Eagles Past & Present Shine At BC Pro Day
What was labeled as the Zay Flowers Show turned into a showcase for other Eagles on Friday.
BC held its Pro Day with Flowers drawing dozens of scouts and media members - both local and national - but Marcus Valdez, Chibueze Onwuka, Jaiden Woodbey, Kobay White, Cliff Kurker, Isaiah Miranda and the only non-Eagle, but still a local guy Austin Burton impressed everyone on hand at various points throughout the morning and afternoon.
For Zay, it was just another day at the office despite all the added attention. Flowers only participated in the on-field stuff since he already showed the NFL world what he could do at the NFL Combine from a speed perspective.
"It's just another day. I just wake up and go to work every day," Flowers told the large gathering of media after all drills were done, including some punt return work. I don't really think about (the extra attention), don't let it get to my head, just do what I do every day and everything will pay off."
The added league and media presence ended up being a good thing for guys like Valdez (32" vertical, unofficial 4.77 40-yard dash), Woodbey (35" vertical, unofficial 4.67 40-yard dash, 9-6" broad jump) and Onwuka (5.17 unofficial 40, 30" vertical). Each guy shpwed their athleticism for bigger guys, particularly Valdez, who caught some passes from both Burton and teammate Emmett Morehead who was also on hand to help out.
"I had to bring it out," Valdez said with a smile. "I tried to use today as an opportunity to show what I can do, be versatile. I did the D-line stuff, into the drops and into the fullback in a short period of time, but felt like I was able to show my conditioning and my versatility...I ran the ball a little bot in eighth grade Pee-Wee. I knew I could do that. I worked on my hands the past couple months and Emmett was great there throwing on point to me."
As for Onwuka and Woodbey, both were pleased with how everything went.
"I trained as hard as I could, so I'm going to live with the results," said Woodbey. "I did everything I could. I thought I showed what I needed to show out there. I showed teams I can move well, jump high, do all of these things well. I checked a lot of things off my box today, so I'm pleased with my performance."
"Today was a pretty good showing," Onwuka added. "I feel like I've been training hard for eight weeks plus, so I'm just glad I was able to come out here and showcase it."
For guys like White and Kurker who are no longer Eagles but still welcomed with open arms, the day provided a unique opportunity. White was outstanding catching the football, including a highlight reel diving catch in the end zone. Both guys showed off their speed too, with White running an unofficial 4.45 and posting a 10-foot broad jump. Kruker put up a ridiculous 10-4" in the broad jump, an unofficial 4.55 in the 40 and a 35" vertical. As for the former Newton South kid Austin Burton, he was excellent throwing the ball, but really showed off with an unofficial 4.65 40 and a 9-5" in the broad jump.
"I live in Newton, so it's down the street from me, so I just wanted to kind of stay local. I reached out to Coach Hafley and they were kind enough to let me throw. I really do appreciate all they've done," Burton said. "It's a blessing for me to have them open their doors to me because they really didn't have to do that."
Whether you were an Eagle this past season, in another season or not at all, Friday was a phenomenal day for local talent to show off at The Heights.
(Official times and results were not made available to the media before anyone asks!)