Utah football hosted its Pro Day on Thursday at Eccles Football Center, and the Utes represented themselves well.
Fred Whittingham said more NFL scouts than years previous were in attendance this year because of some of the talent the Utes have to offer. One notable attendee was Eagles’ head coach Chip Kelly.
“We’ve got a little deeper draft class this year,” Whittingham said.
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Whittingham also mentioned how the number of scouts was higher because of their coordination with BYU’s Pro Day. He said he gave the Cougars a call to arrange the Pro Days back-to-back so scouts would not be forced to make multiple trips to Utah or decide between one or the other.
“Helps the efficiency with the scouts being able to travel here today then down to Provo,” Whittingham said.
With the success it saw this year in terms of attendance, Utah is hoping to get Utah State on board next year. Whittingham mentioned how this year, he saw more assistant coaches from various teams than the previous three years he has been running Pro Day and that over 50 personnel checked in.
While Whittingham said some of the bigger players like Kaelin Clay, Nate Orchard and C.J. Poutasi looked great, he also said players who were not invited to the NFL combine got the most out of the drills and events on Thursday. He said the events were more important for them because they had more to prove.
“I think a lot of guys helped themselves today,” Whittingham said. “I think some of the guys who didn’t get to go to the combine and show what they could do there, like Westlee Tonga really helped himself today, [as well as] Davion Orphey.”
Defensive back Brian Blechen has observed the past three Pro Days held at Utah but said that most, if not all, the players had nerves going into today. When Blechen was about to run the 40-yard dash, he felt out of breath even though he had not yet done a single thing.
“It’s hard not to get [nerves] and feel them,” Blechen said. “I think I calmed down, did well in agility, then by the time we got to position I definitely felt right at home, and I thought those went smooth.”
Blechen said he has been hearing things from the Eagles and the Redskins and what position he will play is still up in the air, but he is looking forward to not obsessing so much over what his time is.
“Glad to stop focusing so much about the 40 and start worrying more about football things,” Blechen said. “Overall, it was a good experience. Everyone’s been working hard for this day, so I’m glad it was finally here and I got to take part.”
One player who was not only happy to be competing but was also focused on proving to others he had not lost a step was linebacker Jacoby Hale.
“All I came out here to do was get the opportunity and hope one team will take a chance on me, and I’ll just try and give them 110 percent,” Hale said. “Came out here to show scouts I could still run from my supposed-to-be season-ending injury, worked my butt off and had a good day, hopefully.”
Hale said aside from going to the ice bath, he was eager to showcase his abilities. He is going to keep training but is not looking much towards being drafted, and will most likely go the free-agent route.
@kbrenneisen