Video: Eupora’s Jones Shines At Ole Miss Pro Day, Kelly Limited With Wrist Injury

OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI / Ole Miss Athletics) — A total of 48 scouts from 31 NFL teams converged at the Manning Center on Monday morning to see former Rebel football players put on an athleticism showcase with the hope of bolstering their professional stock.

The four Rebels that worked out at the NFL Combine were all present (Evan Engram, Quincy Adeboyejo, D.J. Jones, Fadol Brown) were joined by nearly 20 other former teammates that didn’t get the opportunity to shine in front of the scouts in Indianapolis.

“It was an awesome day. It’s a blessing to be out here with my brothers,” Engram said. “It was fun to support my brothers and see them kill the numbers and then come out here and show what I can do catching the ball and doing some blocking.”

After the show he put on at the NFL Combine, Engram let the numbers he put up in Indianapolis stand. On Monday, he participated in the position drills and caught passes. In the one timed drill, he ran the 60-yard shuttle in 11.44 seconds. That would have been the fastest time of any TE at the Combine. Engram continues to make himself more and more appealing to NFL teams and work his way into first-round consideration.

D.J. Jones put on a show in the weight room in the early stages of Pro Day. His 28 reps of 225 pounds improved on his 25 at the Combine and was the most of the day. Quincy Adeboyejo also improved on a Combine number, increasing his vertical jump by 2.5 inches up to 37 inches.

A Rebel that had an unlucky day was Chad Kelly. Despite only about five months removed from an ACL surgery, Kelly was cleared to throw at Pro Day. However, a sprained wrist derailed that early on. Kelly will still get a chance to throw for scouts on April 22 in Oxford.

“It happened earlier last week,” Kelly said. “I tried pushing through it this whole week. It felt good. I threw one, turned my wrist over, and it felt weird. I threw one in the flat, and it didn’t feel the same.”

No Rebel had a more important day than Damore’ea Stringfellow. His tape speaks for itself. He’s a very physical receiver that attacks the ball, but NFL teams care about how players’ athleticism shows in drills. He showed plenty of it. He logged a 36-inch vertical, a 10-10 broad jump, and a 4.57 40-yard dash. Adding to that, he put up an impressive 17 reps on the bench press. Much like Laquon Treadwell last year, he needed to prove he had the measurables to go with the tape. He did just that.

“I’ve been training,” Stringfellow said. “I don’t think anybody expected me to run as fast as I did. I came to show out and have fun with it.” While a number of Rebels put up impressive numbers, Derrick Jones’ showing was exceptional. He was a top performer in the 40-yard dash (4.44), broad jump (11 feet), and vertical jump (41 inches).

Carlos Davis also impressed with both his speed and strength. At 170 pounds, running a 4.45 40-yard dash is really good. Bench pressing 225 pounds 15 times is great. On the other end of the weight spectrum, Jeremy Liggins at 315 pounds showed insane athleticism. He ran a sub 5-second 40 while vertical jumping 31 inches.

“We all did a great job,” Stringfellow said. “It was fun. It was the last time this group of guys will be together. We just tried to enjoy the time we had to do that.”

The full list of Ole Miss Rebels that attended the 2017 Pro Day:

WR- Quincy Adeboyejo
OL- Justin Bell
DB- Tony Bridges
DE- Fadol Brown
WR- Quintavius Burdette
LB- Terry Caldwell
S- Tony Conner
DB- Carlos Davis
TE- Evan Engram
LS- Will Few
DT- Issac Gross
DT- D.J. Jones
WR/DB – Derrick Jones
RB- Akeem Judd
QB- Chad Kelly
OL- Jeremy Liggins
LB- Rommel Mageo
WR- Collins Moore
DB- Kailo Moore
WR- Damore’ea Stringfellow
LB- Temario Strong
TE- Hunter Thurley
DE- John Youngblood