BYU Pro Day lacked Sione Takitaki and Corbin Kaufusi, but El-Bakri’s performance may have made him the third Cougar to make an NFL roster.
BYU Football is sort of known for having players not drafted into the NFL making NFL rosters. The biggest names that come to mind are Taysom Hill and Daniel Sorensen. Other names include Michael Davis, Jordan Leslie and Harvey Langi.
Going into this year’s NFL draft, it appears that there is a good chance that Sione Takitaki will get drafted and there is an outside shot that Corbin Kaufusi gets his name called as well. Outside of those two players however, there is virtually no chance that any other former BYU Football players hear their name called.
Yesterday was BYU Pro Day which gave players who were not invited to the NFL Combine an opportunity to show off for NFL, AAF and CFL scouts. Tanner Mangum, Michael Shelton, Brayden El-Bakri, Squally Canada, Dylan Collie and Matt Hadley were the players who participated in just about all the events with other players such as Rhett Almond and Sione Takitaki participating in limited events.
The player who stuck out though was Brayden El-Bakri. El-Bakri played primarily fullback during his time at BYU but was also known for his big hits on special teams and his third down conversions catching out of the backfield.
El-Bakri didn’t stand out and get an invite to the NFL Combine in large part to his position as a fullback. Fullbacks are not used much in today’s game like they were over a decade ago, but there is still a big need for them on NFL teams. Below are El-Bakri’s results and where he would have ranked among the 28 running backs that were invited to the NFL Combine.
- 60-Yard Shuttle – 11.75 (4th)
- Bench Press – 24 (T-5th)
- 20-Yard Shuttle – 4.07 (T-5th)
- 3-Cone Drill – 7.06 (6th)
- Vertical Jump – 32.5″ (19th)
- Broad Jump – 9’5″ (23rd)
- 40 Yard – 4.91 (24th)
Obviously those numbers are not going to be ranked as high as they will end up being after other universities have their Pro Days, but to put up those kind of numbers against the nations best is really impressive for a player who was otherwise off the radar for NFL teams.
El-Bakri still may not have his name heard during the Draft but don’t be surprised when he gets signed as a free agent early similar to how Harvey Langi was signed two seasons ago.