With the NFL draft roughly one month away, Duke fans may hear several familiar names called by Roger Goodell come April.
Ten former Blue Devils participated in Duke's annual Pro Day at Pascal Field House Wednesday. The group was headlined by guard Laken Tomlinson and receiver and returnman Jamison Crowder, both of whom are expected to hear their names called come April's NFL draft. But the workouts also featured a slew of other former Duke starters hoping to boost their draft stock in Anthony Boone, Takoby Cofield, Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo, David Helton, Dezmond Johnson, Josh Snead and current free agent Conner Vernon.
Thirty of the 32 NFL teams were on hand to asses the abilities of each player, although for a Crowder, Cofield, Boone and Tomlinson, it was not the first time they had faced the scrutiny of NFL scouts.
At February's NFL combine, Crowder was called back twice on his first 40-yard dash attempt and would clock in at an official time of 4.56 seconds. Knowing this was not the top speed the 5-foot-9 speedster could hit, Crowder used the ensuing weeks in Durham to work on improving that number before Pro Day, and it showed Wednesday.
Crowder said that his goal heading into the day was to hit 4.4 seconds and that he would take anything lower than that. Although the times were unofficial as of Wednesday night, Duke athletics and ESPN reported that Crowder ran both his 40-yard dash attempts in 4.39 seconds.
"At the combine, I felt a little disappointed with some of my times," Crowder said. "I'd be happy, overjoyed [if I ran a 4.39.] I've got to keep grinding, but if that was it, I'm definitely satisfied with that.... I knew I was faster than what the combine numbers were, so I just kept training and just knew I had to come out here and prove it today."
Following an outdoor drill for the punt returners, Crowder said he has three or four team visits slated for the coming weeks, including meetings with the New England Patriots Friday and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers April 1.
But Crowder was not the only one to garner the attention of the scouts Wednesday.
Former defensive end Jordan DeWalt-Ondijo came into the day as one of the players who possessed the natural athleticism to play at the next level but had struggled to stay healthy during his four years in Durham. But at Wednesday's showcase, DeWalt-Ondijo—who had packed on another "solid" 10 pounds since graduating with a political science degree in December—put that potential on display.
Weighing in at 240 pounds Wednesday, the Prairie View, Texas, product still managed to outrun some of the offensive skill players, clocking in with unofficial 40-yard dash times of 4.59 and 4.54 seconds.
DeWalt-Ondijo has spent the past four months working out with Johnson, a fellow defensive end, in addition to working 40 hours a week at a commercial real estate business in downtown Durham. He was allotted three hours each day to come work out at the Duke facilities with head football strength and conditioning coach Noel Durfey.
Although it is less than the five to six hours other prospects work out, DeWalt-Ondijo said the intense focus on the job and football allowed him to get in the best shape of his life.
“The process has been fantastic,” DeWalt-Ondijo said. “During my four years here, I had—not really an issue—but I needed to pick up weight. I did that, got myself to about 240 [pounds]. Coach has been on me, ‘Get your weight up, get your weight up.’ Finally, since we got this time to be out of pads, eat, focus on football pretty much all day every day with school being over with, it’s been a lot easier to pick up weight and to get my body in shape.”
After spending time with four NFL teams in the last two seasons, Vernon returned to Durham and began to work out with Johnson and DeWalt-Ondijo—who share the same agent, Brandon Smart.
DeWalt-Ondijo said several teams have already contacted Smart to express an interest in working him out, though he is not sure where NFL teams would have him play—his athleticism and size pit him more as a 3-4 defense's outside linebacker than a hand-down defensive end.
On the other side of the line, Tomlinson continued to solidify his draft status, as the Jamaica native ran unofficial 40-yard dash times of 5.15 and 5.17 seconds—improving upon his NFL combine time of 5.33 seconds.
“It feels better to get better numbers than what you had in the combine, so that’s what I wanted to do today and I did it,” Tomlinson said. “It went perfectly and the way I expected it to.”
Tomlinson echoed Dewalt-Ondijo's sentiment, calling the past few months of being able to focus solely on football "amazing." He has yet to attend any visits with teams, but has some set up for the coming weeks, but did not say which teams had reached out.
"One of the major issues I have right now is getting better with my hand technique," he said. "Keeping a square hand, I feel like I can generate more power coming out of a stance with tighter hands."
Wide receiver Issac Blakeney—who finished the season with 47 receptions for 559 yards and seven touchdowns—ran unofficial 40-yard dash times of 4.62 and 4.63 seconds. At 6-foot-6, Blakeney's frame and athleticism have drawn some comparison's to Carolina Panthers receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who ran an official 4.61 40-yard dash at the 2014 NFL combine. Although Blakeney's draft status is still up in the air, his athleticism may be enough for a team to use a late-round pick on the man the Blue Devils nicknamed "Freak."
Blakeney put his athleticism on full display in the penultimate session of the afternoon, as Boone threw to all receivers on hand. Head coach David Cutcliffe came onto the field to help run the throwing sessions, which included Boone, Crowder, Blakeney, Vernon and Snead.
"It felt like a regular practice," Crowder said. "That's how we practice up here at Duke. Every day you want to go out there and compete at a high level and practice up-tempo, because you practice how you're going to play. It was fun, I really enjoyed it."
The players will spend the coming months visiting and working out with various teams before the 2015 NFL draft, which is slated to run from April 30 to May 2 in Chicago.
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