Sacramento—With the NFL Draft Combine over and the NFL Draft starting April 26, teams will turn their scouting focus to Pro Days for a closer look at potential NFL prospects.
Sacramento State will hold a Pro Day at Hornet Stadium on Tuesday at 10 a.m., and will be open to the public. A Pro Day consists of various football related workouts, as well as tests of overall athleticism. The workouts will feature athletes from Sacramento State, UC Davis and a few other schools.
For the Hornets, the participating athletes will be defensive end Zack Nash, wide receivers Brandyn Reed and Chase Deadder and quarterback Jeff Fleming.
No other schools could be reached for confirmation on which of their athletes would be attending the Pro Day. Sac State’s Sports Information Director Brian Berger said there will be about 20 NFL scouts in attendance.
One confirmed attendee will be Akiem Hicks, a former Sac City College standout that was forced to finish his college career at the University of Regina in Canada. Hicks pursued his college career in the Great White North after suspicions of recruiting violations kept him from attending LSU in 2009. Hicks is the only athlete at the Pro Day that was invited to the NFL Combine. He is ranked as the number 17 defensive end in the draft by nfldraftscout.com, and is projected to be selected in the middle rounds of the NFL Draft.
While no Hornets are currently projected to be taken in the NFL Draft, a good Pro Day could change that. A Pro Day gives scouts a closer look at specific athletes, and gives athletes a chance to display their skills in a setting more isolated than the NFL Combine, which is attended by hundreds of players.
According to nfldraftscout.com, Nash is the 36th ranked defensive end, Deadder the 147th ranked wide receiver and Fleming the 49th ranked quarterback. (Reed’s ranking was unavailable because of an error on the website.)
Note: Pro Day on-field workouts will be open to public, workouts in weight room will not be open to public. In case of rain, on-field workouts will move to The Well at Sac State and would not be open to the public.
Weeks and weeks of gorgeous weather, and Pro Day gets a storm. Hopefully the Well works out good for the drills. Good luck to all the Hornets and Hicks!