Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/969330
seasons, particularly in the secondary, the chance to land the best all-around athlete in the draft might outweigh the desire to fill a specific hole in its depth chart. That's the scenario that Tom For- nelli of CBSSports.com and Bucky Brooks and Chad Reuter of NFL.com foresee. All three have Cleveland taking Darnold first, then snapping up Barkley with the fourth pick. But there are some dissenters. A third NFL.com expert, Charles Davis, has Barkley and Darnold flip-flopped, with the Browns taking the Penn State run- ning back first overall and the USC quar- terback fourth. The Sporting News has Barkley going to Denver with the fifth pick. There's also been speculation that the New York Giants could choose Barkley with the second overall pick should the Browns take a quarterback No. 1. The New York Jets choose third after trading up for Indianapolis's pick but are said to be focused on landing a quarterback. Barkley was one of 21 players who were on hand for pro day workouts March 20 at Holuba Hall in advance of the draft. That list featured several other combine standouts, including tight end Mike Gesicki, safeties Troy Apke and Marcus Allen and wide receiver DaeSean Hamil- ton. Like Barkley, Gesicki had made a splash at the combine, turning in a 4.54- second 40 time, along with a 41.5-inch vertical leap and broad jump of 9 feet, 10 inches. Also like Barkley, he was un- happy with some aspects of his per- formance, noting that he actually jumped 11-3, which would have been a combine record for a tight end, but fell backward on his landing, cutting his of- ficial distance by more than a foot. "I was thinking about redoing it" at pro day, Gesicki said. "But then I was like, should I do it? And I was like, all right, I'll just sit on my [combine perform- ance]." That looks to be a wise decision, as Gesicki is being touted as a potential late-first-rounder. The Washington Post's mock draft has him going to Philadelphia with the 32nd pick overall. The Super Bowl champion Eagles re- cently released Brent Celek and lost Trey Burton to Chicago via free agency. They return Zach Ertz, and even though the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Ertz is physically similar to Gesicki, the addition of an- other wideout-type tight end might prove enticing for play-calling head coach Doug Pederson and his new offen- sive coordinator, Mike Groh. Allen and Apke, meanwhile, had differ- ent priorities at pro day. Allen didn't run NAME POS HT WT BENCH VERT BROAD 10 20 40 PRO 'L' 60 Marcus Allen S 6-1 209 15* 37* 10-7* 1.52 2.67 4.59 4.32* 7.13* – Troy Apke S 6-1 200 16* 41* 10-11* – – 4.34* 4.03* 6.56* – Saquon Barkley RB 6-1 233 29* 41* – – – 4.40* 4.24* – – Saeed Blacknall WR 6-2 208 24 32.5 10-7 1.55 2.53 4.39 4.15 6.77 11.47 Jason Cabinda LB 6-1 237 20* 33.5 10-9 – – – 4.28 7 11.73 Christian Campbell CB 6-1 193 15* 41 11-3 1.56 2.58 4.51 4.13 6.77 11.37 Colin Castagna DE 6-4 248 30 32.5 10-3 1.65 2.7 4.76 4.28 7.13 – Tyrell Chavis DT 6-3 305 18 24.5 8-10 1.86 3.03 5.28 4.71 8.27 – Curtis Cothran DT 6-4 283 26 29 9-11 1.7 2.82 4.85 4.78 7.72 – Parker Cothren DT 6-3 289 17 28.5 9-2 1.75 2.88 5.05 4.71 7.89 – Desi Davis CB 5-11 184 7 34.5 10-5 1.67 2.7 4.63 4.23 7.2 12.09 Tyler Davis K 5-9 192 – – – – – – – – – Mike Gesicki TE 6-5 254 22* 41.5* 10-9* – – 4.54* 4.1* 6.76* 11.33* Grant Haley CB 5-9 190 15* 34* 9-11* – – 4.44* 3.94* 6.51* 11.31* DaeSean Hamilton WR 6-0 203 16* 34.5* 10-3 1.57 2.61 4.52 4.15* 6.84* 11.22 Brendan Mahon G/C 6-4 319 – 24.5 8-5 1.84 3.07 5.21 4.79 7.99 – Josh McPhearson RB 5-8 200 19 37 10-8 1.58 2.57 4.45 4.43 7.21 11.66 Paris Palmer T 6-7 304 18 26.5 8-11 1.87 3.15 5.56 5.04 8.83 – Tom Pancoast TE/H 6-3 242 21 31 10-0 1.70 2.83 4.81 4.48 7.23 11.95 Brandon Smith LB 6-0 232 13 29 9-2 1.69 2.76 4.64 4.42 7.13 11.78 Mitchell Vallone S 5-9 195 12 29 9-5 1.69 2.76 4.75 4.29 7.44 – * Testing mark from NFL Scouting Combine P R O D A Y R E S U L T S