Payton brought the son of the late Will Smith, the Buckeye and Saints defensive end, to the workout. Behind all those coaches stood Ohio State great Braxton Miller, the Wayne High School graduate entering his second season with the Houston Texans. Those were just a few of the familiar names watching. Cardale Jones, Darron Lee, Michael Thomas, Jeff Heuerman and others returned to their old practice facility to watch the next group of Buckeyes chase their NFL dreams.
PHOTOS: Ohio State Pro Day
Players used to playing at Ohio Stadium didn’t mind the attention.
“We’ve played in front of almost 110,000 people almost every game the past five years,” said linebacker Craig Fada, a fifth-year senior last fall, “so you kind of just brush it off and keep on going.”
In addition to Fada, linebacker Raekwon McMillan, cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore and Gareon Conley, safety Jarrod Barnes, offensive lineman Pat Elflein, wide receivers Noah Brown and Corey Smith, hybrid backs Curtis Samuel and Dontre Wilson, kicker Tyler Durbin and punter Cameron Johnston performed.
Safety Malik Hooker didn’t work out. He had surgeries Jan. 31 to repair a torn labrum in his hip and hernia. He said he’s ahead of schedule in his rehab and started running this week.
“From here on out, it’s more about getting my legs under me,” Hooker said.
Hooker, Lattimore, Conley and McMillan all could be first-round picks. Elflein is another player expected to be drafted in the early rounds. He was one of eight players who worked out Thursday who also performed at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis earlier this month.
“Today was another chance to show what I’ve got,” Elflein said, “to show what I’m made of, get in front of some coaches, do some drills and show off who Pat Elflein is and what I’m about. It was awesome. It was really fun to get back with your teammates and your guys and compete with them again. We were all in the locker room getting ready, getting hyped up.”
The Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Carolina Panthers have worked out Elflein, he said, though he’s heard from many teams.
“Just getting drafted would be awesome, a dream come true,” Elflein said. “You hear so many different things. You really can’t trust it. The draft process is crazy.”
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