Nine former Notre Dame players held their pro day work outs on Thursday and everything went as expected for the most part.
Here is a recap of the events based on the small amount of film available and analysis by Irish Illustrated's Tim Prister.
Kyle Rudolph-TE
Rudolph earned some points for seemingly being as healthy as possible and he generally looked very good in workouts. His 40-time wasn't amazing (4.78) but that's just about where most unbiased observers thought he would be.
Overall, not much has changed with his stock. Since he's proven that he is healthy his chances at a first round selection improved slightly, but there wasn't much that could have happened that was going to move Rudolph out of the position as the number one tight end in the draft.
Armando Allen-RB
Prister commented on how small Allen looked out of pads and that he just does not look like a NFL running back. I tend to agree and thought there wasn't much Allen could do to help his stock besides posting some blazing fast numbers.
However, he didn't really do that with a respectable but not amazing 4.58 time in the 40-yard dash. Allen is still a well-rounded running back who showed off his receiving skills, and I think a few teams will seriously consider signing him to a contract, but he has an uphill climb for sure.
Robert Hughes-RB
Hughes came into the pro day in great shape having dropped about 20 pounds and looking very fit. He showed off his receiving skills and generally got positive reviews from those in attendance.
Early last season I was chastised by a couple readers for claiming that Hughes is slow and can't run below a 4.8 time in the 40-yard dash. Even after dropping 20 pounds and weighing around 220, Hughes still clocked in twice at a snail-like 4.89 time.
To put this into perspective, that would have been the slowest time among running backs out of the last six years of testing at the NFL combine, and is a rather slow time even for a fullback. On Thursday, Hughes only beat two linemen (Stewart and Williams) and a slightly injured linebacker in Kerry Neal in the 40-yard dash.
I don't think I need to tell you I told you so, or that Hughes' chances in the NFL are very slim. The rest of his workout seemed to go really well so you never know what's going to happen.
Duval Kamara-WR
There wasn't a whole lot of talk or attention paid to Kamara but he seemed to be in good shape and did pretty well in the drills.
His 40-yard dash time of 4.75 was to be expected but isn't really helping his chances at a draft pick later this month.
Overall, he showed decent quickness and good hands for a big receiver, but he's a long shot out of this group of players. There is some potential with Kamara but there are also way too many improvements that need to be made with his game.
Kerry Neal-LB
As already mentioned, Neal had some sort of lower leg injury and it was obvious that he was not 100 percent during his pro day.
You have to give him credit for going out there and giving it his all, but being under-sized and not moving too well are two big strikes against a linebacker.
It is unfortunate that he had the injury, but the reality is the workout probably hurt his stock more than anything.
Brian Smith-LB
I thought physically Brian Smith looked in great shape. Maybe it was because he wasn't in pads, but he looks almost like a different person to me.
Nevertheless, he did not move well in some of the film I watched, but he did post some pretty good numbers in other drills.
There's still some late-round potential here, but I don't think Smith's workout either helped or hurt his stock.
Chris Stewart-OG
Stewart came in having dropped a ton of weight but I was not impressed with the way he moved at all. If he was a more physical run blocker I believe his chances at getting picked up by a team would be greater, but I just didn't see that during his career in college.
His size may be tempting for some clubs and you have to wonder what he could do with focusing 100 percent on football, but I don't think his workout really impressed too many folks.
Darrin Walls-CB
Out of everyone involved on Thursday clearly Walls had the most impressive workout and might have put himself in position to get drafted.
He looked awfully small to me, much more so than he looked in games with pads on, but he ran a scorching 4.39 time in the 40-yard dash as well as an impressive 10.82 in the 60-yard shuttle.
Seeing as how Walls generally played pretty well as a senior, this workout had to move him at least into late-round contention. I think he'll be on a NFL roster very soon.
Ian Williams-DT
I was impressed with Williams' agility and I think he's somewhat of a freakish athlete who has to be a mid-round pick at the very least.
I think NFL teams can count on Williams to be able to handle the physical nature of his position at the next level and they must be very impressed with the way he moves for someone over 300 pounds.
He's probably still a little bit of a project, but I like Williams' chances to play in the NFL for quite a while.
Good luck to all the former Irish players who were at the workout!