Reactions & Analysis from 2024 Texas Pro Day

Texas just wrapped up its 2024 Pro Day at the Bubble in Austin which included an eye-popping number of scouts and attendees. 

It was reported by ESPN's Matt Miller over 90+ scouts were there in-person to check on the 13 participants for the Longhorns today. There were three NFL head coaches as well: 

• Cincinnati Bengals HC Zac Taylor
• Indianapolis Colts HC Shane Steichen
• Miami Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel

Plenty of former Longhorns were in attendance as well, plus royalty – Earl Campbell.

Quandre Diggs, Alex Okafor, Fozzy Whittaker, Derrick Johnson and plenty of others.

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RB Keilan Robinson

No 40-yard dash today for Keilan Robinson. I was a bit surprised, thinking he might use the home track to get into the 4.3's but hey, a 4.42 is in no way, shape or form a bad number for him. How about 20 reps on the bench today, the high number for any of the Longhorns to participate.

Robinson was smooth in his receiving out of the backfield today as well. He caught all but one pass intended for him during the routes on air drills. Strong showing.

WR Xavier Worthy

Probably the best individual day of any of the participants today. Worthy showed tremendous hands and route-running ability, something he did not participate in while in Indianapolis after running a record-breaking 4.21 40-yard dash. Everything from Worthy today was crisp – routes, hands and after the catch.

Worthy told reporters after the Pro Day he felt that NFL scouts had questions about that and he felt like he put on a good showing in front of those guys today.

Worthy met with Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel and even Colts legend Reggie Wayne who was in attendance as well.

WR Adonai Mitchell

Mitchell only participated in the position drills today at the Pro Day. He did have two drops, something he also was hampered by in Indianapolis, however he had a tremendous diving catch in the end zone on a bomb by Quinn Ewers and received several positive remarks on his route running from scouts in attendance.

At this point, Mitchell is firmly in the first round of the NFL Draft next month.

WR Jordan Whittington

Whittington did not do any agility drills and was limited in his routes during the position drills. There is a faux-Pro Day coming up April 14 in Austin that Whittington says he hopes to be 100% for where he will undergo all basic Combine testing prior to the NFL Draft. 

In the routes Whittington was able to participate in, he was 100% in hauling in passes his direction. 

TE Ja'Tavion Sanders

I will be completely honest, it was not a great initial showing from JT Sanders. I am not sure if he was injured coming in or what, but until he got into his routes I was scratching my head a bit.

Only eight reps on the bench press. A 29-inch vertical jump and only 9–6 on the broad jump. Those numbers might see a bit of a drop in his draft stock in all honesty.

OL Christian Jones

Had a good strong showing in the 3-cone drill, my unofficial hand time says it beat the 8.09 mark he came into the Pro Day with from his Combine performance. By the end of the day, Jones was the final Longhorn on the field with the media and scouts going through his final drills. He is solidified in the 4-5 round range.

DL Byron Murphy

I overheard one NFL scout say Murphy needed to ease off the throttle when going through a drill designed to display get-off and burst. That scout was half-joking, but nonetheless he was impressed. There were plenty oohs and ahhs when Murphy ran his circle drill and bag drills in front of the scouts today. If you want to know what a first round interior defensive lineman looks like, it is Byron Murphy.

Murphy reportedly went 7.5 in the 3-cone drill. That mark would have been the second best of all DL at the combine.

One NFL scout told me he feels bad for whoever is on the opposite side of Murphy when he gets a full head of steam.

DL T'Vondre Sweat

Sweat's weight was one of the hotter topics coming into today. I was told he weighed in at 367 pounds, a consistent mark he has been at since the Senior Bowl in Mobile. 

For Sweat, being able to do drills up and close with the NFL scouts was a big thing today. Yes, the times from the Combine weren't bad, but it is something different watching him move laterally and around cones when you are 15 feet away. All-in-all, it was a strong showing from Sweat today. I liked what I saw.

LB Jaylan Ford

I thought today was a big day for Jaylan Ford coming in. A tweak at the Combine meant he needed to put on good testing numbers for scouts to justify the tape.

The 10–6 broad jump was a 5-inch increase from the Combine. Ford also completed 18 reps on the bench press as well. It was a good showing, but the change of direction drills really helped his case in my opinion.

I clocked an unofficial 40-yard dash for Ford at 4.68.

LB Jett Bush

The first opportunity at impressing NFL Scouts came today for Jett Bush. Interestingly enough, he participated at both linebacker drills and also caught a ball out of the backfield during the throwing session. Who knows what that means going forward, but it was certainly noteworthy.

Bush had a great vertical of 33-inches and combined that with a 10–2 broad jump. My unofficial hand-timed 40 put Bush in the high 4.7's.

DB Ryan Watts

NFL teams are split on where Watts projects at the next level. Watts told me he is getting evaluations at both cornerback and safety with NFL teams being split down the middle on where they have him on their board.

An interesting note here is Watts had been dealing with a hamstring since the Kansas game he told me. Now at 100%, he is really able to show off the athlete he is. Of course, he his 4.53 in the 40, and a 40.5-inch vertical while in Indianapolis. Today, he added an 11–1 broad jump to his card as well.