White hopes pro day performance showed he’s a complete receiver

Receiver Kevin White speaks with the media after West Virginia’s pro day.

 

After a dazzling combine performance elevated him to the highest-rated receiver prospect on many draft boards, Kevin White used a scaled-back pro day to fill in the margins.

He didn’t run the 40—no need after that 4.35 in Indianapolis—and also skipped the vertical jump, broad jump, shuttle drills and three-cone. Instead White focused on the football-specific stuff, running routes and catching passes from Clint Trickett.

“Whtatever I have to do to prove that I’m the No. 1 guy, I’ll do it,” White said after Friday’s workout at the West Virginia indoor facility. “Everyone’s talking about the 40 time and how well I did, and now the question mark is ‘Am I a great route runner? Can I move and get in and out of my routes and catch the ball?’ I thought I answered those questions today.”

While as many as seven receivers are sporting first-round grades, White leads the elite contingent that includes Alabama’s Amari Cooper, Louisville’s DeVante Parker and Arizona State’s Jaelen Strong. He talks and texts with the guys in that group, all of whom share a competitive friendship.

“Yeah, I feel like I’m the best receiver in this draft class—hands down. Not taking anything from the other guys in the draft class,” White said. “Being a competitor, I have to say myself.”

 

Mario Alford runs a 4.25 40-yard dash at West Virginia’s pro day.

 

Alford flashes 4.25 speed: Just as White over-delivered in Indianapolis, Mario Alford was ticked about running  a 4.43. The tiny receiver corrected that with a blistering 4.25 time Friday. Alford said one scout had him at 4.20 unofficially.

“I was mad at my 40 time in the combine,” he said. “I knew I could get it. At the combine I was over-thinking it. Here I just told myself just get out and run.”

Alford said several NFL clubs have referenced an interest in using him as a returner.

Dreamius shows burst too: Pro day was particularly important to players who weren’t invited to the combine, guys like running back Dreamius Smith.

He was happy after posting a 4.44 in the 40, with one unofficial clocking of 4.38.

“Sitting at 223 pounds, that’s impressive,” he said. “I showed out.”

Spain looking lean: Citing a strict diet of chicken and broccoli and several weeks of Orlando workouts, offensive lineman Quinton Spain showed up at 330 pounds and ran a 4.91.

He was disappointed at being left off the list of combine invitees.

“I took it personally because I felt like I should have been there,” he said. “I just tried to use it as motivation. I told my trainer we’ve got to do whatever we’ve got to do to show these scouts that they made a mistake.”

Riddick may be a stand-up defender: Defensive end Shaq Riddick, who ran 4.59 and measured 6-foot-6 and 244 pounds, figures to get a look at outside linebacker in an NFL camp.

“I’m athletic enough to do anything they ask me,” he said.

Ignored by FBS teams four years ago before becoming an All-American at Gardner-Webb, Riddick said he took the lack of a combine invite in stride.

“The chip started when I was in high school when I didn’t have not one Division I offer to now with not getting invited to the combine and no Senior Bowl,” he said. “I’m just going to grind.

“All I need is for one team to like me. One shot, and I ain’t going to let them down.”

Trickett on hand: The former WVU quarterback said he watched the NFL combine from Tallahassee when White ran his startling 40 time. (“I was jumping up and down and throwing stuff, I was so happy.”) And he witnessed first-hand Alford beat that time on pro day.

It left Trickett recalling deep routes from the past two seasons.

“Those guys are freaks,” he said. “When I underthrew them, now maybe people can understand.”





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