’Canes display their skills
Walton, Berrios lead group through drills for NFL evaluators
DAVIE — A day before they took the field together one last time as Hurricanes teammates, Braxton Berrios and Mark Walton met with an NFL team together for a film session ahead of UM’s annual pro day.
There was little doubt which game they’d watch.
“I turned to Mark and said, ‘You’ve got two. Pick one,’ ” Berrios laughed after he completed his workout Wednesday.
Eventually, they settled on Miami’s 52-30 win over Toledo, a game in which both put up impressive numbers. But there weren’t many options considering Walton — the running back who was expected to power the Hurricanes offense last year — saw his season end in early October after he inThough jured his ankle in Miami’s win over Florida State.
For Walton, former Hurricanes tight end Chris Herndon and Berrios, in a sense, Miami’s pro day was an opportunity to show personnel from all 32 NFL teams they were ready to contribute at the next level.
Berrios finished the year with 679 receiving yards, he injured himself during the bench press at the NFL combine earlier this month. So Wednesday, he was unable to participate in most drills, including the 40-yard dash, where
he’d hoped to show off the speed he’s been working to improve since Miami’s season ended.
Herndon, meanwhile, injured his knee in Miami’s regular-season finale at Pittsburgh and has been working back from surgery to fix his MCL since. He was cleared to return to football activities in January, and on Wednesday, he participated in most drills.
“I felt good cutting again and just running my routes, getting out of my breaks, I felt great again,” said Herndon, who had 477 receiving yards in 11 games. “Close to full speed, it’s probably been about three weeks [I’ve felt that way]. I’m working on it still, but I felt good today. … It was extremely important for me today. I missed the Senior Bowl I got invited to, I got invited to the Combine and couldn’t do that. Today was pretty much the last possible time, at least in front of everybody, to show I’m healthy and back.”
Added Walton: “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for. I went through a phase just sitting on my couch at home, thinking, ‘Man, am I playing again?’ I couldn’t even move my ankle … but getting back in the groove of football, it just made me love the game even more. It was something I really love and it was taken away from me for a moment.”
As big as the day was for Walton, Herndon and Berrios — who was timed Wednesday running between a 4.3 and a 4.4 in the 40 — pro day was equally meaningful for the rest of their draft-eligible teammates, including kickers Michael Badgley and Diego Marquez, cornerback Dee Delaney, offensive linemen Kc McDermott and Trevor Darling, defensive linemen Kendrick Norton, RJ McIntosh, Chad Thomas, Anthony Moten and Trent Harris, as well as receiver Malik Mayweather.
All have dreams of hearing their names called during the three days of the NFL Draft, which begins April 26. All understood Wednesday was an opportunity for them to make an impression.
And one position group, as a whole, commanded individual attention from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who attended UM’s pro day at the Dolphins facility in Davie, and pulled the defensive linemen aside for a drill he personally supervised.
“That was big,” Thomas said of Belichick’s presence at Miami’s pro day. “That’s how you know ‘The U’ is still ‘The U’ and it’s going to always be ‘The U.’ … He was the first person here today, sitting down. As soon as you walked in, that was the first person you’d see. He was by himself, too. Seeing him, I knew it was a big deal.”
As has been tradition at Miami’s pro day, several former Hurricanes players attended Wednesday’s event to lend moral support, including new Dolphins running back Frank Gore, Browns tight end David
Njoku, Bears safety Deon Bush, 49ers safety Adrian Colbert, Texans running back Lamar Miller, Broncos
safety Jamal Carter, Dolphins receiver Malcolm Lewis and Dolphins corner Tracy Howard.
Several current Hurricanes, including safety Jaquan Johnson and linebacker Michael Pinckney, made the trek north to Davie as well.