Cougars perform for NFL scouts at BYU Pro Day

PROVO, Utah —  Ten former BYU football players performed in front of NFL, CFL and AAF teams at Pro Day on Friday in the Indoor Practice Facility, looking to get noticed ahead of the NFL Draft and improve their professional football outlook. 

The athletes from BYU that participated in various testing, position work and measurements included defensive lineman Corbin Kaufusi, linebacker Sione Takitaki, defensive end Michael Shelton, quarterback Tanner Mangum, running back Squally Canada, running back Matt Hadley, fullback Brayden El-Bakri and wide receiver Dylan Collie. Specialists Andrew Mikkelsen and Rhett Almond also participated. 

There were scouts from 31 NFL teams, one CFL team and the local Salt Lake Stallions of the AAF. About 40 total pro football representatives, including some position coaches were in attendance. 

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Takitaki elected to stand on his NFL Combine numbers, only participating in the position drills at the end of the day. Kaufusi was measured but didn't do any additional testing as he is still recovering from post-season surgeries. The specialists also only worked in position drills. 

The day began with a series of measurements, followed by the vertical jump, bench press and broad jump. The workouts then moved to the 40-yard dash, 3-cone drill, and short and long shuttles before finishing with position drills.

Brayden El-Bakri stood out in the bench press with his 24 reps, followed by 21 from Canada and 20 from Hadley. Shelton showed his jumping ability with the highest vertical leap at 36.5 and a broad jump of 9-feet, 10-inches. Collie had the best broad jump on the day at 9-feet, 11-inches. Shelton and Collie also put up solid number of 14 on the bench, especially at 174 and 180 pounds, respectively. 

Canada and Collie tied for the best time in the 40-yard dash with a time of 4.59. Shelton went on to run the fastest in the next two drills as well with a 4.20 in the 20-yard shuttle and a 6.82 in the 3-cone drill. Collie finished off the measured workouts with an 11.28, followed close behind be an 11.44 from Shelton in the 60-yard shuttle. 

Takitaki then took the field to work on individual position drills with the scouts. The rest of the participants then followed with their respective specialties.

The players now wait until the NFL Draft, that runs from Apr. 25-27 in Nashville, Tennessee, to hear whether they will be drafted by a team, signed as a free agent or invited to participate in a minicamp.

Some post-event comments from several participants at BYU Pro Day are included below.

Quarterback Tanner Mangum
"Everyone is in great shape, feeling good and excited to show what they have. It was a great day for a lot of us with several personal records. We showed what we wanted to show. We got to showcase all of the hard work that we put in. I’m grateful to the scouts for coming out here and to BYU for putting on this great Pro Day. I just had a good time, I was having fun out there.”

Wide receiver Dylan Collie
“It was good. It wasn’t great as far as numbers, but ultimately it comes down to how you play the game of football. When it comes to my route-running and catching balls and punts I felt like I excelled and did extremely well there. I can go home confident, knowing I can play this game and that is really what matters most to me.”

Fullback Brayden El-Bakri
“Everything went well. I was slower in here with the long turf but it is what it is. You have to stick with your numbers and be happy about it. I try not to think about the future too much but focus on the now. I do what I can, push my limits, and whatever happens happens.”