A day of hurry up and wait

For area prospects, it’s all about the doctors

INDIANAPOLIS — Kc McDermott, the former University of Miami offensive tackle, had an interesting first day at the NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday. It was 10 hours of medical checkups in nine rooms.

Each room has medical personnel from three or four teams. Players sit on a table in the middle of the room, and the doctors go to work.

“You go through the first 10 minutes of it and you’re sitting there and you’re telling them your medical history,” McDermott said, “surgeries you’ve had, ankle sprains, they want to know everything that’s ever happened to you from a little small tiny little pull in your hamstring to maybe the most major surgery you’ve ever had.”

McDermott, who also played guard at UM, was among the contingent of South Florida offensive linemen and running backs — others included Auburn running back Sony Michel from Plantation-American Heritage and UM running back Mark Walton — at the Combine.

They all play positions of interest to the Miami Dolphins, and they all went through the same medical experience Wednesday and Thursday.

And, yes, the doctors are aggressive while checking out backs, ankles, knees and such.

“I thought I was going to have to have another shoulder surgery the way they were

yanking on me sometimes,” Auburn running back Kerryon Johnson said with a smile.

“But they’ve got to do their job. When they’re thinking about investing however many millions or hundreds of thousands of dollars in you, those doctors have go to do their jobs.”

Michel, who rushed for 1,227 yards and 16 touchdowns, is the highestrated draft prospect among the South Florida contingent that spoke Thursday. He’s projected as a second-round pick. Michel has been compared to New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara.

“Everybody knows Alvin Kamara has nice skills, so it’s an honor for me,” Michel said. “But at the end of the day he’s in the NFL already. I still have to earn my way through this process.”

Miami needs a running back to share backfield duties with Kenyan Drake, and if Damien Williams doesn’t return (he’s eligible to become an unrestricted free agent), the Dolphins might look to the draft.

“We’re really not ever looking to be one guy with 20 to 25 carries,” Dolphins coach Adam Gase said. “We kind of want to spread it out. We like using multiple backs.”

Walton, who missed much of the 2017 season with an ankle injury, is projected as a third- or fourth-round pick. Walton, who rushed for 428 yards in an injury-shortened 2017 season after rushing for 1,117 yards in 2016, has drawn comparisons to another local running back, New England’s James White, who attended St. Thomas.

But Walton isn’t focused on that or his draft projection.

“I just want to get an opportunity,” he said. “I don’t care what round I go in. That’s my mindset. Once I get an opportunity with a team the team that gets me they’re going to know they’re going to get a hard-working competitor and a person that loves the game.”

On the offensive line, which could be a firstround possibility for the Dolphins, Notre Dame guard Quenton Nelson, one of the best-rated players in the draft regardless of position, has been linked to the Dolphins at No. 11 in a few mock drafts.

Nelson downplayed claims he might be the best player in the draft.

“I haven’t really thought about whether I’m the best player in this draft or not,” he said. “I believe I’m the best offensive lineman. And that’s all I can control. That’s all I could control my four years in college, being the best I can be.”

So far the Combine experience for the offensive linemen has been a combination of medical exams and some on-field work. But much of it, according to McDermott, has been a hurry-up-and-wait situation. That’s OK with the players. It gives them time to get to know each other.

“You’re getting to know everyone else around here, really trying to build personal relationships with everybody, he said. “So whether you’re talking to the doctors in the room while you’re waiting, or talking to the other offensive linemen, sometimes running backs, quarterbacks, some guys you’ve been working out with, some guys you know from other teams you’ve played against, just talking about the old days and college ball and getting to know them.”

McDermott, projected as a seventh-round pick, had an informal visit with the Dolphins. He hopes to get a chance to play for his hometown Miami Dolphins.

“I’d be happy to go anywhere,” he said. “Being in Miami would be something special, born and raised in South Florida, being able to stay there and play for the team I cheered for growing up would be nice . ... ”