NFL Scouts evaluate Blazers
Thompson, Collier, English and Green show their stuff for the NFL
Bryan Fazio
There is no stop for a player coming from a Division II program trying to make it in the pro’s.
“He just did a workout last week,” Collier’s agent Jeffrey Jankovich said. “Believe it or not, it takes a few days to recover from that and then a day or two to get back into your training and then all of a sudden here you have to go again.
“It’s tough, but when you’re a small school player you have to take advantage of every opportunity you get, and that’s the difference. The guys at Georgia and Florida State get to sit back and train for one day, but these kids have to be ready to go two, three or four times.”
One of the thing the scouts will continue to look for from Collier will be his feet, where the rather large lineman stands out from others.
They had a chance to see that when the players went outside to Reames field to run a 40-yard dash, perform an agility run and run from side to side in the three-cone drill.
During the 40, the focus was on Thompson where he is trying to improve his time in order to convince NFL teams that he can transition from defensive end to linebacker.
“Overall, the key for Tim is his 40 time,” Thompson’s agent Matthew R. LaVallee said. “That’s what all the scouts are telling us, because he’s going to be most likely playing linebacker in the pros.
“His 40 time was better this week.”
Thompson’s second of three runs was one of his better times so far as he crossed the line in 4.72 seconds.
“Hopefully, that’s pretty good,” Thompson said. “Hopefully when I go again I get a faster time.”
Collier and Thompson have both been getting good reviews so far as Thompson has gotten looks from the Giants, Jets, Jaguars and others.
“We’re kind of just looking at these two pro days as an audition for next week,” LaVallee said. “Because every team in the league will have personnel there.”
Throughout his two pro days and a stint at the Hula Bowl, Collier has heard nothing but positive ramblings from scouts.
“I haven’t talked to one scout — that’s this pro date, the previous pro day and the Hula Bowl,” Jankovich said. “I haven’t talked to one scout that has said anything negative about him.”
The two will remain on a track for a late draft position or a post draft free agent signing.