There may have been no potential first-round talents like Jaelen Strong or Damarious Randall this year, but ASU's pro day participants still turned heads in a number of ways on Friday.
During the early morning weight room session, offensive lineman Vi Teofilo drew attention with his 43 bench press reps. Defensive tackle Mo Latu and center Nick Kelly tallied 35 and 26 reps, respectively. Linebacker Antonio Longino had 23 reps.
Many people were also excited to see offensive guard Christian Westerman do the bench press, but he did not participate in it.
Teofilo said he expected a high number of reps after his hard work in the offseason thus far. He also said he's been enjoying the pre-draft process because not many people get to do it. He's hoping for his chance come late April.
"I just need one team," Teofilo said. "I don't care who picks me, I'm going to go in and work."
Even after an impressive performance at pro day, Teofilo isn't becoming complacent.
"Never be happy with where you're at, you always try to strive for more," he said. "That's the mentality that I take into anything that I do."
Following the vertical jump, broad jump and bench press events in the weight room, the activities moved to the Verde Dickey Dome for the 40-yard dash, three-cone drill and shuttle run.
Versatile running back/ wide receiver DJ Foster followed his 36-inch vertical jump with 4.6 and 4.46 unofficial 40-yard dash times.
Foster said the 40-yard dash time was something he was really looking to improve on entering Friday.
"Going into the Combine, not a lot of people see the three days prior to that and the grind you're putting in," he said. "But I just wanted to show that I do have that top end speed along with the quickness and I felt like I went out and did that today."
He said he has been trying to make a point to tell coaches and scouts about his versatility. He played running back for 15 years of his life, but also being able to move to the slot and go out wide.
Additionally, Foster said he wants them to know he is a student of the game.
"A lot of the people look at the stats and kind of get down on it and say I didn't accomplish what I could do," he said. "I grew so much as a person and as a man that I definitely don't regret anything."
He said the rigor of participating in the NFL Combine in Indianapolis made pro day easy because he was in a comfort zone.
The event finished with quarterback Mike Bercovici throwing to Foster, Devin Lucien, Gary Chambers and former ASU, current Denver Broncos receiver Kyle Williams.
Bercovici throwing at ASU's pro day. pic.twitter.com/jfoJSlCeep
— Justin Toscano (@justintoscano3) March 4, 2016
Bercovici said there was a scripted 53-pass routine, but estimated that he probably only threw about 45 of them.
"I thought it was efficient," he said. "A lot of completions, a lot of amazing catches, especially one-handers with DJ and Devin. I just think that we showed everybody what we did out here."
He also said the comfortability factor of throwing to receivers he'd practiced with and played with many times made it much easier to perform well.
More from Bercovici: pic.twitter.com/fUd173Sw84
— Justin Toscano (@justintoscano3) March 4, 2016
Bercovici mentioned that all of his film was in the shotgun formation. He said he wanted to show scouts that he could do more.
"Not only can I get under center and make all the throws, but have the personality and presence of mind to be out here and prove that I can organize something like this, bring the best out of all the players and show a high-character, high-effort guy who truly loves coming out here and having a day full of football," he said.
Bervocivi added all of the receivers participating ran the entire route tree during the scripted drill on Friday.
Additional notes
Other bench press rep-counts: Chambers (16), Lloyd Carrington (14), Lucien (13), defensive lineman Demetrius Cherry (12)
- Devin Lucien's vertical jump was 34.5 inches. He said he heard that his 4.4-second range was his best 40-yard dash time of the day.
- Carrington's unofficial 40-yard dash time was 4.6 seconds.
- Scouts who attended the event (unofficial count): Chicago, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, New York Jets, Los Angeles, San Diego, Cincinnati, Miami, Baltimore, New England, Houston, Buffalo, Seattle, San Francisco, Arizona, Detroit, Denver, Washington, multiple CFL teams.
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or on Twitter @justintoscano3.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepresssport on Twitter.
