Cougars perform for scouts at WSU Pro Day

PULLMAN – The football-only weight room and indoor practice facilities at Washington State are notoriously secretive places for 364 days out of the year.

But on Thursday the Cougars opened their doors to media and NFL scouts for their annual Pro Day, a showcase for all the former players who hope to be selected in the upcoming NFL Draft.

The day’s highlight was River Cracraft performing 15 reps in the 225-pound bench press, a mark that would have tied for No. 12 among wide receivers at least week’s NFL Combine with coveted players such as Clemson’s Mike Williams and USC’s Juju Smith-Schuster.

Cracraft is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered at the end of his senior season and did not participate in any other drills because he is not yet running at full speed.

Some players have been working out with trainers and facilities procured by their agents. Others have stayed in Pullman to work out with the team.

The players performed all the usual NFL Combine drills, although Gabe Marks and Shalom Luani held themselves out of many of the drills they performed at the combine last week in Indianapolis.

“I feel pretty good. My legs are pretty sore but I just came out here to do my thing,” Luani said. Luani also said that his agent has told him to expect to be selected near the fifth round of the NFL draft.

All times in the speed drills such as the 40-yard-dash were unofficial and hand-timed. While scouts did not reveal the times players ran, wide receiver John Thompson drew some praise from the assembled evaluators for his performance in the 20-yard shuttle.

Multiple timers clocked Marks’ 60-yard-shuttle under 11.3 seconds, which would have been a top-10 time at the combine. The 60-yard-shutle was the only drill Marks did not perform at the combine last week.

Linebacker Paris Taylor had one of the best days of the assembled players. Taylor, who measured in at 6-foot-3 and three-eighths inches and 222-pounds, had by far the day’s best vertical jump at 32 inches. He also led all the Cougars with a 9-foot-9 broad jump.

While Luani stayed away from the weight and speed drills – he had the best 60-yard-shuttle time of any safety at the combine on Monday – he did perform some skills drills to show off his backpedaling ability and change of direction while tracking a ball.

“I wanted to make sure they can see me as a team player, and I can be accountable,” Luani said. “I get to go to a team where they can trust me.”