Five Under the Radar Performances at Oregon’s Pro Day
Only 7 out of the 15 Ducks at Oregon's Pro Day received invites to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis two weeks ago, so this was the last chance for players who haven’t been under the spotlight during the draft process compared to Bo Nix, Troy Franklin and Jackson Powers-Johnson. But those under the radar players benefitted from those three as 30 of the 32 NFL teams showed up to Oregon’s Pro Day.
Among the under the radar players, Kyhree Jackson and Evan Williams were two combine invitees who have been improving their draft stock since the end of the season.
Evan Williams
Williams’ draft stock has been improving since his very successful Senior Bowl performance in Mobile. The safety made heads turn during the practice week leading up to the game and balled out during game day, picking off Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III for his first interception since 2021.
His combine 40-yard dash wasn’t elite, running a 4.60, but his vertical and broad jump numbers stood out, jumping for 40.5 inches (second-best vertical jump) and 10 feet, 6 inches (fourth-best broad jump). He ran the 40 again at Oregon's Pro Day, this time running a 4.56 and did the other combine measurables that he didn’t do at the combine. Evans bench pressed for 18 reps, ran the 20-yard shuttle drill in 4.07 seconds and did the three-cone drill in 7.10 seconds.
On top of improving his measureables, Williams showed off his coverage skills during the defensive individual drills. His ball hawking abilities stood out the most deep in coverage, high-pointing the ball every single time it was thrown out in the ball tracking drill.
Khyree Jackson
Jackson is another Duck who has a draft grade that projects him as third-round pick, as the shut-down cornerback displayed his footwork and speed on Tuesday.
He only did the bench press and vertical jump before participating in the defensive individual drills. Jackson bench pressed 18 reps and jumped for 32.5 inches, which was significantly less than his combine jump of 36.5 inches.
Jackson’s wingspan also stood out at 77 ⅜ inches and it showed during the ball tracking drills, as he was able to grab any ball within five yards of him.
Casey Rogers
The 25-year-old defensive linemen turned some heads with his Pro Day performance starting with his measurables.
Casey Rogers ran a 4.82 40-yard dash (would’ve been the second-best among defensive linemen at the combine), bench pressed for 27 reps, jumped for 35 inches in the vertical jump (would’ve been the best at the combine), jumped for 9 feet, 8 inches in the broad jump (would’ve tied for second-best jump at the combine), ran the 20-yard shuttle in 4.51 seconds (would’ve been the third-best at the combine) and ran the 3-cone-drill in 7.45 seconds (would’ve been the best at the combine).
His measurables would’ve earned him a top-three defensive linemen performance at the combine.
Not only did his measurables stand out, but they also translated into how well he performed during the individual drills.
Camden Lewis
Camden Lewis made good work of his Pro Day making all of his kicks, from the middle of the field and on both sides of the hashes.
His most impressive kick was a 60-yard field goal from the middle of the field, which answered any questions about his leg strength.
Lewis was also able to perform well doing the kick off drills making his mark kicking exactly where he was told to kick, even pinning down a kick exactly at the 5-yard line on the right side of the field.
Steven Jones
Steven Jones benefited from Powers-Johnson’s draft stock, as he was the only other offensive linemen at Oregon’s Pro Day.
His strength in run blocking showed, easily pushing the 326-pound center back in all of the run blocking drills. Jones’ agility stood out in a drill where he started out in a two-point stance then pulled to the b-gap while also having to grab a tennis ball.
A Cleveland Browns scout went up to talk to Jones briefly after he finished his offensive individual drills.