NFL Hopefuls Put in Work at Maryland Pro Day

During the NFL offseason, the worlds of collegiate and professional football collide. The Combine is in the books, but colleges around the country are hosting their Pro Days to allow their team’s NFL hopefuls to test in front of scouts in the hope of improving their Draft stock.

On Friday, the RSR crew was able to visit College Park to observe Maryland Football’s Pro Day. While we normally cover any and all things Ravens, the local guys are auditioning for spots in Baltimore as well as 31 other destinations, so it was too good an opportunity for us to pass up as we watch the prospect landscape. We kept our eyes on the participants, of course, but also watched the NFL staff in attendance and tried to gauge what they were focused on.

Before diving in here, huge shoutout to RSR’s Tanner George, a current UMD student and an intern with their athletic department, for getting us to the event so we could share it with our readers.

Time to shine pic.twitter.com/iqK0I63M5v

— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) March 28, 2025

For the athletes, the day kicked off around 7:30 a.m. as they checked in and prepared for their first workouts of the day. Meanwhile, the team Q&A between the Maryland coaching staff and NFL scouts took place in the Terps’ team meeting room and was strictly limited to just those two groups.

The first workouts the players completed were in the weight room, where they would submit their measurements before participating in the bench press and the vertical jump.

Get pic.twitter.com/IUcGhEXhV2

— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) March 28, 2025

These workouts were also limited to team staff and NFL scouts, but the gym is located right next to the field house, and as we gathered with the media staff along the sidelines, we could hear the Terps players loudly cheering each other on, a theme that would continue throughout the day.

The first activity that we got to observe was the broad jump. It was one of the few workouts in which the measurements were announced aloud for the assembled scouts, so we got to hear the confirmed length of the attempts from team staff.

Some shots from the Broad Jump at today’s @TerpsFootball Pro Day.@rubenknows1 pic.twitter.com/r3mn4Jpl3v

— KMack Sports (@KMackSports) March 28, 2025

The team clamored for someone to break the elusive mark of 10 feet, but no one was able to reach it on the day (though it should be noted that WR Tai Felton broke it easily at the Combine with 10’10”). The closest that any Terp got today was LB Ruben Hyppolite II at 9’10”, though interestingly, Corey Dyches, who transferred from UMD to Cal and shifted from receiver to tight end, was also in the participating group, and registered a 9’11” broad jump.

After that, the participants moved to the other side of the field to run the 40-yard dash. The times for those weren’t immediately announced, and some of the higher-touted prospects like Felton and DT Jordan Phillips chose not to run. It didn’t take a stopwatch to know that Ruben Hyppolite put in an impressive showing for his attempt. For a guy around 230 pounds, he was moving, and the football staff would later confirm his time as an impressive 4.39.

Sliderrrrrr @rubenknows1 pic.twitter.com/0L16NSBoiv

— Maryland Football (@TerpsFootball) March 28, 2025

Next were the Shuttle and 3-cone drills, some of which were obscured from our view by the team personnel and scouts gathered on the field itself (I know, how rude of them. Down in front!). It stands to reason that the media would have a tough time seeing past the gathered crowd, though; 31 of 32 teams had personnel in attendance, with the Denver Broncos being the only squad electing to skip the event. Head Coach Mike Locksley joked about their unexcused absence.

“I don’t know what happened to the Broncos, man, maybe they got snowed in,” head coach Mike Locksley said on the Broncos being the only NFL team with no personnel present.

— Ryan Alonardo (@RyanAlonardo) March 28, 2025

As the players wrapped up agility testing, some remained on the field to do individual or positional workouts, with DBs, LBs and receivers running some coverage drills and routes. Players filtered off to speak with media, greeting teammates, coaches, and friends as they went. Among those greeting them before and after were a few NFL players, including some current Ravens and Terps alumni…

Former Terp DBs Beau Brade (Ravens) and Tarheeb Still (Chargers) alongside former Maryland punter Anthony Pecorella here to support former teammates@TerpsCentral pic.twitter.com/6gkewdIgb5

— Ryan Martin (@RyanMartinPxP) March 28, 2025

Another local WR at Maryland’s Pro Day… Ravens WR Zay Flowers made the trip down and talks with Baltimore scouts@TerpsCentral pic.twitter.com/nrkVAIlUpT

— Ryan Martin (@RyanMartinPxP) March 28, 2025

…and the media got to ask the players about what it meant to have their support. Ruben Hyppolite said that he and Zay Flowers are close because they grew up in the same area of South Florida, and Hyppolite said Zay is “like a brother” to him. Tai Felton acknowledged that guys like Tarheeb Still, who was there to support the group, as well as other Terps in the NFL like Deonte Banks and Nick Cross, helped him refine his skill set by battling NFL-caliber players in practice, trash talk included.

Perhaps my favorite comment on their influence, though, was from S Dante Trader, Jr. I got to ask Trader what it was like to have the support of Beau Brade close by, given that Brade is a fellow safety who went through the NFL’s onboarding process just a year ago. Trader gave a shining endorsement of his friend and former teammate, saying “Beau Brade is the biggest supporter in my life, outside of my family… When I came in, he was the first guy to reach out to me. I knew I could always call on him in this process. He told me ‘It’s going to be long, you’re gonna go through ups and downs, how to handle meetings, handle the media. Just be yourself and don’t overdo it.”

In one fashion or another, most of the guys got asked about what it would be like to have the Ravens or Commanders pick them up so they could stay local. Some acknowledged that they would be thrilled, and a few confirmed they’d met with the Commanders, but to my recollection, I didn’t explicitly hear any of them confirm having already met with Baltimore. I did directly ask Jordan Phillips how he would feel if he saw a 410 area code pop up on his phone during the Draft process, and, with polish as he spoke to the assembled media, he quickly acknowledged that he’d feel it was a blessing to hear from any team. Make no mistake, though, I would guarantee you that Phillips is among those that the Ravens were watching attentively at the event, and they had more boots on the ground than just Zay. Some of their conditioning staff assisted with the drills, and it looked like there were a few long conversations between them and the attendees.

Here’s hoping some of these guys will be rocking the black and purple come fall, but regardless, this group of Terps will almost certainly be making their presence felt on Sundays soon, and I can’t wait to see it.

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