Pro day preview: Jadeveon Clowney, Antonio Richardson and others ready to go

Jadeveon Clowney and others will take the field on Wednesday to show the scouts what they have to offer.

Apr 2, 2014, 1:28 PM UTC

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

On Wednesday, four schools will hold their pro days with the hope that their athletes will move up the draft boards of NFL teams, including North Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington. The biggest show of the day will come from the University of South Carolina, with defensive end Jadeveon Clowney getting a chance to show what he’s got after a limited combine performance.

Clowney has some of the most impressive film of any player coming out for the 2014 NFL Draft this May, as well as some of the most puzzling. On one hand, Clowney is a force of nature from the end position at 6-foot-5 and 266 pounds, running a 4.53 40-yard dash time at the NFL combine in Indianapolis this February.

On the other hand, Clowney’s tape was inconsistent at best last year, with many scouts and ex-players claiming he failed to show effort for stretches of time. A good showing on Wednesday might help ease the fears of teams toward the top of the first round. Former NFL player and SB Nation writer Stephen White broke down Clowney with his analysis as well.

At the combine, Clowney ran well as mentioned earlier, but he had a lackluster appearance otherwise. He abstained from all on-field drills and only benched 225 pounds 21 times, less than what was expected of him. Still, the SB Nation big board lists Clowney as the top prospect in the draft.

Of course, there will be plenty of other players looking to improve their stock. South Carolina wide receiver Bruce Ellington has the misfortune of being in a loaded class for receivers this year, pushing him down the draft board for most. However, he is seen as the 160th player on SB Nation’s big board, pegging him around the fifth round.

At the combine, Ellington lit it up. The cousin of Arizona Cardinals running back Andre Ellington, Bruce ran a 4.45 40-yard dash and had combine bests in vertical jump at 39.5 inches, the 20-yard shuttle with a time of 3.95 seconds and a 60-yard shuttle time of 11.12 seconds.

Over in Tennessee, the Volunteers have some serious athletes as well. Offensive tackle Antonio Richardson is the best of the bunch, as he tries to separate himself from other top tackles such as Taylor Lewan of Michigan and Zack Martin of Notre Dame.

Richardson is the 25th overall player on SB Nation’s big board, and it is easy to see why. At 6-fot-6 and 335 pounds, Richardson is a monster. At the combine, he showed his upper-body strength by bench a combine-best 36 reps of 225 pounds. He is projected to be a mid-to-late first round selection.

Out on the West coast, running back Bishop Sankey is a man to watch in Washington. Sankey was impressive at the combine in February, showing that he can catch the ball coming out of the backfield. He also put up the best combine numbers for a running back at 26 bench press reps of 225 pounds, a 126-inch broad jump, 6.75 three-cone drill and a 4.00 20-yard shuttle. He ranks 57th on the SB Nation big board.

The other star for Washington is tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins. Seferian-Jenkins won the John Mackey award last season as the nation’s top tight end and could be a late first round pick come May. It is generally accepted he is in the top three at his position, along with Jace Amaro of Texas Tech and Eric Ebron of North Carolina. SB Nation has him ranked behind both.