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NFL bound? 11 Purdue players make their case on Pro Day

On3 imageby:Tom Dienhart•about 12 hours•

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Gus Hartwig was relieved to have Purdue’s Pro Day finished. The long run up and anticipation to today’s audition before NFL scouts had become tedious and stressful.

“I thought I did pretty well,” said Hartwig, who trained for Pro Day at X3 in Fort Myers, Fla. “Kind of showed my athleticism … I had a couple things. Kind of wasn’t perfect, but thought it went pretty well.”

QB Hudson Card, who took snaps from Hartwig the last two years, knows how valuable Hartwig is.

“You can see his talent on the field and what he’s capable of,” said Card. “I think what really separates him is his mind and being able to get into good situations. And he’s super smart and that’s exactly what you need as a center.”

The former Boilermaker center–who also took part in the Shrine Bowl in January–was one of 11 Purdue players to work out for scouts from 31 of the 32 NFL teams (Steelers were the lone team with no reps in West Lafayette.) It was all about impressing the watching eyes and ubiquitous stopwatches inside the Mollenkopf Athletic Center.

Card and Hartwig both worked out today, along with OL Marcus Mbow, OL Corey Stewart, K Ben Freehill, DL Joe Anderson, DE Jireh Ojata, DE Shitta Sillah RB Reggie Love, LB Kydran Jenkins and Ben Furtney.

The drills conducted were the 40-yard dash, vertical leap, broad jump, bench-press, shuttle run and three-cone drill, in addition to position-specific work.

MORE: Photo gallery of Pro Day

Hartwig projects by most to be a late-round selection, if he’s picked at all when the NFL Draft is held April 24-26 in Green Bay. The only player who worked out today that is a lock to be chosen is Mbow, who is thought to be a Top-100 selection who could maybe sneak into the late-first round.

“If teams know ball, I feel like they’ll pick me up in the first round,” said Mbow with a smile.

What do NFL squads like about Mbow?

“My athleticism, my quickness, my knowledge of the game, you know, my understanding of my awareness,” said Mbow, who has no preference on playing guard or tackle.

Card, who prepped for this day by working out in California with former NFL quarterback Jordan (brother of Carson) Palmer, looked sharp today throwing the ball, but he speed and athletic ability also stood out.

“I felt pretty good throwing-wise,” said Card. “And then probably my 5-10-5 (shuttle) and three cone (drill).”

Purdue Pro Day results

NOTES

• Mbow only took part in the offensive line drills, opting not to jump, lift or run after he had taken part in the NFL Combine last week. He has a visit set up with Giants. At the Combine, he met with Ravens, Panthers, Dolphins, Broncos, Saints and Patriots.

• Card threw passes to a mishmash of players, including fellow Pro Day participants Furtney and Love.

“The current receivers,” said Card, “we didn’t want to risk them getting hurt. So I had to get Andrew Sowinski back and some equipment guys at the top of routes.”

Card said he met with the Cowboys last night.

• Stewart was one of the rare offensive linemen who dared to do some drills with his shirt off.

• The best physique? It had to be Love, who looked chiseled from granite.

• Former Boiler QB and Colts scout Joey Elliott was on hand. Also spied Ken Dorsey, the former Miami (Fla.) QB who works for the Cowboys after being OC for the Bills and Browns. Dorsey is passing game specialist in Dallas. Iconic Bears scout and Lafayette-area resident Jeff Shiver checked things out.

• AD Mike Bobinski was on hand a bit, along with many current players.

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