Hundreds of spectators, ranging from analysts, scouts, coaches, to current and former players were present for Georgia’s Pro Day on Thursday. Bulldog football players hoping to impress scouts in advance of the upcoming NFL Draft worked out before the large gathering. Here are some noticeable stats from the workouts.
Wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi was measured at 6-1 and weighed 207 pounds. He was clocked anywhere between 4.49 and 4.53 in his two 40-yard dashes. Cornerback Asher Allen measured just under 5-foot-10 and weighed 195 pounds. The fastest time I saw for Allen during his two 40’s was 4.32. Defensive tackle Corvey Irvin stood 6-3 and weighed 302 pounds. He also did 24 bench press reps. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the athleticism shown by safety CJ Byrd. Byrd, who was Gatorade’s South Carolina Player of the Year as a senior in high school and a two-year starter for the Bulldogs, has not received much attention following his final college campaign. That may change, as he had a time of 4.38 in the 40, a vertical jump of 41 inches and did 19 reps on the bench.
STAFFORD AND MORENO
Of course what drew most of the large crowd were the workouts of quarterback Matthew Stafford and running back Knowshon Moreno. Stafford completed 43 of 50 passes, throwing to wide receivers Massaquoi, Demiko Goodman and Kenneth Harris, as well as tight end Tripp Chandler. Three of his non-completions were overthrows, while two were drops. A possible first overall pick in the draft, Stafford says he hasn’t been taken aback by the attention or felt any pressure. “It’s been about what I expected,” he said. “It’s crazy but it’s a lot of fun, too. It’s football and it’s something I love to do.”
Massaquoi turned in a solid workout in addition to his numbers, as he made some nice catches and had only one drop. “Every chance I get, just try to go out there, play a little bit better,” Massaquoi said.
Moreno workout was highly anticipated after his workout at the combine in Indianapolis last month. He had what some called disappointing 40-yard times there and ran anywhere between 4.55-4.63 in his two 40’s on Thursday according to the scouts I was around. The general consensus is that teams know what they will get in Moreno: an energetic, tough runner who is very quick and shifty, so the teams that like him already will like him despite his times. For his part, he is fine with the NFL’s way of judging talent but knows his on-the-field work means something. “It’s whatever they want,” Moreno said. “You can get a lot out of running back drills and things like that, but all the stuff is really on tape, […] you can see what you can do throughout the season.”
In those running back drills Moreno showed his usual shiftiness and the ability to catch the ball with his hands.
WOMEN’S NCAA’S
The women’s basketball team is in the NCAA Tournament for the 15th consecutive season, earning an 11 seed in the Trenton region. Georgia (18-13, 7-7) will open the tournament by taking on sixth-seeded Arizona State (23-8, 15-3) on Saturday at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Game time for the matchup with the Lady Sun Devils, who finished third in the Pac-10 in the regular season, is slated for noon. The winner of that game will take on the winner of the Florida State/North Carolina A&T contest in the second round on Monday. Head coach Andy Landers’ Lady Bulldogs have only one senior (Danielle Taylor) on its 11-player roster and overcame a five-game losing streak in February to make the NCAA field.
COACHING SEARCH
The men’s NCAA Tournament started on Thursday and while Bulldog hoops fans might not have a “dawg” in the fight, someone coaching in the tournament may be the future Georgia head coach. One coach whose stay in the tournament was short, but may be on Georgia’s list of candidates, is Butler’s Brad Stevens. His Bulldogs lost 75-71 to LSU early on Thursday. Stevens, 32, has led Butler to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments in his two seasons as head coach at the school. The previous six seasons he was an assistant under Todd Lickliter and Thad Matta.
Other coaches who might be on Georgia’s radar are current Minnesota and former Georgia head coach Tubby Smith, whose Gophers play at 7:10 p.m. on Thursday; Oklahoma’s Jeff Capel, whose Sooners play at 9:40 p.m. on Thursday; and Xavier’s Sean Miller, whose Musketeers play on Friday at 7:25 p.m.
Butler can be reached jbutler@scoreatl.com.
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