn’t have to be Mark Bavaro, but if teams believe he’ll be an effective blocker then he’ll have a shot to go early on day three.
- Equanimeous St. Brown did nothing to hurt this stock. No surprise that he is fantastic running routes against air. He had one drop on a bad ball from Malik Zaire and then dropped a deep ball dime from Zaire later, but those were blips compared to the rest of his workout in my opinion.
His feet out of his breaks, his natural hands to help him run after the catch, and his body control were all impressive. Of course, his biggest issues have to do with him making plays in contested situations. That’s not something anyone can learn from a Pro Day.
- I think the testing numbers will matter quite a bit for the rest of the guys. For someone like Nyles Morgan, his will matter a lot. Athletically he certainly looks like an NFL player and would appear to have an edge on Greer Martini, but right now Morgan is in a fight to be drafted. Scouts need to feel like his workout was great in order for that to happen.
- Zaire has very little chance of being drafted, but he helped his cause of getting a look from someone today. He was helped by having EQ, Adams, and Smythe to throw to, but for the most part Zaire was on point. That was a surprising for a guy who is not known as a practice player.