Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1101150
something he never did in his three starting seasons with the Nittany Lions, who operate exclusively out of the shot- gun. Fresh off a combine performance in which he turned in the fastest 40-yard time of all the assembled quarterbacks, McSorley said he was eager to show off the full range of his abili- ties during Pro Day. "I think being versatile with the footwork, work- ing under center and working from the gun, having some pocket movement and throwing on the run" were impor- tant skills to display, he said following his work- out. "We wanted to show that I could push the ball to the sideline with some deep comebacks, push it down the field. Being able to show arm strength and getting it down the field [were important], and trying to show off the accuracy. That's something I've continued to work on and something I feel we've improved on. It was a good array of everything. We were able to show the things that make me the player that I am from a physical standpoint." Sanders went into Pro Day hoping to showcase his receiving skills. Even be- fore Penn State's 2018 season, he had been putting in extra work to improve his pass-catching abilities, motivated in part by the success that Saquon Barkley had enjoyed as a receiver coming out of the backfield during the 2016 and '17 seasons. As it turned out, Sanders wasn't as in- volved in the Lions' passing game as Barkley had been, catching 24 passes for 139 yards last season. But he knows that his abilities as a receiver will make him more marketable at the NFL level. "That's the one spot that I really wanted to focus on in the off-season be- fore the [2018] season, getting extra JUGS [work], before practice and after," Sanders said. "I know that in our of- fense, one of the ways that Saquon had success was by catching the ball well. I knew that was something I had to focus on during the off-season and when I was training [for the draft], too." Sanders' stock has been rising since a head-turning performance at the com- bine in which he ran a 4.49-second 40- yard dash and was one of the top six finishers in five running back drills. He was recently listed as a top-50 prospect by NFL Network analyst Daniel Jere- miah, coming in at No. 43 among all players and No. 2 among running backs behind Alabama's Josh Jacobs. After a junior season in which he rushed for 1,274 yards to rank second in the Big Ten, Sanders said he's seen some of the more recent draft projections, in which he has been upgraded from a likely fourth- or fifth-rounder to a pos- sible first- or second-round pick. But heading into the draft, he said he's less concerned about how highly he is se- lected than with finding the right fit. THE NFL DRAFT AT A GLANCE WHERE Nashville, Tenn. WHEN April 25-27 // Day 1 Round 1 Day 2 Rounds 2 and 3 Day 3 Rounds 4 through 7 TV ABC, ESPN/ESPN2, NFL Network PUSH COMES TO SHOVE McGovern par- ticipates in a blocking drill during Penn State's Pro Day. The former Lion lineman is hop- ing to hear his name called early in the draft. Photo by Ryan Snyder