Evan Adams lost 30 pounds and trained eight hours a day for weeks. On March 23, he’d show it all off at Syracuse’s Pro Day. It was supposed to be the day everything came together for Adams and other Syracuse football players — a last shot at impressing NFL teams.

That chance never came. As COVID-19 began sweeping through the United States, sporting events were canceled. First, SU’s Pro Day was pushed back to April 20. But as the pandemic’s severity became clear, NFL teams restricted travel among their staff and colleges eliminated pro days.

Adams learned of the news while living with his training partner, former Syracuse linebacker Shyheim Cullen. The pair turned to each other.

“What are we going to do?” they wondered.

The answer, like many things during the coronavirus pandemic, is unprecedented and constantly evolving. The NFL Scouting Combine, which was held in late February, is the premier invite-only event for players to perform for NFL teams, the biggest job interview in a football player’s life. The individually run school pro days are more of a last resort, the elevator pitch for an applicant who never made it into that interview room. SU’s Pro Day was meant for players like Adams and former safety Evan Foster to spark NFL intrigue. Without it, they’ll have to hope their previously established resumes are enough prior to the NFL Draft, which begins on April 23.

“It was definitely very, very frustrating, just off the simple fact that scouts knew who I was,” Foster said. “They really wanted to see me test, and they believed that I could’ve been like a sleeper.”

Still unemployed, former Syracuse players have been tasked with finding ways to stay in shape, despite many states under stay-at-home restrictions, while also marketing themselves to coaching staffs. Even then, what the players put forward can’t replace the value of seeing them in person, an NFL scout said.

“When you get to the end of the draft, sixth-seventh round, or are signing guys after the draft, the determining factor a lot of times are those numbers that we get,” one NFL scout said. “And those guys are just going to miss out on that.”

The current situation is reminiscent of college recruiting. Adams is home in Norwalk, Connecticut training with a friend from high school while Foster is in Pittsburgh, staying at a friend’s apartment and using the complex’s gym. Both have been kicked off fields during training sessions in their respective states. Foster’s pushed cars and done pull-ups in a parking garage. Adams has made his own gym in a friend’s backyard. What was once an eight-hour workday of training has slimmed to two-to-three hours, Adams said.

The key for Adams and Foster is maintaining their physiques and sending videos of themselves to scouts. Foster, who started 37 games for Syracuse across four seasons and compiled 234 tackles, finished the 2019 season with a nagging injury in his adductor. It first flared up the year before at Clemson and was reaggravated during Syracuse’s matchup with Pittsburgh in October 2019.

After surgery on Dec.12, Foster was in Florida training with Pete Bommarito by January. He recovered fully for SU’s Pro Day and was prepared to run numbers he believes would have improved his NFL stock. In early March, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds (hand time) and a 4.47 (electronic measuring). In training, Foster ran a 4.2 shuttle run and jumped a 38-inch vertical, he said. Both would’ve ranked in the top 10 among safeties and cornerbacks at the NFL Scouting Combine.

The NFL scout who spoke with The Daily Orange noted that pro days are usually the ideal time for a player like Foster, whose measurables and numbers may be more impressive than his game film. Teams often ask strength coaches in the fall who’d be a good tester at a pro day and are relying on those files now to determine whom to focus on. With no pro days this year, players are being judged off tape.

For Adams, who started 45 games across four seasons, there’s plenty of film to watch. But scouts won’t see how much weight he lost in person and will have to settle for a phone interview instead of in-person questions.

The videos shared by aspiring NFL players to teams are “a little bit of a guide,” but it’s hard to put too much stock into them, the scout noted. Players could use varying camera angles to deceive how much distance they’re actually running or even fudge the times they’re reporting. During pro days, scouts would often take measurements themselves and ask for players to perform drills in certain ways. That won’t happen this year.

The image of how players who weren’t at the NFL Scouting Combine find their way onto NFL rosters is murky. Some teams use the measurements from pro days as the numbers in an algorithm that compares draft prospects to NFL successes. If the numbers match, that’s the player teams gamble on. But that data isn’t available for the 2020 draft.

Even if teams sign a Syracuse player who wasn’t drafted, the player’s portfolio won’t be nearly as full of information as those from previous draft classes. The Class of 2020 won’t have 40-yard dashes or hand measurements on file to evaluate once they’re done with their first NFL franchise. This will likely make them a second option behind a player who does have a full portfolio of measurements, an NFL scout said.

It’s all unknown. For players who already may have been on the outside looking in, it’s just another what-if in a scrambled pre-draft process.

“I felt like it was important to show my body off and show that I can bend and be able to, you know, move like a true O-lineman in the league,” Adams said. “So, I just needed to show that off … The only thing I wanted to be able to do was just show that I took my training seriously.”

Published on April 2, 2020 at 11:17 pm

Contact Josh: jlschafe@syr.edu | @Schafer_44