ENGLEWOOD – Many of the draftable prospects in the upcoming NFL Draft don’t bother with the local Pro Day.
Working out with a bunch of players who probably won’t get a minicamp tryout, much less sign as an undrafted rookie, can only hurt a draftable prospect’s stock.
Dalton Risner, a projected second-round offensive line prospect from Wiggins and Kansas State, and Preston Williams, a projected third-round receiver from Colorado State, were among those who skipped the Broncos’ Pro Day workout Wednesday at the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse.
Evan Worthington took a different approach. Although the Colorado Buffalo is considered anywhere from the No. 7 to No. 22-best safety -- which means he can go anywhere from the third to the sixth rounds – in this year’s draft class, he was among the 40 local college prospects who attended the Broncos’ Pro Day.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with me so I’ve got to take every opportunity I got and take advantage of it,’’ Worthington said.
And why not? John Elway the Hall of Fame quarterback and Broncos’ general manager was there to watch the full 50-minute workout. He observed Colorado State quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuel throw to receivers like Colorado’s Juwann Winfree and Kavion Ento and Colorado School of Mines’ Brody Oliver.
“Oh yeah. You can spot him from far away,’’ Carta-Samuel said of Elway’s presence. “I definitely saw him early on in the workout.’’
Broncos head coach Vic Fangio and his entire staff ran the workout. There were only two offensive lineman attending the Pro Day – tackles Fisayo Awolaja of Northern Colorado and Colorado State’s Toriano Roundtree. But offensive line coach Mike Munchak and his assistant Chris Kuper were giving them attentive instruction as if they were getting Garett Bolles and Ja’Wuan James ready for Sunday.
“They were really hands on,’’ said Carta-Samuels, who worked with Broncos’ offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello and quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney. “They definitely helped me when I was doing something wrong, helped me correct and made me think about certain things and the reason why.
“I think that’s one thing you forget about with coaching is explaining the reason why. They did a great with that.’’
To show how good you have to be to make it in the NFL, Carta-Samuels threw for 537 yards and five touchdowns in his Rams’ debut against Hawaii last season – and his realistic hope is to get an invite to a team’s training camp.
Oliver had 73 catches for 1,339 yards and led all Division II receivers with 21 touchdown receptions last year for Mines. And all he wants is a chance to put off getting a chance at a well-paid starter’s job in the engineer field.
“Going to the School of Mines you don’t think you’re going to have this type of opportunity,’’ Oliver said. “You’re going there pretty much because you want to be an engineer. But I was playing football a lot longer than being an engineer so I’m truly blessed to be here and have this opportunity and compete at this level.’’
Worthington and Wyoming safety Andrew Wingard have the best chance to be drafted among the 40 Pro Day participants. The rest can still dream.
Prior to the local Pro Day workout, the Broncos hosted Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins on a pre-draft, top 30 visit. Haskins is expected to be the first QB selected, somewhere among the top 10 picks overall.
Phillip Lindsay, the former undrafted CU Buff who became a 1,000-yard rushing rookie for the Broncos last year, talked to some of this former CU Buff teammates and others who participated in the Pro Day workout.
Afterwards, Fangio gathered all 40 players for a talk.
“He was saying this is an official tryout so whatever happens, happens,’’ Worthington said. “Just keep pushing. It’s the league so keep working no matter what happens.’’
