Eastern Michigan held their 2019 Pro Day on March 22 in their indoor practice facility, showcasing their 12 draft-eligible players in front of pro scouts. Over a dozen teams from the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) were in attendance for the Pro Day, including the Detroit Lions, New England Patriots, Atlanta Falcons and Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The main draw of the day was Maxx Crosby. After his performance at the NFL Combine, scouts were eager to see if he could continue to raise his stock. Crosby is being projected by several draft analysts to be drafted somewhere between the third and fifth round.
After scouts arrived and checked in shortly before 7 a.m., the workouts began with a weight room session. While there, defensive lineman Labarbera bench pressed 225 pounds 38 times, at the combine only one other player benched more than him. After the weight room session, scouts and players were moved to the practice field in the indoor practice facility to perform field drills.
The on-field testing consisted of a broad jump, the 40-yard dash, an agility test, an L-drill, and a 60-yard shuttle. Once each player had completed the on-field testing, the Pro Day transitioned to position drills. In the positional drill portion of the day, all athletes got to showcase their skills for close to an hour and a half to close out the day. Once it was over, some scouts stuck around to talk with players.
The 12 Eastern players who participated were: Crosby, Ka’John Armstrong, Blake Banham, Lemar Harris, Jeremy Hickey, Tyler Labarbera, Justin Moody, Jaylen Picket, Kyle Rachwal, Dakota Tallman, Tyler Wiegers and Ross Williams. Amongst the EMU 12 players that showcased their skills in front of scouts, there was a handful of Wayne State players that were also invited to participate.
In terms of NFL Draft history, EMU hasn’t had a player selected in the draft since 2017 when Pat O'Connor was taken in the seventh round by the Lions. 2009 saw the last time an Eastern Michigan player was taken higher than the sixth round when TJ Lang was selected in the fourth round by the Green Bay Packers. He also currently plays for the Lions.
For the players that are not entering the NFL Draft, they will continue with spring practices. The practices will end with the annual Spring Game on April 13. Players, coaches, and scouts were not available for comment. For players entering the draft, they will continue to meet and interview with teams, all culminating with the NFL Draft on April 25-27 in Nashville, Tennessee.
