Trojans shine for NFL at 2011 Pro Day

Published 10:56 pm Friday, March 4, 2011

Scouts and advisors for number of different NFL teams were in Troy Friday afternoon to take a look at what Trojan senior football players had to offer at the school’s Pro Day.

While all eyes were on wide receiver Jerrel Jernigan to begin with, there were a number of players that turned some heads during the two hour event.

Leading both the Trojans and scouts through the day was Troy strength and conditioning coach, Richard Shaughnessy.

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The event began at 1 p.m. inside the Trojan weight room, where players participated in three exercises, the vertical jump, broad jump and bench press.

The group then headed out to the field for the 40-yard dash, shutter run and position drills.

This particular part of the day was what a lot of the scouts had made the trek to Troy for.

Heading into the day, Jernigan, who competed in NFL Combine last weekend, only planned on running the 40 as well as run some receiver routes.

In Indianapolis, Jernigan ran a 4.46, however at Veterans Memorial Stadium, the record breaking receiver broke that time by running a 4.32.

“I think I did well compared to what I did last weekend in Indy,” he said.

“I wasn’t too stressed out about it. After the Combine, I was upset, but I did what I wanted to do (Friday).”

Players who also helped their causes to make it to the next level were fellow seniors, Mario Addison, Jason Bruce and DuJuan Harris.

Both Bruce and Harris had good 40 times, running a 4.35 and 4.37 respectively.

Harris also finished with 27 reps on the bench as well.

Addison finished his 40-yard dash with a 4.58 and had 17 reps on the bench.

“Mario Addison and DuJuan Harris both helped their chances to get drafted by their performances today,” Shaughnessy said.

“Jason Bruce was probably the biggest surprise. He is a kid who really deserves an opportunity. He ran well (Friday), which made for a good situation. A lot of our guys look good today, and got a lot of looks. I was really pleased.”

Another player of note was Tyler Clark, who led all players with 30 reps on the bench.

In the audience besides fellow players and family were former Trojan greats, Levi Brown, who was the quarterback during the receiver and running back drills, Bear Woods, Boris Lee and Gary Banks.

When it was all said and done, Shaughnessy said he was pleased with not only how his players performed but also from the turnout of scouts.

“I train a lot of the guys at Troy before they compete in things like the combine or a Pro Day,” he said.

“The scouts come because they know we are going to run the Pro Day efficiently and make sure that we get it done. Our players know what they are supposed to do and that helps them.”

In the end, it was all about Jernigan, however, as each team present were scouting the receiver, with one showing a lot of interest.

“Jerrel did well,” Shaughnessy said, “he ran better then he did at the combine.

“And that’s what he wanted to do. He has Carolina looking at him with their position coach, special team coach and receiver coach to find out once and for all what he can do. He has helped his status by showing what he is capable of doing (Friday afternoon).”