CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Three long months of preparation reached its culmination for a handful of North Carolina Tar Heels on Monday as personnel from 31 NFL teams descended on the Koman Practice Complex for the program’s Pro Day.
Every pro team with the exception of the Los Angeles Rams, who are not sending scouts to on-campus Pro Days, was represented in Chapel Hill as their scouts were tasked with evaluating UNC’s five projected draft picks – running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, wide receivers Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome and linebacker Chazz Surratt – in addition to former Tar Heel running back Jordon Brown and tight end Brandon Fritts.
“There’s so many people that are evaluating you,” Dyami Brown told reporters after Pro Day concluded. “You’ve got to perform at your best. The only difference is you’re working for yourself instead of competing against other guys. So that’s probably the biggest difference, but at the end of the day, you still want to be the best you.”
The five aforementioned Tar Heels received invites to the NFL Combine, which was adjusted from its standard format due to COVID-19 to a virtual approach in 2021 with medical exams taking place with NFL team personnel online in addition to media interviews being conducted over Zoom by host college programs.
Darrell Moody, an advisor to UNC head coach Mack Brown and former longtime NFL scout, was in charge of setting up Monday’s Pro Day functions at the indoor practice facility.
The Pro Day festivities began with measurements at 9 a.m. followed by nearly three hours of testing, which included 40-yard dash, pro agility, 3-cone drill, 60-yard shuttle, bench press and position drills. Each Tar Heel turned heads in certain measurables, highlighted by Surratt’s 4.59 40, Carter’s 6.87 3-cone drill, Williams’s 36-inch vertical jump and Dyami Brown’s 10-8 broad jump. For a complete break of UNC’s Pro Day times and measurements, read here.
Each player entered Pro Day with different goals. Brown’s UNC film is heavy on vertical routes, so his emphasis was on showcasing his ability to run a variety of routes to avoid being labeled solely a deep route target. Williams spent his offseason improving his 40 time (4.55) to complement his ability to run over and through would-be tacklers. For Surratt, who only has two years of linebacker experience on his resume, the goal was to let his athleticism pop while working through his drills with a smoothness that indicated his completed adjustment to the position.
The unique dichotomy between the combine’s testing focus and actually playing football was not lost on the players, as scouts seek to differentiate between their long lists of prospects with a detailed list of timed exercises.
“They put a lot of stock into the 40,” said Carter, who was timed at 4.5 in the 40-yard dash. “And not that it’s not important, I get that it’s important, but I feel like there’s so many custom movements during a football game that it’s not too often you run in a straight line for 40 yards, especially at the NFL level. Because guys are all the same speed. It’s about, can you make that man miss? Can you win your one-on-ones? So I think in a time like this, you’ve got to trust what the tape shows because I feel like if you stare at the tape for too long, you’re going to start trying to find stuff that’s wrong and if it’s not wrong… So it’s weird, but it’s up to them. That’s not my job.”
Those comments certainly apply to Newsome, who confirmed to reporters that he’s not much of a testing guy; instead, he prefers to let his game film speak for his production capabilities. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound receiver ran a 4.59 40 and posted a 4.39 in the shuttle and a 7.43 in the 3-cone drill.
One luxury for the offensive participants was the familiarity of having Sam Howell on hand to serve as quarterback in their passing drills. The early 2021 Heisman Trophy candidate also benefitted by providing an early passing display for the NFL scouts who will be watching him this fall with keen interest.
In typical years, the NFL Combine is wrapped up by late February and Pro Days represent a final push for players jockeying for position on the draft boards. Monday merged those events together, placing an immense burden on the testing results. Only now will NFL teams be able to appropriately slot the Tar Heels on their prospect lists, yet for the players themselves, all that remains is a long wait between now and the draft next month.
The NFL Draft will begin in Cleveland with the first-round selections on Thursday, April 29. The second and third rounds will take place on Friday, April 30 and the final four rounds will be picked on Saturday, May 1.