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Darrius Bratton Steals the Show at Virginia Football's NFL Pro Day

In front of 33 NFL scouts, Bratton recorded impressive marks in the broad jump, vertical jump, and 40-yard dash at UVA's NFL Pro Day

Matt Newton

Virginia Athletics
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The Virginia football program held its 2023 NFL Pro Day on Wednesday at the George Welsh Indoor Practice Facility with a total of 33 NFL scouts representing 29 different NFL franchises in attendance. After participating in the NFL Combine a few weeks ago, Dontayvion Wicks and Anthony Johnson looked to improve their draft stock ahead of next month's NFL Draft. But it was Darrius Bratton who ended up stealing the show, putting up some remarkable numbers in various drills. 

Bratton, a Roanoke native who has been in the UVA football program for six years, started off the Pro Day by recording a mark of 38.5" in the vertical jump, a number that would have tied for ninth among the 30 cornerbacks who were invited to the NFL Combine. He would have ranked sixth among safeties at the Combine in that category. Bratton then followed that up with a wildly impressive 11'3" mark in the board jump, which would have ranked third among cornerbacks at the Combine and would have led all safeties. Finally, Bratton ran a best time of 4.43 in the 40-yard dash, which would have tied for 11th among cornerbacks and would have tied for first among safeties at the NFL Combine. It's too early to say for sure, but Darrius Bratton might have made himself some serious money and a future in the NFL with his performance on Wednesday. 

While Bratton showed off in the combine events, Anthony Johnson performed very well in the defensive back-specific position drills while working with Peter Giunta, a senior defensive assistant with the New Orleans Saints. In an interview following Pro Day, Johnson said he has a visit scheduled with the Miami Dolphins in April. 

Wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks is garnering interest from several NFL teams and he specifically mentioned having visits set up with the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears on the horizon. A priority for Wicks on Pro Day was improving his 40-yard dash time and he did just that, running a best-time of 4.52, a tenth of a second faster than the 4.62 that he ran at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. His vertical jump of 36.5" didn't quite match his 39" he recorded at the Combine and he chose not to participate in the broad jump after notching a mark of 10'10", which tied for ninth among receivers at the NFL Combine. 

Keytaon Thompson was a 10'0" in the broad jump and both of his 40-yard dash times came in at 4.53 seconds. Thompson said afterwards that he hopes his versatility and ability to fill a role on special teams will draw interest from NFL teams. 

Watch the full interviews with Darrius Bratton, Anthony Johnson, Dontayvion Wicks, and Keytaon Thompson in the video below:

Also participating in UVA's Pro Day were former Wahoos Mandy Alonso and Elliott Brown along with VMI long snapper Robert Soderholm and Richmond quarterback Reece Udinski. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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