The Pro Days continue on Tuesday with 12 more schools holding workouts or some of the top 2014 NFL Draft prospects. Michigan State, Connecticut and Kansas State are three of the schools worth paying attention to on Tuesday, and we'll have results from their Pro Days below. We'll be publishing updates to this post as the day moves along and the information comes available, so keep checking back.
Tuesday NFL pro days: Top prospects work out at UCLA, Michigan State
Anthony Barr looked solid for UCLA and Darqueze Dennard put up some impressive numbers in the broad and vertical jumps on Tuesday.
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Connecticut
Smallwood performs despite injury
The early pro day on Tuesday was at UConn, where most scouts wanted to see the performance of linebacker Yawin Smallwood. Unfortunately, Smallwood wasn't at 100 percent for the performance:
Yawin Smallwood still recovering from tweaked hamstring and may be limited to position drills at #uconn pro day
— Jim Fuller (@NHRJimFuller) March 11, 2014
Still, Smallwood worked in positional drills for the scouts in attendance, after sitting out all the timing drills. He recorded a 5.01 40-yard dash time, 36.5-inch vertical and 18 bench press reps at the 2014 NFL Combine.
There’s more video to be had, though. The UConn official website posted a wrap-up following the pro day, with video and quotes from the players involved.
Shamar Stephen draws stiffness criticism
The other Huskies player that has a good chance at getting drafted in May, is defensive tackle Shamar Stephen. The 309-pound lineman didn’t put up the best numbers at the NFL Combine, finishing the 40-yard dash in 5.25 seconds; however, tackles aren’t typically drafted for their sprinting prowess.
He didn't have a very strong day in positional drills on Tuesday either, though. Instead it was his teammate, defensive end Jesse Joseph, who drew praise:
Shamar Stephen looked stiff throughout drills and took a lot of heat from coaches. Jesse Joseph, on the other hand, looked explosive. #UConn
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) March 11, 2014 Michigan State
Dennard impresses in vertical, broad jumps
Michigan State cornerback Darqueze Dennard is hoping to be a first-round pick come May, but he had a somewhat poor performance at the scouting combine. He needed a big performance at his Pro Day to turn things around and for the most part, he was successful.
Dennard impressed in the broad jump with 11’2. That’s a flat-footed drill as well, and it went along with a stellar 36-inch vertical leap, as noted by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The broad jump number would have put him in a first place tie
Darqueze Dennard recorded a broad jump of 11-2 at MSU's Pro Day. pic.twitter.com/1isbPatE52
— Spartan Football (@MSU_Football) March 11, 2014 Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was at Michigan State's Pro Day, and the prevailing theory is that he was there for Dennard. Discerning readers will note that he's been there the past three seasons, and drafted Le'Veon Bell relatively highly after seeing him perform a year ago.
Fowler has excellent 40 time
Wide receiver Bennie Fowler went under the radar at the scouting combine, and did not perform well in the 40-yard dash. He improved on his numbers significantly at the pro day, however. Fowler ran between a 4.27 and a 4.35 40-yard dash, hand-timed of course,via Chris Vannini of Spartan Tailgate. Fowler's combine time was 4.52 seconds, which was considered disappointing at the time.
UCLA
Barr improves on combine 40 time
Linebacker Anthony Barr is one of the biggest names working out Tuesday, and he looked very good. He had a somewhat disappointing -- for him -- 40-yard dash time of 4.66 at the scouting combine, but he turned things around at his Pro Day.
He reportedly ran a 4.45 40-yard dash, significantly better than his combine time, as noted by Ryan Kartje of the Orange County Register. Barr was among those getting electronically times for his Pro Day, which adds a bit of legitimacy to his numbers, and it was definitely impressive.
In addition to his improvement in the 40, he added another four reps to his bench press numbers. According to Jeremy Fowler of CBS Sports, Barr put up 19 reps of 225 pounds at the pro day.
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