Green is Top Dog and Brown Underdog of Cowboys Pro Day
STILLWATER -- Dru Brown had finished his workout for the Pro Day and went over to his back pack and found a hooded sweatshirt to pull over inside the breezy Sherman Smith Training Center. Brown's pullover, which he said he found in a store, had the word "underdog" written across the front. That is an identity that Brown has embraced. About 10-yards away talking to his family gathered around was Oklahoma State's All-Big 12 cornerback A.J. Green wearing the coveted warm-up top issued to all of the 200 some off players that attended the NFL Combine.
Green and Brown were the yin and the yang of Oklahoma State Pro Day. There were only 11 players working out for the scouts and one of those, Tony Tillmon was a former walk-on at OSU that finished playing for Houston Baptist. Now there were other players that shined and may have earned themselves an opportunity. Both offensive linemen Johnny Wilson and Marcus Keyes worked out well. Zach Lancaster has a full story on Pro Day, but Wilson was impressive on the bench press test. Kemah Siverand was fast. I thought Phillip Redwine-Bryant, who was the favorite player of Marshall Levenson of our staff, did awesome working out at five positions and deep snapper.
On the move 💨#okstate #GoPokes pic.twitter.com/xnys1hWbbb
— OSU Cowboy Football (@CowboyFB) March 10, 2020
It was Brown, who threw the ball for close to 45 minutes as the only quarterback there, and Green, who was running what was now the most important pair of 40-yard dashes of his life, that commanded the most attention from the 28 NFL team represented by scouts that were there.
Green admitted that the past eight days since he ran a 4.62-second as his best in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis had been eight of the longest days of his life.
"Yes, it was a long few days from the Combine to here and I just had to get my body right," Green explained. "I had to get back healthy and come out and dominate the Pro Day."
Green said he had a lingering injury from the Senior Bowl and that he had suffered back tightness from the bench press test at the Combine. He had 13 reps in Indianapolis and let that stand.
While the measurements, Green was 6-1 and 197-pounds, five lighter than he was at the NFL Combine, and the testing in the weight room were all announced publicly.
"That was on purpose," Green said of the lighter weight. "So I could be faster."
He was faster, but how much depends on who you ask. The times in the 40-yard dash and agility drills were not released. Several media sources tweeted that Green ran a 4.43 on his first forty. Pokes Report had his times at 4.53 on the first and 4.59 on the second. We checked with a member of the NFL scouting community and were told our times were spot on with the scouts. The times we saw were 4.56 and 4.63 on the two heats for Green.
"I'm going to take some time off and rest," Green said also telling me he would watch the Draft at home with a loving family. The NFL Draft is April 23-25 in Las Vegas. "I'm going to look back at how far I've come. I'm almost to the finish line now."
Meanwhile Dru Brown must think the finish line for him is never going to come. He was an underdog coming out of high school and forced to go to junior college. He started two years at Hawaii, but decided he wanted to take a crack at Power Five and there were hints Hawaii had a quarterback they felt would move Brown to the sideline. Brown is an overachiever and he wants to play some more football.
He showed it by doing a very solid throwing program.
"I thought it was good," Brown said. "I missed a few throws out there. Guys running routes did really well and caught the ball well. It was a lot of fun out there today."
His workout was orchestrated by Quincy Avery and Sean McElvoy from Chip Smith Performance Center in Norcross, Ga.
"We worked on that down in Atlanta, but then I came out here a week ago and got some work in and explained it to Phillip (Redwine-Bryant), Tre, and Jordan (McCray)," Brown added. "Just talking them through it and they did a great job."
Brown has always thrown the ball well as evidenced by what he did on the field last season at Oklahoma State. He completed 72-of-107 passes for 810-yards and seven touchdowns with only one interception.
He also showed how much he wants to continue playing football by having the best vertical jump of anybody. In fact, he tied A.J. Green in the broad jump at nine feet and four inches and then topped him and the other nine players with a 36-inch vertical jump.
"That's the highest I've ever jumped, so it boost me up some," Brown explained. "I had a little adrenaline going. The guys that trained me at Chip's Performance Center in Atlanta got me right."
Brown still has a chip on his shoulder. The same chip I saw when I apologized to him last summer for underestimating him. He told me not to worry, everybody else has too. The NFL is likely underestimating him, but today he got some attention with his arm and certainly with his lower body explosion. Such is the life for an underdog.
A.J. Green did better, but Green will likely have some anxious moments as he wonders just what the NFL scouts walked away thing from Stillwater on March 10. There are concerns from top dogs as well. It happens every year during NFL Draft season.
