BYU football held its annual NFL Pro Day on Friday. There were 18 listed participants, with each former Cougar hoping to turn the heads of NFL scouts.
Jamaal Williams and Harvey Langi have been the biggest sources of NFL Draft buzz since the season ended, but a number of other former BYU football standouts were attempting to carve out a path to the pros.
Algie Brown, Fullback
Brown ran a 4.61-second 40-yard dash and put up 20 reps on the bench press. He made the change from running back to fullback before last season began, but blossomed as a blocker in Ty Detmer’s pro style offense.
Fullbacks aren’t typically drafted en mass (last year, just three fullbacks were drafted. All three came off the board in the sixth round), but Brown will likely make an NFL camp this summer.
Michael Davis, Defensive back
Davis wasn’t on the radar of many NFL Draft analysts coming into Pro Day. While that likely isn’t going to change, he did turn heads with his blazing speed.
Davis ran a 4.34-second 40-yard dash, a 4.29-second 20-yard shuttle, an 11.14-second 60-yard shuttle and a 6.93-second three cone drill. Davis played in 48 games in his BYU football career, forcing one fumble and intercepting one pass.
Harvey Langi
Langi chose not to bench at Pro Day, instead wanting to stick with his NFL Combine performance of 23 reps. He did run the 40-yard dash, clocking in at 4.62 seconds. Langi didn’t run at the NFL Combine due to a pulled hamstring, but his 4.62-second run would’ve placed him fourth among linebackers (third if Michigan safety/hybrid Jabrill Peppers was removed).
Langi likely projects to be an inside linebacker at the NFL level, but he has experience playing outside linebacker, inside linebacker and defensive end. He played in 36 career games for the Cougars, racking up 139 total tackles.
Andrew Eide, Offensive lineman
Eide may have been the biggest riser of BYU football’s Pro Day.
“I don’t think I hurt myself,” Eide said of his draft stock. “I think I did pretty well. I felt like it was a pretty well-executed day.”
Eide’s “well-executed day” included him posting numbers that ranked him among the top performers at the NFL Combine.
He put up 33 reps on the bench, which would be tied for No. 3 overall at the NFL Combine. He posted a 33.5-inch vertical jump, which would’ve been No. 2 among interior lineman. His 9-foot-5-inch broad jump would’ve been No. 2 for interior lineman as well.
Eide spent a few days playing guard for BYU, but moved to left tackle when the Cougars’ realized they needed more depth at the position. Eide started every game in his single year in Provo, but is switching back to guard/center to prepare for the next level.
Eide said the change wasn’t always an easy one.
“At first, it was a little bit hard because there’s less movement and more patience,” Eide said. “As a tackle, you’re a little bit more aggressive. When you’re a guard, you have to learn to be a little bit more patient and pull back the reins a bit.”
When asked what he could bring to an NFL team, Eide said his position change will come in handy. Eide spent two years as a defensive lineman at Southern Utah and two years as an offensive lineman between the Thunderbirds and Cougars.
“Versatility,” Eide said. “I’ve played about four positions in college. They can plug me in to left guard, right guard, center. I’m very plastic when it comes to learning a new trait. I feel like I can bring versatility and I feel like they can train me to play any position they need me to and plug me in.”
Taysom Hill
After five injury-riddled years with BYU football, Hill has his sights set on playing professionally.
He put up some impressive numbers, specifically his 4.44-second 40-yard dash and 38.5-inch vertical jump. His 40-yard dash time would have been the fastest among NFL Combine quarterbacks.
Hill threw to receivers for about 15 minutes, completing most of his passes.
It’s unsure what position he would try to play at the next level, but he did do some running back work at the event.
Kai Nacua
Nacua was another potential riser from Pro Day. He ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash, posted a 39-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-7-inch broad jump. His vertical and broad jump numbers would’ve placed him in the top 10 at the NFL Combine.
The 6-foot-2 inch safety played in 46 games at BYU and picked off 14 passes.
Jamaal Williams
Williams seemingly carved out a mid-round draft selection for himself.
His 4.53-second 40-yard dash shaved .06 seconds off his Combine run, and would’ve put him in a tie for the No. 12 spot among running backs. Williams put up 18 reps on the bench and posted a 33-inch vertical jump. Neither of those numbers stand out among the running back pool, but Williams isn’t worried.
“Now it’s the waiting game,” Williams said. “I know I can go higher (in the NFL Draft) if I continue to perform like I did at my pro day. The important thing is getting on a team and showing them what you can do, so you actually make the team.”
Williams has a number of workouts coming up, but declined to specify the teams involved.
