This is the third of a multi-part series leading up to the draft as we follow Willie Beavers on his journey from Western Michigan to the NFL
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – As mentioned in part two of the Path to the Draft with Willie Beavers, there is a lot more that goes into the NFL Combine than just the on field drills. However, the on field drills are what gets televised, thus being the primary subject all the media will reference for the next two months leading up to the NFL Draft.
Willie's day began early Friday morning as he was in the first group of offensive linemen that were tested. He started with position work which included mirroring a defender to test his agility before moving onto the measured aspects such as the 40-yard dash and broad jump. Overall Willie's results according to NFL.com were:
40-yard dash: 5.28 seconds
Broad jump – 103.0 inches
3-cone drill – 7.96 seconds
20-yard shuttle – 4.71 seconds
Vertical jump – 25.5 inches
“I think I did good with my position work,” Beavers said following the Combine “But I am always looking to improve in my workout numbers.”
The viewing public will likely not see the prospects for the next two months before the NFL Draft, but that does not mean the workouts or evaluations are over with. The Combine can be seen as the second leg of a long journey for some like Beavers that made high profile all-star games in January.
The next leg in the journey for Beavers is coming back to Kalamazoo after spending the past few months in Atlanta. He will attend Pro Day on March 15 when Western Michigan will have each of its draft eligible players workout in a similar aspect to the Combine for NFL personnel at Waldo Stadium. Beavers will review his performance from Indianapolis and choose which drills he needs to improve most for those in attendance on March 15.
“I plan on doing my vertical, short shuttle and L-drill (3 cone),” Beavers said.
Following pro day, NFL teams will then gather the data they have received in the past few months and decide which prospects to invite to their individual facilities where they will spend a day going over measurements as well as doing extended work on football concepts compared to the brief 15-minute interview teams were allowed at the Combine. Beavers said he has been in contact with some teams regarding those invitations but doesn't expect to communcations to ramp up until after Pro Day.
Overall the last week with the NFL Combine has been a once in a lifetime experience, being shuttled from place to place and meeting with multiple teams and media outlets on a variety of subjects. Asked how he felt the whole experience was, Beavers responded.
“I think it was an awesome experience.”
