STARKVILLE — Former Mississippi State safety J.T. Gray entered Wednesday’s Pro Day with just one National Football League team in contact, the Arizona Cardinals, after weeks of preparing for a possible roster spot. He left Wednesday with a business card from the Seattle Seahawks in hand.
It’s possible more attention will come for Gray after his stellar showing at Pro Day, held in MSU’s Palmeiro Center. Gray impressed with measureables that would have fared well at the NFL Scouting Combine if he were invited and got to that performance by staying close to home.
“With me still being in school, there was no other place for me to workout,” Gray said, adding he worked out with former MSU linebacker Dez Harris and occasionally with cornerback Lashard Durr.
Gray’s unofficial 40-yard dash time of 4.48 seconds would have ranked ninth among safeties at the Combine. He was best of the Bulldogs participating Wednesday in the bench press (19 reps at 225 pounds), vertical jump (33 1/2 inches) and broad jump (10 feet, 3 inches). Against his fellow safeties in the Combine, those performances would have ranked tied for sixth, 19th and eighth.
Gray’s senior season ended with 65 tackles, third on the team, in addition to three tackles for a loss, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception. Gray told The Dispatch after Pro Day he had yet to hear about individual workouts.
Thomas builds on Combine outing
Former MSU tight end Jordan Thomas shied away from nothing at the NFL Combine: missing only the 60-yard shuttle, he did the 40-yard dash, bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle. All he wanted out of Pro Day was to build on it, and he did just that with a 4.69 40-yard dash. He also jumped a 29 1/2-inch vertical jump, 1/2 an inch better than his Combine jump.
“I thought I came out with a very good day,” Thomas said. “I’m going to be more comfortable at home, on my home turf. I thought everyone had a good day.”
Since Thomas’ senior season ended with 22 catches for 263 yards and three touchdowns, he has been working out twice a day at D1 Sports Training in Madison. He said he has heard from a list of teams including the Buffalo Bills, the New England Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans, all with hopes that a team takes him in the draft’s later rounds.
At this point, it seems Thomas has done all he can do to satisfy the league’s questions about him.
“They just told me there’s not a lot of film on me blocking. They just question my blocking, if I can, and I’m willing,” Thomas said. “That’s about it. They don’t have any doubts about me catching the ball and running; they have film of me running past DBs.”
Thomas recognizes there is little he can do to prove that ability outside of football season other than collaborate with coaching in this draft prep time, which he has done.
Jiles, others return
On-campus Pro Days are primarily a time for schools to showcase their newly departed players vying for NFL roster spots, but most of them also include others with ties to the school or region. MSU had five such players.
Defensive back Cedric Jiles, linebacker Kelan Chairs, defensive back/wide receiver Jamoral Graham and quarterback Damian Williams are all former Bulldogs that transferred elsewhere but were allowed to compete in MSU’s Pro Day. Chairs transferred to Troy, Graham to Delta State, Jiles to Wake Forest and Williams to Texas State.
Jiles told The Dispatch he was not allowed to participate in Wake Forest’s Pro Day, but tweeted a request to schools willing to let him work out in theirs and MSU responded. Jiles graduated from MSU before transferring to Wake Forest.
The other was former MSU offensive lineman Jocquell Johnson. He exhausted his eligibility as a Bulldog in the 2016 season and was giving the NFL another shot this winter and spring.
Other numbers
Before he ran the three-cone drill, shuttle drill and some defensive back drills, Durr ran an unofficial 40-yard dash time of 4.45 and recorded a vertical jump of 32 inches. Harris performed 18 reps on bench press.
Former Bulldog wide receiver Donald Gray was recorded with an unofficial 40 time of 4.65 and long snapper Hunter Bradley’s unofficial time was 4.84.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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