Collegiate football athletes showcased their talents for the pros across the country this week — including Idaho’s finest.
Five recent alumni of Idaho football performed for a lineup of NFL scouts, including linebacker Kaden Elliss, defensive lineman D.J. Henderson and wide receiver David Ungerer. All athletes had big days in front of a collection of scouts who attended.
Running back Isaiah Saunders and offensive lineman Jordan Rose also showed off their talents.
Drills athletes partook in during the Pro Day included bench press, 40-yard dash, cone drills, broad jump, vertical jump and skill drills.
Kaden Elliss
Elliss came into Wednesday looking to build off his im- pressive showing he had in Salt Lake City at the University of Utah’s Pro Day. He could participate in Utah’s since it was in his hometown, and Elliss put up some of the most im- pressive numbers in the country, having the fastest 60-yard shuttle when compared to any participants in the 2019 NFL combine, and the second fastest three-cone drill in the country.
Elliss did not participate in every drill at Idaho’s Pro Day, skipping the bench press and broad jump, but he did improve his vertical jump by four inches, measuring at 34.5 inches.
Along with impressive showing in the speed and skill- based drills and getting plenty of side conversations with the scouts, Kaden’s father, Luther Elliss, a defensive line coach for the Vandals, said Kaden just needed to wait until he got his shot.
“(Kaden) didn’t get invited to the combine and I know he was really disappointed in that,” Luther said. “I said, ‘All you got to do is when you get your day, go out and perform,’ and left at that. I believe he did do that here today.”
David Ungerer
Since the end of his college career and taking time to fine tune his body by putting on additional weight, Ungerer came out and provided the scouts with stats and reps that rival those who were invited to the combine. With 14 reps on bench press, a 35.5 inch vertical and a 9-foot-9-inch broad jump, scouts started to chatter among themselves.
Ungerer said he overheard a scout say that he had a 4.57 second 40-yard dash, an unofficial time — right along the average for wide receivers at the combine. Along with not dropping a pass in the skills portion of the day, Ungerer said he came in and reached the goals he set for himself.
“Today was more about just having a real clean day,” Ungerer said. “I knew I wasn’t going to blow anybody out of the water or anything, but I just wanted to have a clean, sharp day and I felt like I accomplished that for the most part.”
Isaiah Saunders
Saunders had a bit of an underwhelming day, but still had some bright spots. After 14 bench reps, Saunders, a couple reps below average for running backs, Saunders had what looked like a solid outing on the jumps and cone drills, despite some slips. Much like Ungerer though, he did not make a mistake in the position skills portion of the day, which consisted of catching passes in open space.
D.J. Henderson
After a solid senior season, Henderson looked to turn heads with the scouts. He succeeded statistically, with an impressive 21 bench rep showing to go along with an 25-foot-5-inch ver- tical and 8-foot-9-inch broad jump. Henderson showed solid looking speed on cone drills, but impressed mostly in the skill drills, making solid moves in space. After his Pro Day outing, Henderson could serve as an in-progress defensive end or outside pass rusher.
Jordan Rose
Rose only participated in one event — the 40-yard dash. Since he is an offensive lineman, this does not leave much to go off of for the scouts.
The players will now move into the next phase of the amateur-to-pro process, which will be waiting for calls and meetings with teams from the professional leagues, looking to either be drafted or invited to mini-camps near the beginning of the summer.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at [email protected] and on twitter @kellogg_zack.