NFL Hopefuls On Display At Syracuse Pro Day

Over 20 NFL scouts were in attendance Monday morning

In a hectic NFL offseason with trades and free agent acquisitions, it’s difficult to remember that the Draft is just 38 days away. Leading up to Draft Day in Detroit, schools around the country are hosting pro days to provide their student-athletes an avenue for scouts to make it to the next level.

Seven former Syracuse players participated in Pro Day at the Clifford J. Ensley Complex in front of representatives from nearly 25 NFL organizations. QB Garrett Shrader, DL Caleb Okechukwu, and DB Isaiah Johnson highlighted the Orange players that scouts were looking at. OL Chris Bleich, DB Jason Simmons Jr., WR D’Marcus Adams, and LB Yosuke Sugano rounded out the remaining players for Syracuse.

A difference in this year’s Pro Day was inviting athletes from nearby NCAA Divison Three schools to also get looks from NFL Scouts. WR’s Cole Burgess and JJ Laap were part of the Cortland Red Dragons National Championship team from this past season who had reps. SUNY Brockport, Hobart, and LIU also had players in attendance.

Johnson was the lone Syracuse player invited to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis earlier this month and has the best chance to hear his name called in the draft. The 6’3” cornerback didn’t have the best showing at Lucas Oil Stadium with a 4.66 in the 40-yard dash, ranking as one of the lowest for his position group. He was training in Fort Myers, Florida at a complex called X3 before returning home to Michigan for the last few weeks to prepare.

Monday was an opportunity for Johnson to raise his draft stock by improving his times and performing well in position drills. He felt an extra boost of confidence being back on campus in front of former teammates and coaches throughout the day.

“It really means a lot having them here. You probably saw me joking around talking to some of my teammates, I haven’t seen them in almost three months now. Getting to be back with the boys and my brothers definitely felt good. It made it a lot easier to go through everything knowing that whatever time I got that I would go back to the sidelines and someone would be cheering me on,” Johnson said.

Shrader did not participate in any on-field drills as he continues to recover from offseason shoulder and foot surgeries that kept him out of the Boca Raton Bowl against USF. Next week he will be allowed to start his throwing program and expects to be fully healthy by June. Even though he’s currently on the shelf at home in Charlotte, Shrader continues to have conversations with teams and meetings in the coming weeks.

“I think my athletic ability and being capable of doing a lot of different things is something we discuss when talking to scouts. There’s a lot of different interest right now and teams see me doing different things which has been exciting. It just sucks not being out there today because I test really well and I wasn’t able to show that today… I’m looking forward to showing them what I can do later,” Shrader said.

Syracuse now shifts their focus to their current roster as official spring practices begin. Media will have the opportunity to watch 12 practice sessions before their spring game inside the Dome on Saturday, April 20.