Tryon on the Draft: 'Don't Care If I'm in the First Round or Not'
Joe Tryon looked like a new man. Frosted tips. Charles Atlas physique.
Yet once he answered his first question at UW Pro Day in the Dempsey Center, he was the same old Joe.
Spoke with his trademark growl. Was matter of fact in his answers. Seemed ready to hit someone right then and there without making it complicated.
Take, for instance, his NFL draft position.
The experts have him at the end of the first round or early second round.
It doesn't matter to him.
"I really don't mind where I'm drafted," Tryon said on Tuesday. "It's an honor to be in this position in the first place. What I really care about is landing on a good team that is going to use me to my best advantage. It's not about how high I go. It's really the best place for me.
"I don't care if I'm in the first round or not."
Tryon, a 6-foot-5, 262-pounder from Renton, Washington, who passed up his final two seasons of Husky eligibility, expressed a little remorse that he didn't play UW football last fall. But he was straightforward about it.
When the Pac-12 made the decision to play football again, he was three months into his training. He couldn't pay back the fees he had accepted from his football representatives. He had to keep going.
"I wanted to play," Tryon said. "But by the time the season came back, I'd already signed with an agent. I had to make the best decision for me. I was kind of sad to see my team play, but I was committed."
As NFL teams check him out, they'll no doubt be intrigued by his physical transformation and his dedication to make this pro football thing work. Whether it's getting after the quarterback. Dropping back into coverage with a tight end.
"I feel like I can excel in any position," Tryon said. "I don't have to be just an edge rusher. I don't think I'm better than anybody. I'm just me. I'm just competing with me every day, trying to be the best version of me."
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