NFL scouts time former Miami University wide receiver Andy Cruse as he does a 40-yard dash. Cruse said he likely will not be drafted, but is hoping to be signed to NFL training camp after the draft. (Ben Taylor | The Miami Student)
With scouts from over half of the teams in the NFL watching, quarterback Zac Dysert and several other NFL hopefuls attempted to put on a show. It is a safe assumption that the scouts were at Yager Stadium on a cold and windy day to see Dysert. He will likely be the first quarterback from Miami University to be drafted since Ben Roethlisberger.
Dysert did not get a chance to workout at the NFL Combine because of a slight hamstring tear he suffered in training, making his Pro Day workout even more important.
There were a few times Dysert had a pass sail high on him and his receivers dropped several catchable balls.
Dysert only threw at the Pro Day, as he is still recovering from the hamstring tear.
Cincinnati Bengals scout Brayden Coombs said Dysert showed why NFL teams are looking to draft him.
"He showed a lot of the same things that he has shown that has him in the position he is in right now," Coombs said. "He's got a strong arm and is accurate for the most part. He was a little inconsistent today; had a few get away from him, but in general he showed the same things that we've seen and that teams know about him."
Dysert said he does not know where he will be drafted and is trying to not think about it.
"It is all in God's hands pretty much," Dysert said. "I can't really control that, so I try not to worry about it. I used to think about it all the time, but it started driving me insane."
Coombs is a former Miami player and said he has a general idea of where Dysert will end up going, but it is tough to tell.
"It is so tough to say with just the way this year is with quarterbacks," Coombs said. "A team could fall in love with him and take him in the second round or he could go in the fifth round or somewhere in between. I like Zac a lot personally; I've known him for five years. I think I'm biased and have a tendency to put him a little bit higher. It takes one [team]. He should be optimistic for a second round and worst-case a fifth round and most likely it will be somewhere in-between."
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Dysert said he had formal interviews with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals, Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets at the Combine. He also said he was going to have a private workout with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Dysert has been training with former Florida State University and Carolina Panther quarterback Chris Weinke since the RedHawks' season ended.
Weinke won a Heisman Trophy at Florida State and is now the director of the IMG Football Academy.
"I think what he showed today was that he didn't let [the weather] bother him," Weinke said. "He showed that he is a good athlete, can make all the throws they are going to ask him to make at the NFL level and carried himself like he always does, like a true pro."
Other former Miami players who were participating in the Pro Day were wide receivers Andy Cruse and Luke Swift, defensive back DJ Brown, linebacker Evan Harris, safety Pat Hinkel, defensive end Jason Semmes and linebacker Luke Kelly. Kelly mostly played defensive end during his senior year, but has a better shot of making the NFL as a linebacker given his lack of size.
Brown had an impressive 40-yard dash time, as he was unoffically clocked in the 4.4 second range.
Cruse, who will be attending the Bengals local workout out, said he was happy with his numbers. He was told he ran a 4.52 40-yard dash in his second attempt and had a 34-inch vertical.
"I think there are other guys here who will get brought into training camp," Coombs said. "I don't know if there are any, other than Zac, who will get drafted. Cruse would definitely be a guy who will be in a training camp somewhere."
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