Seahawks Pro Day Notebook: Oklahoma and North Dakota State

Continuing their analysis of pro days around the country, Corbin Smith and Matty Brown investigate several prospects from Oklahoma and North Dakota State who may be potential targets for the Seahawks.

With NFL Scouting Combine testing cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the significance of pro days has increased dramatically in 2021. Once an event which people looked at skeptically, they are now of great importance. The concern regarding inflated and inaccurate numbers remains valid, but where else can you get the testing numbers of NFL Draft prospects? Nowhere. The months of March and April are going to be busy as each school showcases their eligible stars.

Over the next several weeks, Matty F. Brown and Corbin Smith will take a deep dive into testing numbers for prospects who may be on the Seahawks radar heading towards the 2021 NFL Draft. Continuing the series, the duo examines pro day results for Oklahoma and North Dakota State.

Oklahoma

At the time of writing, Seattle has obvious vacancies at cornerback and interior offensive line. While the Seahawks and John Schneider like to enter the draft with no obvious holes on the roster, letting them lean best player available, Oklahoma has a player at each position that impressed at their March 12 pro day.

Cornerback Tre Brown backed up a Senior Bowl showing that saw him voted the American team’s top defensive back with an impressive athletic performance. Standout numbers were a 4.40‐seconds 40‐yard dash and 38‐inch vertical jump. He also leapt 10‐foot‐3‐inches in the broad and put up 13 reps on the bench press.

Down in Mobile, Brown measured 5‐foot‐9 and 6/8 inches tall, with 30 1/4‐inch arms. This is well below Seattle’s 32‐inch arm length unofficial threshold. Brown’s shortness will naturally garner some slot consideration from teams around the league. His 4.27‐seconds short‐shuttle (26th percentile among DBs) and 7.11‐seconds 3‐cone run (15th percentile) are disappointing times for his short‐area‐quickness and agility, skills of even greater importance in the roomier slot.

Creed Humphrey was another Sooner to earn a Senior Bowl invite. At the Mobile weigh‐ins, the center was 6‐foot‐4 and 5/8‐inch tall, weighing 312 pounds. His arms were short at 31 6/8 inches. This matters for Seattle, with offensive line coach Mike Solari preferring length closer to 33‐inches on the interior of the line.

Still, Humphrey is the Oklahoma product most likely to be a first round pick. He was the star of the Sooners pro day too. His 4.46-seconds short-shuttle time would have tied Ezra Cleveland for the fastest time at the 2020 NFL combine, per The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain. Humphrey’s 7.54-seconds 3-cone would have placed third-fastest and his 33-inch vertical jump fifth-highest. 29 reps on the bench press was a nice cherry on top to the numbers. Humphrey leapt 9 foot, 4 inches in the broad and ran a 5.09-seconds 40-yard-dash.

Big man with the big ups. @creed_humphrey ⤴️

🎥 https://t.co/XhOdfeJeYP pic.twitter.com/UDo3jxAkvt

— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) March 12, 2021

“Centers have become more valuable in the last couple years,” said Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley in his press conference following the pro day. “You go ask people who the best defensive linemen are in the league: a lot of them are inside guys. If you’re playing against the best, you better have your best in there too. I think a guy that’s a talent like his [Humphrey]; I think he’s got a shot to be drafted really high. The trend of the league will certainly help him with that.”

The Sooners have another player considered by some scouts to be a top 50 pick: Ronnie Perkins. The edge rusher, though, will be disappointed with his testing. At 6‐foot‐1, 253 pounds, Perkins ran a 4.71‐seconds 40‐yard‐dash, 4.69‐seconds 3-cone, and 4.71-seconds short-shuttle. Perkins is praised for his first-step explosion and burst, but we need his 10-yard split to properly confirm this. He jumped 32 inches in the vertical and 9 foot, 7 inches in the broad. Perkins’ final number was 25 reps on the bench press. -Matty Brown

North Dakota State

The Seahawks will enter the 2021 season with both starting tackle spots filled by Duane Brown and Brandon Shell. But the franchise will eventually have to find a long-term heir apparent for Brown and Shell will be a free agent next March, so taking advantage of a strong draft class at the position may be a priority in April and NDSU's Dillon Radunz could be on their short list with their second-round selection.

Viewed as one of the best tackle prospects in the country, Radunz measured in at 6-foot-5 and weighed 301 pounds at his pro day. Though he's a bit lighter than Seattle has typically preferred at the position, he put his bevy of athletic tools on display at the Fargo Dome last Friday, running the 40-yard dash in a respectable 5.11 seconds while posting a 33-inch vertical jump and 9-foot, 4-inch broad jump. He also produced 24 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.

Despite playing FCS competition and only appearing in one game last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Radunz held his own in Mobile against top Division I talent during the Senior Bowl in January. He plays bigger than his size would suggest, packing a mean punch at the line of scrimmage and capable of knocking defenders off the ball. He also has light feet and plus-mobility, which caters well to zone blocking and mirroring athletic rushers in pass protection.

A scheme-diverse prospect, Radunz has ample room to add muscle to his frame at the next level and could start out at guard before transitioning out to tackle as Brown's eventual successor in Seattle. The biggest question will be whether or not the team will even have an opportunity to draft him given his surging stock. -Corbin Smith

Here is the full schedule of upcoming pro days:

Tuesday, March 16: Georgia Tech, Temple

Wednesday, March 17: Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Pittsburgh, San Jose State

Thursday, March 18: Auburn, Buffalo, Central Arkansas, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Monroe, Stanford, Troy, West Virginia

Friday, March 19: Memphis, Ohio, TCU

Monday, March 22: Air Force, Bowling Green, Colorado, Colorado State, Florida State, Iowa, Missouri, Northern Iowa, Toledo

Tuesday, March 23: Alabama, Central Michigan, Iowa State, Nebraska, Purdue

Wednesday, March 24: Michigan State, Mississippi State, South Carolina, USC, Virginia

Thursday, March 25: Georgia Southern, Liberty, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Texas, Penn State, San Diego State, Southern Methodist, Tennessee, Western Michigan

Friday, March 26: Boston College, BYU, Michigan, South Dakota State, Virginia Tech

Monday, March 29: Arizona State, Duke, Louisiana-Lafayette, Miami (Fla.), Miami (Ohio), North Carolina

Tuesday, March 30: Alabama, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Louisville, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Tulane, Washington

Wednesday, March 31: Boise State, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana State, Notre Dame, Wake Forest

Thursday, April 1: Appalachian State, UCF, Minnesota, Charlotte, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, South Florida, Western Kentucky

Friday, April 2: Oregon, Tulsa

Wednesday, April 7: Texas Tech

Friday, April 9: UAB, Ball State, Houston, Rice

There are also private companies hosting combine‐style events. We've already seen the EXOS Combine on March 3 and the House of Athlete combine March 5.