Fresno State hosts NFL Pro Day

Photo by: Kiel Maddox

Fresno State hosts NFL Pro Day

3/19/2018 7:00:00 PM | Football

Scouts from 14 NFL teams were on campus Monday to watch 13 Bulldogs participate in Fresno State’s annual Pro Day

By: Matt Burkholder / Director of Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – Immediately after the current Bulldog squad took the field for practice five of spring football, the 2017 senior class got their shot to impress NFL scouts at Fresno State's annual Pro Day on Monday afternoon at Bulldog Stadium.

Scouts from 14 NFL teams were on campus to watch 13 Bulldogs participate in the 40-yard dash, bench press (225 lbs.), vertical jump, broad jump, 3 cone drill and shuttle run, as well as player specific position drills.

NFL teams represented on Monday at Bulldog Stadium were the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, New York Giants, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans and Washington Redskins. And of the 12 Bulldogs currently on an active NFL roster, nine are on a roster of one of the 14 teams that visited Fresno State's 2018 Pro Day.

Participating this year was K Jimmy Camacho, DB Jackson Finch, DL Malik Forrester, LB Justin Green, RB Austin Harper, DB Johnny Johnson, Jr., OL Aaron Mitchell, DL Tobenna Okeke, OL David Patterson, WR Da'Mari Scott, DL Robert Stanley as well as class of 2016 Bulldogs WR Aaron Peck and LB Brandon Hughes.

Monday ended intense training and a lot of nerves for these individuals since coming home from the Bulldogs' 2017 Hawai'i Bowl win on Christmas Eve. Outside of Scott, who competed in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on Jan. 20, this was their first chance to work out in front of NFL scouts.

"There were nerves the whole day, but it's a big day," said Scott of Monday. "I was very nervous, but now that it's over it's a relief. There was a big build up for this day."

"Everybody gets a little nervous on days like this but you get through it after that first rep," said Camacho. "It just becomes second nature."

Noted leaders in some of the workouts were Scott posting a 4.46 (unofficial) in the 40-yard dash, Stanley recording a 33.5 inch vertical, edging out Green who had a 33 inch vertical, while Patterson tallied 24 reps in the bench with Forrester one behind with 23.

"Every day I was in the gym training with Coach [Andy] Ward, Coach Bobby [Thomas] and Coach [Henry] Adelman and I was in the training room with Craig [Tweedy] making sure I was healthy," said Forrester about his help leading into today. "Attack it every day was the mentality."

And to get a shot in the NFL would carry out lifelong dreams for each of the Bulldogs that gave it their best shot.

"It would be a great story to tell," Forrester added. "It would be such a good feeling because not that many guys from my high school even go D-I so let alone get a shot is all that matters."

Although not participating in workouts, kicker Jimmy Camacho made a splash when he started the player specific position drills. The now-school record holder for single-season made field goals (25) in 2017 capped his workout connecting on field goals of 55 and 60 yards.

"I wanted to show my consistency and that my tape was not a fluke," Camacho said of his goals on Monday. "The tape is what it is and I wanted to prove the tape right and I think I did that."

Monday was also somewhat of a curtain call as these Bulldogs were cognizant of this being ultimately their last competitions at Bulldog Stadium.

"One last time out here in Bulldog Stadium representing Fresno State doing Pro Day," said Mitchell. "I have no regrets. I trained hard and came out here and did my best to give myself a shot.

"It'd be awesome to be able to represent my hometown and represent the Valley. I live here now, when I say I go home, I'm visiting home, because this is also home now and to be able to represent Fresno and San Diego would be awesome and I'm looking forward to it."

The NFL Draft is April 26-28, 2018. It will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and will be the first draft to take place in an NFL stadium, and the first to be held in Texas.

"Just the Ticket to Build Our Community" – The Bulldog Scholarship Fund gives Bulldog alumni, fans and friends the opportunity to support Fresno State Athletics and the student-athletes who inspire them. For information about how you can support the Bulldog Scholarship Fund, please visit www.bulldogscholarshipfund.com or call 559-278-7160

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