At Wisconsin’s Pro Day on Wednesday, Alex Erickson emerged as one of the stars and possibly ran his way up onto NFL team’s draft radars.
Packers GM Ted Thompson and 30 other NFL scouts looked on as Erickson took over Pro Day. Erickson ran his 40-yard dash in a time of 4.44 seconds, which would have placed him fifth among receiver prospects at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. His 3.88 second pro-shuttle also would have placed him second among receivers at the Combine. Erickson additionally showed some strength, getting 14 reps at 225 pound bench press, placing him close to the average at his position.
The receiver also made some nice grabs during passing drills.
Erickson is projected to be drafted in the seventh round according to CBS Sports, but after his performance on Wednesday, don’t be surprised if his stock rises on the draft board.
Click here for all measurements and results from Pro Day on Wednesday.
Others performing well were fullback Derek Watt and quarterback Joel Stave.
In meeting with the media, Watt emphasized how important it was to him to show his versatility as a player, and it showed at Wisconsin’s Pro-Day. Watt’s broad jump was 9 foot 8 inch, the same as Erickson’s, and his vertical jump was only an inch less than Erickson’s at 33.5 inches. The fullback also ran a solid 4.69 40-yard dash as his brother J.J. Watt looked on.
Watt is currently one of the top fullback prospects and as he continues to show his versatility, that should not be changing anytime soon.
Watt also showed versatility during Stave’s passing drills, not dropping one pass.
Stave, for his part, was throwing extremely accurate, only over throwing a receiver once. He also looked noticeably bigger, adding 15 pounds to his long, tall frame. Stave added, “one thing that’s really nice about the training process is you know all I would do is eat, workout, eat, workout, eat, sleep for nine hours.”
Apparently being projected as a seventh round pick or undrafted free agent hasn’t phased Stave as he explained the imperfect process of drafting quarterbacks.
“Obviously there is no perfect method to it or you wouldn’t see guys taken in the first round who don’t work out, Stave said. “You wouldn’t see Tom Brady get taken in the 6th round so you know there’s no perfect method to it.”
Linebacker Joe Schobert, who attended the NFL combine with Stave and offensive linemen Tyler Marz, also fared well. He improved on his vertical by two inches, netting a 35.5 inch jump. Schobert also got a 9 foot 7.5 inch broad jump; an improvement of 4.5 inches.
Everyone’s goal at Pro Days and combines is to impress the scouts and get a job in the NFL. Schobert summed up the anticipation leading up to the draft when talking with the media.
“It’s exciting,” Schobert said. “This is what you’ve obviously dreamed for growing up your whole life and now it’s kinda right at the door steps trying to get in and you don’t know who’s gonna open that door.”