On Thursday at Nutter Field House, the Ketnucky football team hosted Pro Day, an event that showcases UK players in front of a wide group of NFL scouts and coaches.
Pro Day at UK has undergone quite the evolution during Joker Phillips’ time with the program since returning to his alma mater as an assistant coach. Twenty six of the NFL’s 32 teams were represented, a sign Phillips points to as clear indicator of growth in the UK program.
“This thing has evolved into being a big day for us,” Phillips said. “When we first got here in 2003, there were none of (the media) here. Nobody really showed up and there were only about two or three scouts. This shows where our program has come.”
The NFL now flocks to Kentucky’s Pro Day because of the professional-level talent that UK has produced and continues to do so.
Eight draft-eligible Wildcats, including Mike Hartline, Chris Matthews, Moncell Allen and Ricky Lumpkin, participated in tests like the 40-yard dash, vertical jump and shuttle runs. Later, the group also went through positional drills with NFL Combine invitees Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke.
Although they had already been timed and measured at the Combine, Pro Day was important to Cobb and Locke because it gave them an opportunity to work out with scouts much more readily able to focus attention on just them.
“I think it was a little bit more important because coaches can get a better look at you,” Cobb said. “There are so many guys at the Combine and they’re trying to see everybody. With it being a select few, three or four guys out here with us, it helps them to get a better view of some of the things they might have been looking for.”
Both caught passes from Hartline, a quarterback they both had played with for three years. It was a welcome change from working with new faces in Indianapolis.
“It was good to be back out here the last few days being able to work with him and get that feel back,” Cobb said. “He knows what kind of balls I like and where I like them thrown and I know where he’s going to throw it. Being able to have him around, that helps out a lot.”
Cobb also had a bit of a surprise thrown his way in positional drills, as he was asked to participate in the running back workouts with Locke. Even though running back was one of the few positions Cobb did not play while at UK, he jumped at the chance.
“I knew I was going to run some routes out of the backfield, but they grabbed me and asked me if I wanted to go over there and do it,” Cobb said. “I was like, ‘Whatever, let’s go.’ It was good experience.”
Locke said that the wide receiver acquitted himself well.
“Cobb impressed me a little bit doing some running back drills,” Locke said.
While Cobb and Locke focused solely on positional drills, players like Hartline and Matthews, who were not invited to Indianapolis for the Combine, needed to register times and measurements in front of NFL personnel. Hartline reported he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.8 seconds and registered 9 feet 8 eight in the broad jump.
“I was happy,” Hartline said. “Obviously you want to do a little bit better but being at my size and my position, I thought it was pretty good.”
Matthews said he ran the 40 in 4.5 seconds and thought he caught the attention of scouts.
“A lot of the scouts didn’t think I was going to do that well,” Matthews said. “I turned some heads and I did what I had to do. I’m focused and I’m ready to keep on working.”
It was a reunion of sorts as UK’s four offensive stars from 2010 took the field together. Phillips joked that he couldn’t bear to watch because it made him realize he wouldn’t be coaching them any longer. However, the success of all of his former players is something that means a great deal to Phillips and his staff.
“These guys are still our guys,” Phillips said. “It’s our responsibility to make sure that they know they’re still a part of our program.”
Juniors also work out
Before the draft-eligible Wildcats hit the field, returning junior members of the football team ran through the same gauntlet of tests that professional scouts look at. That, in itself, is a great chance for those players to build confidence and to get a glimpse of what it will take to make it to the next level.
“It’s important for them confidence wise, in my opinion,” Phillips said.
Phillips said offseason workouts are targeted at preparing players for Pro Day and lauded the impact of strength coach Rock Oliver on that process.
“We do a lot of these same drills to prepare them for these types of things,” Phillips said. “It helps having a guy like Rock who has developed players for the next level and has been at the next level.”
Phillips also reported that NFL representatives noticed the difference he has made.
“I just talked to a couple guys who had been here before and they said that in looking at our team, we look different,” Phillips said. “We’re a lot leaner, a lot fitter.”
Junior linebacker Danny Trevathan, who contemplated leaving school early for the NFL, did not work out but did talk with some of the scouts.
Safety Winston Guy sustains hamstring strain
During his workout today, safety Winston Guy strained his hamstring. Phillips said Guy should be ready for spring practice.
“It’s a grade one and we’ll treat him over Spring Break,” Phillips siad. “We think that he’ll be ready to go when we hit spring ball.”
