Over a dozen Duke Football players showed off their speed, hops and agility in front of 17 NFL scouts at Brooks Practice Field Monday.
The scouts, representing over half of all NFL teams, were there for Pro Day, a one-day event where Vince Oghobaase, Thaddeus Lewis and other Blue Devil seniors hoped to get noticed and improve their draft stock. It was a culmination of weeks of preparation for the players, who welcomed the overcast skies during the grueling workout.
Noel Durfey, strength and conditioning coach for Duke Football, has worked with Re’quan Boyette, Leon Wright, Vincent Rey and others since December in drills designed for the event. Lewis and Oghobaase elected to train elsewhere over the past few months.
“We haven’t done as much conditioning,” Durfey said of his training regimen. “It’s more speed, power—teaching drills and getting good at them. Just focusing on what they’ve got to get done today.... The furthest we run [during training] is 40 yards.”
Results from the training were obvious. Wright ran a 40-yard dash in a blistering 4.41, while Rey impressed scouts on the bench press.
Michael Tauiliili was a surprise addition to Monday’s workout group. The former Duke linebacker signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent last year but didn’t make the final roster. He hoped he could catch the eyes of scouts one more time at Pro Day.
One Blue Devil already attracting attention among NFL scouts is Oghobaase. Oghobaase ran an underwhelming 5.46 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine but improved on that number Monday. He also moved noticeably better in the agility drills than he had earlier in the month.
“I definitely helped myself out today,” Oghobaase said. “I had an average showing at the combine, but I ran way better today.”
The defensive lineman will stay in Durham until his next workout with the Houston Texans in a couple of weeks.
Lewis—the sixth-fastest quarterback at the NFL Combine—chose not to run any drills for the scouts other than to throw some pass patterns. Lewis looked sharp, but he found difficulty at times hitting his marks. Part of the troubles could be chalked up to unfamiliar receivers.
After the drills were over and the scouts had shut off their stopwatches, Durfey hoped they saw what he saw during his time working with the players: hard-working, determined athletes.
“They’re going to work. They’re going to give everything they’ve got every day,” he said. “You can’t ask much more than that—to have a kid come in and work his tail off for you every day.”
Will Flaherty contributed reporting.
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