All-Important Pro Days Ready to Heat Up, with Kansas' Starting it Off
A running back could be on the Eagles’ menu during Day Three of the 2021 NFL Draft, and there are plenty of options.
“I think at running back, and I’ve always said it, you can find running backs later in the draft, that can be able to play and play well for you,” said ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. earlier in the week.
The Eagles spent a second-round pick on Penn State’s Miles Sanders in 2019, and he is one of the cornerstones to the team’s retooling process.
There are so many names that could fit the Eagles’ tastes this year, and one of them kicked off what will be a month-long run of pro days, with players available via Zoom for media. The NFL Scouting Combine is not being held this year due to the pandemic, so pro days are going to be key factors for teams to attend.
Kansas was up first in the process on Friday and into the spotlight stepped Anthony Williams Jr., who has a cool nickname of “Pooka” and put up some impressive numbers for a Jayhawks team that only went 6-21 during his two-plus seasons.
Williams, who is 5-10, 170, opted out of the season after four games last year as a junior. He was a high school legend in Louisiana rushing for 3,118 yards and 37 touchdowns during his final season at Hahnville High, about 30 miles outside of New Orleans.
At Kansas, he ran for more than 1,000 yards in his first two years, and in 26 games he totaled 2,382 yards with 12 touchdowns. He’s also a threat as a punt returner and as a pass-catcher out of the backfield, so much so that some scouts believe his best NFL position may be as a slot receiver.
Williams, who said he had not yet talked to the Eagles, had 66 catches for 534 yards and six scores in his time with Kansas.
“I don’t care where I go (in the draft) as long as I get in the door and make sure I perform,” he said, adding that he patterned his game from Reggie Bush. “(I am) a game-changer, workaholic, and just want to get to it.”
Here is a list of pro days that will be held next week with the players and coaches who are tentatively scheduled to be available via Zoom after their workouts:
MONDAY
School: Marshall
Player: RB Brenden Knox
Coach: Offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey
TUESDAY
School: Kansas State
Players: DE Wyatt Hubert, TE Briley Moore
School: Northwestern
Players: DE Earnest Brown, LB Paddy Fisher, CB Greg Newsome
Coach: Head coach Pat Fitzgerald
WEDNESDAY
School: Arkansas
Players: RB Rakeem Boyd, QB Feleipe Franks, CB Jerry Jacobs, DT Xavier Kelly, DT Jonathan Marshall
School: Wisconsin
Players: S Eric Burrell, DL Isaiah Loudermilk, FB Mason Stokke, OT Cole Van Lanen, CB Rachad Wildgoose
THURSDAY
School: Clemson
Players available: OT Jackson Carman, TE J.C. Chalk, RB Adam Choice, RB Travis Etienne, WR Cornell Powell, WR Amari Rodgers
School: Texas
Players available: OT Sam Cosmi, WR Brennan Eagles, QB Sam Ehlinger, DT Ta’Quon Graham, Edge Joseph Ossai, S Caden Sterns
FRIDAY
School: Arkansas State
Players available: WR Jonathan Adams, DT Forrest Merrill
School: Oklahoma
Players available: CB Tre Brown, OT Adrian Ealy, C Creed Humphrey, CB Tre Norwood, Edge Ronnie Perkins, RB Rhamondre Stevenson
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
