Out to make good impression

Players from UConn, UNH, Yale and SCSU work out for pro days

STORRS >> There weren’t multiple NFL coaches inside the Burton Family Football Complex and Shenkman Training Center as was the case two years ago, but the mere presence of NFL scouting combine phenom Obi Melifonwu brought representatives from 20 NFL teams to UConn on Wednesday.

Impressive work done by the 6-foot-4, 224-pound defensive back during Senior Bowl practice week, in the prestigious allstar game and at the combine, resulted in Meifonwnu passing on many of the drills Wednesday.

There were reports of Melifonwu running the 60-yard shuttle in under 11 seconds, which would have been the second best performance at the combine. The 4.10 second range for the 20-yard shuttle was another impressive mark.

“I think the whole process going into my senior season, the Senior Bowl, combine and now pro day it has all been beneficial,” said Melifonwu, who has a chance to join Donald Brown and Byron Jones as the only UConn players taken in the first round of the NFL draft. “Senior Bowl was a great time, I got to meet a lot of great guys, a lot of guys from my conference like Zay Jones and Haason Reddick, so I think we all did great.

“Growing up, starting playing football at the age of 9, the NFL was something I wanted to do. It is crazy, all my family, my friends knew the things I was able to do so it was really good to see. Now everybody knows my talents, everybody knows my ability, everybody knows I can play different positions on the field and help out in a lot of ways.”

While Melifonwu was the star attraction, the events in Storrs and in Tolland enabled a host of in-state prospects to impress NFL scouts.

UConn record-breaking receiver Noel Thomas, a Norwalk native, ran at the combine. He was disappointed to run 4.63, which tied for 44th among 51 receivers to run the 40-yard dash at the combine.

Thomas was told by one person at Wednesday’s event that his time was in the low 4.4 range. Unfortunately, he tweaked a hamstring, preventing him from going through positional drills.

“I definitely got a little bit of redemption in the 40-yard dash,” Thomas said. “I have never seen a 4.6 so I wanted to come out here and get that taste out of my mouth and I don’t know the exact time, but it definitely wasn’t 4.6.”

Madison’s Matt Walsh was one of the last UConn players on the field as he caught passes from Garrett Anderson so a handful of scouts could see if he could proj-

ect to be a fullback at the next level.

“Just like every other level of football, the more you can do, the more valuable you are,” Walsh said. “I played a little bit of fullback here my first two years and got some linebacker stuff the last two years. I kind of mixed it up today and whatever a team needs me to be, that is what I am going to be.”

Walsh began the day with 30 repetitions at 225 pounds in the bench press, topping the marks of the offensive and defensive linemen.

Walsh said he could do 17 or 18 reps coming out of Hand High School and his best while at UConn was 23. Walsh credits his work with Frank Quido at BreakOut Athlete for getting him up to 30 reps.

Once the UConn pro day ended, scouts from 10 teams headed over to Tolland for an event featuring University of New Haven, Southern Connecticut State and Yale products. Former New Haven All-American offensive tackle Zach Voytek was the player they were coming to see.

The former Trumbull High star ran 5.37 in the 40, which would have put him ahead of 13 offensive linemen to take part in the NFL scouting combine. His time of 4.60 was only topped by five offensive linemen in the 20-yard shuttle at the combine, while his time of 7.90 in the 3-cone drill would have been in the middle of pack among offensive linemen at the combine.

“I’m pretty pumped up,” Voytek said. “I have been anticipating this day for a very long time. It has always been a dream of mine. Coming from D2, it always has been a dream of mine, but I am ready to tackle it.”

Former Yale running back Dale Harris had a 35 ½ inch vertical leap and ran 4.5 in the 40, former SCSU receiver Devante Jenkins had a 33 inch vertical and former New Haven defensive tackle Dean Tsopanides of Orange had 31 reps in the bench press.

As for the UConn event, kicker Bobby Puyol was able to hit a series of longrange field goals and also took some kickoffs. He said he will attend a regional workout with the Miami Dolphins next month and has heard from a couple of other NFL teams.

Like Thomas, offensive tackle Andreas Knappe had his day shortened due to a tight hamstring.

“It is the name of the game,” Knappe said. “When you go all out and do whatever you can do, sometimes you get bruised and bumped a little bit, so that is what happened.”

Cornerback Jhavon Williams believes he had a solid day and with the success of defensive backs coming out of UConn in recent years, time will tell if it is enough to get him into a camp.

“A lot of people told me I looked good today, I ran well, but you never know,” Williams said. “I am working hard and keeping it in God’s hands.”

Anderson, cornerback John Green, receiver Brian Lemelle, offensive lineman Richard Levy as well as defensive linemen Sean Marinan and Richard Levy were the other seniors on the 2016 UConn football team to take part in the event.

Former UConn stars Dan Orlovsky, Andrew Adams, Geremy Davis and Yawin Smallwood were among the spectators for the event at UConn.