40 Acres Sports

The 2007 Rivals100: One year in. Notes on how all the top prospects did in their first seasons on campus, including Tray Allen and Curtis Brown.

DD Lewis rejoins Seattle Seahawks after half a year in Denver. He’s had a lengthy, solid career after being undrafted out of school.

Oklahoma Sooners fan to stand trial for injuring Texas fan in bar fight. The nut grabber deserves jail time for the attack.

Scout.com’s 2008 spring preview continues with their top 40 non-conference games. Horns vs. Piggies is at number 11.

Pro day, or pro timing day, is an NFL Draft prospect’s chance to show scouts what he’s got in a comfortable environment. They’re on their own campus, in their own gym, working out with their teammates and coaches. It also is a chance for the guys who weren’t invited to the NFL Combine to show their stuff. At Texas’ pro day Wednesday, sixteen players were weighed, measured, timed, and did position drills for 75 NFL personnel people.

Most of this information is cribbed from NFL.com, Orangebloods, and the Austin-American Statesman blog post on UT’s pro day. The numbers are inconsistent because they always are, everybody gets their times from a different source. Here’s how some of the Horns performed:

• Cornerback [tag]Brandon Foster[/tag] – 5-7 5/8, 185, 10-8 broadjump. Ran a blazing 4.28 time in the 40-yard dash. He also showed athleticism with a 38-inch vertical jump. His performance might offset the fact that Foster was measured at 5-7.
• Running back [tag]Jamaal Charles[/tag] – 5-11, 199 pounds. Elected not to run, allowing his 4.38 time that he posted at the combine to stand. Ran position workouts and looked good catching the football.
• Receiver [tag]Limas Sweed[/tag] – 6-4 1/8, 210, 37 vertical. Ran a 4.40, shaving nearly a tenth of a second off of the time he ran at the NFL combine last month. 4.33 short shuttle, 7.14 cone drill. Ran position drills and looked good catching the ball.
• Tight end [tag]Jermichael Finley[/tag] – 6-4 3/4, 240 pounds. Ran a 4.62, dropping his time from the combine by .24. His time is now the second fastest run by a tight end in workouts leading up to next month’s draft.
• Backup safety [tag]Drew Kelson[/tag] – 6-0 1/2, 216, 10-9 broad jump. Posted a 41.5-inch vertical jump and ran a 4.45. We’re checking to see if any other player in the country has jumped higher in draft workouts.
• Defensive tackle [tag]Derek Lokey[/tag] – 6-1 3/8, 293, 33.5 vert. Did 38 reps on the 225-pound bench press. He also worked out at fullback and deep snapper. 9-foot, 4-inch long jump, 4.37 short shuttle, 7.57 cone drill, 38 reps in the bench press, and ran position drills.
• Linebacker [tag]Scott Derry[/tag] – 6-2 1/2, 221
• Tackle [tag]Tony Hills[/tag] – 6-5, 307 lbs. 24 reps in the bench press, but could not run or do other drills due to an injury.
• Defensive tackle [tag]Frank Okam[/tag] – 6-4 7/8, 27.5 vertical. Dropped 12 pounds since his weigh-in at the combine. He is weighing 335 right now.
• Safety [tag]Marcus Griffin[/tag] – 5-10, 196, 37.5 vert. Ran a 4.5 40.
• Wide receiver [tag]Billy Pittman[/tag] – 5-11, 195. Ran a 4.56.
• Also participated: safety [tag]Erick Jackson[/tag], wide receiver [tag]Nate Jones[/tag], linebacker [tag]Robert Killebrew[/tag], defensive tackle [tag]Thomas Marshall[/tag], punter [tag]Justin Moore[/tag], and former Longhorn safety [tag]Lee Jackson[/tag].

Related Links

• UT press release
• The Longhorn family
• Player quotes
• Photo gallery

Biggest question for the Texas offense is who will replace Charles. Vondrell McGee, Fozzy Whittaker and Chris Ogbonnaya are main options.

Pro Day preview on Nate Jones. A letter from Nate to the fans about how his prep for the NFL Draft is going.

Many Texas fans are disappointed that stud prospect Russell Shepard won’t be a Longhorn, but the coaches did reel in the player I think is an even bigger recruit in Lake Travis quarterback Garrett Gilbert. The elite QB can sling the football around the field with the best the state’s ever produced at the position. He’s intelligent, talented, and polished, and with the talent that will be around him at Texas my expectations for him are incredibly high.

If you’ve got any doubts, check out the highlight video below from his sophomore season:

I can’t help but think Gilbert’s career leading the Longhorns is going to be a fun time to be a Texas fan.

Vince Young uses spring break to meet new coordinator. With Vince in Austin they hadn’t met face-to-face yet.

Will Muschamp has made Texas’ spring practices noticeably more physical this season. Love to hear about more hitting, just hope we stay healthy.