Miami QB Cam Ward’s pro day leaves no doubts about No. 1 NFL draft pick
Cam Ward is feeling confident after his pro day performance. He tells the media why he thinks he will be the number one overall draft pick in April.
Cam Skattebo has always thrived on proving his doubters wrong. He’s still doing it and hoping his body of work will pay off when the NFL draft commences on April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The fiery Arizona State running back finally ran the 40-yard dash on March 27 in an indoor session at ASU that was closed to all but some NFL scouts and some teammates. He reportedly ran a time of 4.57, a respectable showing since speed isn’t his strong suit.
How does that stack up? Well, 31 running backs participated in the NFL combine in Indianapolis. Had he run that time there, it would have ranked him 18th among those players and it was better than some other touted backs from the Big 12, Ollie Gordon of Oklahoma State and Devin Neal of Kansas.
Skattebo, 23, participated in the combine but did only the vertical and broad jumps because he wasn’t 100% healthy. Thus a mock pro day was set up by his agent for him to do some of the events he didn’t do in Indianapolis.
Skattebo’s marks in the events he did do at the combine were solid. His 39.5 in the vertical was tied for second behind only Bhayshul Tuten of Virginia Tech, who went an inch higher; Skattebo’s broad jump of 10-3 placed him 11th out of 22 who did it.
Skattebo is ranked as the ninth-best running back in the draft by guru Mel Kiper. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting, is expected to be the first running back drafted early in the first round with North Carolina’s Omarion Hampton pegged as the second to go in most mock projections.
Others in a deep running back crop Kiper has going ahead of Skattebo — Kaleb Johnson of Iowa, TreVeyon Henderson of Ohio State, Quinshon Judkins of Ohio State, Dylan Sampson of Tennessee, LeQuint Allen of Syracuse and Trevor Etienne of Georgia.
CBS tabbed Skattebo as the 15th-best running back, but opinions are all over the board.
Most projections have Skattebo pegged as a second-day selection (Rounds 2-4). In the latest three-round mock draft from A to Z Sports, college football editor Travis May has Skattebo being picked in the third round (No. 89 overall) by the Houston Texans. Another had him going as the 122nd pick, the fourth round to the Denver Broncos.
FOX Sports NFL draft analyst Rob Rang has eight running backs in his top 101 players with Skattebo ranked No. 92, which would put him in the third round.
Others have him available later with Pro Football Network having him lasting until the fifth round and eventually going No. 152 overall to the Indianapolis Colts.
Of course, his tape speaks for itself. Skattebo ran for a single-season school record of 1,711 yards and added 605 receiving yards in propelling the Sun Devils to a Big 12 championship and berth in the Peach Bowl. His rushing yards were second nationally to only Jeanty, who managed 2,601.
When the lights were their brightest, Skattebo was at his best. He combined to rack up 313 yards (6.8 ypc) and four touchdowns rushing in the Big 12 championship win over Iowa State and the Peach Bowl loss to Texas. He also had 10 receptions for 137 yards.
Pro Football Focus had Skattebo with 102 forced missed tackles, with his contact balance being among his bigger strengths and something that puts him in elite company in that regard.
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