Former Missouri defensive end Kony Ealy will be joining other top performers from the NFL Scouting Combine in being little more than a spectator on pro day.
After impressing scouts in Indianapolis with the fastest three-cone drill time of any defensive lineman at the event (6.83 seconds), there isn't much else to prove for one of the draft's few pass rushers with a chance to be chosen in the first round.
"All I'm doing at my pro day on March 20 is drills," Ealy said in a pre-draft diary entry for USA Today. "I may consider redoing my 40, but coaches don't think I need to do it because I had a top-10 split at the combine."
Ealy ran only a 4.92 40-yard dash, placing him in the bottom half of the defensive line field at the combine, hence his consideration to run again. But the better indicator of explosiveness for linemen, the 10-yard split, was more impressive for Ealy at 1.66 seconds. Position drills are commonly the only level of pro-day participation for prospects who perform well across the board at the combine. That will allow Ealy to focus more on technique and direct instruction from the NFL coaches on hand at Missouri on March 20, rather than concern himself with physical testing.
"I definitely want to stay fit, but now it's more about being technical -- staying low, burst off the line," Ealy wrote. "You try to repetition, repetition and that way when it's time, you've perfected it and you're moving smoothly. That's what those coaches want to see."
Ealy wrote that NFL clubs suggested a variety of possible roles for him during his interviews in Indianapolis, from a stand-up outside linebacker to a defensive end, perhaps even a 3-4 defensive end, which would require some weight gain for the 273-pound Ealy. He can expect to be asked to perform a number of drills associated with any of those roles by various NFL coaches on pro day.
But unlike fellow defensive end Michael Sam, who is expected to try to improve on his combine numbers at Missouri's pro day, Ealy can let his combine performance stand.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread.*
