Scouts from at least 15 NFL teams converged on Wallace Wade Stadium Wednesday to assess the draftability of 11 Blue Devil NFL hopefuls.
Among those former players were some of the top seniors from a Duke squad that showed considerable improvement over years past, including fullback Alex Wade, linebacker Ryan Fowler, running back Chris Douglas and offensive tackle Drew Strojny.
The star of the workouts, however, was wide receiver Reggie Love. At just his first NFL workout, Love wowed scouts by running a 40-yard dash in less than 4.5 seconds. Already a possessor of great size at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, the run garnered Love considerable attention during the rest of the workouts, particularly from an Arizona Cardinals scout.
"He was just telling me to just make sure that I went to the next couple of pro days at Carolina and State, and that's really about it, to just make sure people got a chance to see me," Love said. "I think the Packers are big fans, but hopefully we'll find out."
Unlike Love, who was practically unknown in NFL circles before Wednesday, Wade and Strojny worked out at the NFL Combine last month. The two seniors, who are considered Duke's top two NFL prospects, have been on scouts' radar screens for quite some time.
"I didn't really have any pressure because I'd been at the combine before," Strojny said. "I basically did everything we did here already in front of head coaches and general managers, so it was kind of a low pressure day."
Strojny, who has tremendous size at 6-foot-8 and 322 pounds, is probably Duke's surest bet to get drafted. Scouts from the Browns and the Jaguars spent considerable time evaluating the left tackle, and Strojny mentioned that a number of teams, such as the St. Louis Rams, had inquired about him.
Wade, the Blue Devils' other top prospect, had a mediocre day, doing well in position drills, but not in the 40-yard dash.
"My 40 time was about the same as it was at the combine," said Wade, who mentioned he would likely run at other pro days in the area. "I'm still coming off two hamstring injuries, so we kind of knew we wouldn't have a lot of time to train."
Nonetheless, Wade, who led the team in rushing his junior season, remained upbeat about his chances of making an NFL camp.
"Really, the only thing that matters is getting into a camp," Wade said. "I know I'm going to get into a camp, whether I'm a free agent or I'm drafted; it really doesn't matter to me."
According to Wade, the Giants, Cardinals, Cowboys, Bears, and Ravens have all shown interest.
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