Workout attracts a crowd

FAYETTEVILLE - The biggest Pro Day in Arkansas football history attracted 45 NFL coaches, general managers and scouts, including Chicago Bears Coach Lovie Smith.

At least three general managers - Jerry Reese of the New York Giants, Mike Tannenbaum of the New York Jets and Marty Hurney of the Carolina Panthers - were in attendance, and there were even more media requests as more than 50 outlets asked for credentials, said Kevin Trainor, UA associate athletic director for external affairs.

For the first time in school history, the media throng had to be directed to different quadrants of the field at Walker Pavilion to steer clear of the workouts.

The star attractions were obviously record-setting running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, but the Razorbacks also sport plenty of pro-quality depth on both sides of the ball.

ADVERTISEMENT

"There are quite a few athletes here that can step up to the next level and contribute right away," Smith said. "You're going to have a chance to have multiple firstround picks. Any time you can say that, there's something special going on. Not many can say that."

A total of 18 draft-eligible Razorbacks worked out: running backs Jones, McFadden, Peyton Hillis and Farod Jackson; receivers Chris Baker, Robert Johnson, Marcus Monk and Sean Penix; offensive linemen Robert Felton and Nate Garner; defensive linemen Fred Bledsoe, Marcus Harrison and Chris Wade; linebacker Weston Dacus; and defensive backs Michael Grant, Matt Hewitt, Matterral Richardson and Kevin Woods. Former Razorback Cedric Cobbs, a fourth-round pick by the New England Patriots in 2004 who played for the Patriots and Broncos, also worked out.

Name game The entire Arkansas coaching staff, including Coach Bobby Petrino, made appearances at the workouts, as did Athletic Director Jeff Long. Former Razorbacks Clint Stoerner and Cedric Cobbs attended Pro Day. Stoerner threw passes to the skill players, and Cobbs participated with the running backs. ESPN NFL analyst Chris Mortensen said he called Stoerner to see if the quarterback, who starred at Arkansas and played in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys, would like to throw to the prospects. "It was also a chance for Clint to throw in front of some other [NFL ] people again," Mortensen said. "Unfortunately the [passing ] drills didn't last that long. " It was nice of Clint to come over from Little Rock and make himself available. Otherwise, it would've been a coach throwing to those guys and that wouldn't have given as good a look."

Harrison's stock ESPN NFL analyst Chris Mortensen said former Arkansas defensive tackle Marcus Harrison is a lock for a second-round pick, and that the Little Rock native has a chance to join Darren McFadden and Felix Jones in the first round. "If he hadn't had the offfield stuff, I think he would be a first-rounder," Mortensen said, referring to Harrison's arrest and one-game suspension for possession of a controlled substance. "I'm sure there are people right now who are actually tempted, who are having that discussion in their head, maybe we should take him in the first round, because defensive linemen, those guys are hard to come by. " His value is going to go up as the draft moves on." According to NFL. com, Harrison recorded a 29-inch vertical leap, 9 feet in the long jump, 4. 54 seconds in the short shuttle run and 7. 55 in cone drills.

Lovie likes Hogs Chicago Bears Coach Lovie Smith played games at Razorback Stadium during his college days at Tulsa, but Smith had not been back on campus since his playing days in the 1970 s. Smith said he was impressed not only with Arkansas' facilities, but with its football leadership. "This is a great program," Smith said. "I played at Tulsa University... and we used to come play here once a year, so I know a little bit about the program, and with Bobby Petrino leading it, you know, Arkansas should be in good hands. " I personally know Garrick McGee, their quarterbacks coach, who will do a super job for the program as well." McGee, also from Tulsa, came to Arkansas from Northwestern University, which is in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Ill.

Dacus' day Ex-Hogs linebacker Weston Dacus timed his training at D 1 in Nashville, Tenn., to correspond with Pro Day - he did not attend the NFL Combine - and liked the results Tuesday. "This was huge," Dacus said. "This was their only time to see how fast I was, laterally and the 40, see how explosive I was. I had a real good day today. I'm satisfied." Dacus, who was assisted by former Alabama and NFL linebacker Lemanski Hall while at the D 1 camp, said he felt fast in the 40 and did good work in the shuttle and the cone drills. Dacus put up 225 pounds in the bench press 17 times before running into a problem.

"I strained my [pectoral muscle ] while I was doing it, so I didn't do as well as I wanted to," he said. "I was consistently getting 24, 25 reps while I was training." Hillis not pleased

Former Arkansas fullback Peyton Hillis wasn't pleased with how he worked out Tuesday.

Hillis said he heard his times in the 40-yard dash were anywhere from 4. 51 seconds to 4. 65 and that he didn't feel good during drills. NFL. com reported Hillis ran 4. 57 and 4. 58 in the 40, had a 35-inch vertical jump and ran 4. 24 in the short shuttle.

Hillis said he "probably hurt" his draft status, but an NFL scout said Hillis had a good day.

"He's too hard on himself," the scout said. "He did fine."

Hillis said he has no idea where he'll be drafted. "You hear anywhere from the top of the second round to the seventh round," Hillis said. "With opinions like that, you don't really know where you stand."

Bledsoe does well Former Arkansas defensive lineman Fred Bledsoe struggled to get on the field for much of his college career, but he had a productive senior season with 36 tackles and did well Tuesday, according to ESPN NFL analyst Chris Mortensen. "Fred Bledsoe had a really good day. I don't know what it means," Mortensen said. "People are asking more questions about Bledsoe today than they were going into it.

" Some of them might be, 'Why wasn't he a factor ?'... The good news is he got some attention. The bad news is you are going to investigate why he wasn't a bigtime player here."

The knock on Bledsoe, a standout at Little Rock Central, was that he didn't have a good work ethic. He also was arrested for marijuana possession after his junior season.

An NFL scout said Tuesday that Bledsoe helped himself but probably won't be drafted and instead will sign with an NFL team as a free agent.