Colorado State University-Pueblo hosted a pro day for Pack players March 29 to demonstrate their skills. Many players improved their times in drills and distance in their jumps.
There were two NFL scouts at the CSU-Pueblo pro day and both participated in Super Bowl 50.
The Carolina Panther and Denver Bronco scouts ran the NFL hopefuls through the normal set of drills such as the 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical and broad jump and various cone drills.
Wide receiver Kieren Duncan, who posted a 4.29 official time on his second run of his 40-yard dash, stood out from the pack. His time happens to be the fastest in team history and would have been the fastest time at the NFL combine.
“We always have to be challenging ourselves and trying to better ourselves. I wanted to break 4.3 and I thought I could here. All of my numbers got better today so the work has paid off,” Duncan said.
One of Duncan’s goals coming into pro day was to improve his 40 time. Duncan also said he would love to go to any team. He hinted at a private workout with a NFL team in the near future.
Another Pack player who improved in key areas was nose tackle Tony Campton. He thought his pro day “went great” as he improved in his broad jump and vertical jump. Those drills show power and explosiveness for defensive linemen, which is key. Campton was also able to bench press 225 pounds 31 times.
Many other Pack players improved their times and distances, including Cameron McDondle and Morgan Fox. Both players also came off an impressive 2015 season which will pair well with their improvements to their measurements.
“I mean they should know I am an explosive player and explosive off the field with my attitude and everything, so you want a good guy around the team that gives you good plays and stuff like that, then I am that guy,” McDondle said.
“You know you have to be better. Everyone else has certain goals they need to hit, but you have to be better than their goals and work a little harder than a lot of people because you have to prove you can play with guys from Michigan State, Ohio State, guys from these competitive one areas,” Fox added.
The workouts started inside and lasted an hour and then went outside for another three hours. The Broncos scout also had the wide receivers, running backs and quarterback run different routes to get a better evaluation of certain players.
There were many players trying to impress the scouts as some were from other schools in the area as there were 17 that worked out and 10 from CSU-Pueblo. Doug Watterson, a student assistant coach said there were “more guys than last year.”
For many of these athletes, it was their only shot to impress NFL scouts. Many of these athletes will be at home in hopes of their name being called at the NFL draft which will go from April 28 to April 30.
