1 April 2023
MANHATTAN, KS. (KSNT) – K-State football hosted its annual Pro Day on Friday, giving players a chance to show off in front of NFL scouts.
Scouts from all 32 NFL teams were there. They got to watch 11 Wildcats participate in drills and workouts.
The Pro Day is different from a regular workout, though. Wide receiver Kade Warner compares the event to a track meet.
“It was so much predicated on drill work and the 40 [yard dash], and critiquing that, and all those little parts of it,” Warner said. “You would never think that running a 40 has so many details, but it is. So a lot of the time, especially before, a lot of the guys that went to the combine said it felt like a track workout. With maybe a little football sprinkled in. For a guy like me, the 40-yard dash, I just had to show them I can check this box. I’m this guy. But for me, it’s more that I can strive in the other two: the shuttle and the three-cone drill, because that’s the kind of receiver I am.”
For Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Pro Day was a chance to prove he can work in more than one type of defensive system.
“After my college career, that I can move in space,” Anudike-Uzomah said about what he’s been working on. “Obviously the type of defense we run, it didn’t allow me to get out in space, drop, stuff like that. The point of today was to show that I’m able to be the top edge rusher to move in space. And I can play down on the line, rush the passer and drop. I have spoken to every team in this process. It’s good to communicate with them, see how they are, see how their defense is.”
Defensive back Ekow Boye-Doe excelled in the 40-yard-dash, where scouts told him he ran somewhere between 4.28 seconds and 4.33 seconds.
“Just my speed,” Boye-Doe said about what he wanted to prove. “People thought I was fast, but I feel like today, I actually showed how fast I was. Coach Malone just got us right from day one. I give all my thanks to him for the technical part.”
Running back Deuce Vaughn is excited to talk to teams now that the workout is over.
“So now you get to do private workouts,” Vaughn said. “I’ll be in Manhattan for about another two weeks. Then you get to do more interviews over Zoom calls. But now, the fun part, get back to working out for football. Getting ready for, really, rookie minicamp, OTA’s, and back to playing football.”
The NFL Draft begins April 27 in Kansas City.