MADISON (WKOW) — Representatives from 30 NFL teams made the trek to the University of Wisconsin to scope out 10 former Badgers at Wisconsin Football Pro Day.
Defensive back Rachad Wildgoose helped state his case to the scouts. He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds. That time would have put him among the best at his position at last year’s NFL Combine. That display certainly helped Wildgoose after he was able to only play two games this past season before getting injured. He then declared early for the NFL Draft after just 2.5 college seasons.
“I was talking with Coach Leonhard throughout my three years here. I told him when I first got here, ‘Don’t let me settle. Don’t settle with me. Push me to be my greatest.’ After camp, he was telling me like, ‘Bro, if you can keep this up, the whole world going to know what I know.’ So, I talked to my parents about it. Also, me believing in my skills and watching myself develop and feeling ready enough physically and mentally. When I got Coach Leonhard’s support, it was like all-in.”
Wildgoose and Cole Van Lanen were the only Badgers invited to the NFL Combine this year. However, the Combine was not held due to the pandemic. So, Van Lanen understood the importance of putting up impressive numbers at Pro Day.
“I wouldn’t say pressure. I mean, I looked at it as a positive. I got a extra week, week and a half to train for this. So, pretty much the whole time training, I knew this was going to be my one opportunity. I thought I did fairly well today. I’m happy with my numbers. All my work I’ve put in these past few months, have kind of shown today.”
Here’s the testing results from Pro Day: