With the NFL Combine behind us, college pro days started to take center stage in the pre-draft process. Every year, colleges hold pro days for their former players who are heading to the upcoming NFL Draft. Scouts, general mangers and head coaches take trips across the country to see some of the players they may be interested in drafting, and it always leads to a ton of pre-draft rumors.

This past week, we saw some big schools, such as Georgia, LSU, Utah and South Carolina, host their pro days, and EssentiallySports’ NFL Draft Expert has compiled news and notes from each and every single one. He and EssentiallySports NFL Content Chief Tim Wood discussed some of the pro day news on the latest episode of the DraftCast, which you can watch by clicking the link below.

But if you don’t have time to tune into the whole episode, here’s a recap of all the latest pro day news.

Georgia Tight End Flies Up Draft Boards

One of the biggest winners from this week’s pro days was Georgia tight end Oscar Delp. The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder only caught 20 passes last season, and there were some concerns about his athleticism, but he lit it up at Georgia’s pro day, and Tony Pauline believes he could end up being the second tight end off the board.

“He’s faster than scouts thought,” Pauline explained. “Scouts figured him for a 4.76 guy. He comes in and runs in the high 4.4s. He caught the ball extremely well. Delp looked incredibly athletic and ran good routes. Showed a lot of explosion as a tight end during blocking drills.

“People will say, ‘Well, that’s great, but he didn’t show it on the field,’ which is largely a a correct criticism,” Pauline continued. “But the fact is they use a lot of two tight ends at at Georgia. They also had four really good receivers who are either going to be drafted or signed as priority free agents when the draft rolls around in the month. So I don’t think he got the opportunities. I think with Oscar Delp is,  he’s got the physical skills, where people weren’t so sure about that before. Where do you draft him? Could he be the second tight end selected? I think it’s possible”

Keyon Sadiq is the clear-cut TE1, but after him, there are a few candidates. Eli Stowers is one, but he doesn’t bring nearly as much to the table as a blocker as Delp. It will be very interesting to see where Delp ends up on draft night.

The Monroe Freeling Hype Needs to Simmer Down

Ever since Monroe Freeling put on a show at the NFL Combine, he’s been mocked as high as sixth overall in some post-combine mock drafts. Offensive tackle is a premium position, and this year’s crop lacks the top-end talent we usually see at the position. So while Freeling may be a popular pick to potentially be the first tackle off the board, Pauline says the hype may need to simmer down.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to will be shocked if Monroe Freeling is a top-10 pick, which some are projecting him to be right now,” said Pauline. “Everybody loves the long athletic left tackle in the NFL draft. And really the only guy that fits that mold this year is Monroe Freeling, but he’s very undeveloped. So is is the hype real? Not really. He’s going to be a first round pick, but I struggle to see how he’s going to be a top-10 pick.”

The Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs are two teams in the top-10 that could take Freeling, but both of those teams have other needs. If the Browns take a receiver and the Chiefs take a cornerback or edge rusher, Freeling could very well fall out of the top-10 and maybe even as far back as No. 17. He’s still a lock to go in the first round, but it might be time to put the Freeling top-10 hype on hold.

Spencer Fano’s Arm Length Concerns Put to Rest

At one point, Spencer Fano was the OT1 in this draft class, but after his arms came in at 32 inches at the NFL Combine, many thought a transition to guard may be in his future. He began sliding in a lot of people’s mock drafts, but after his arms came in at 32 and 7/8 inches at his pro day, just 1/8 of an inch off the standard 33 inches teams like to see for a tackle, the hype is back.

“The arm length at the combine was 32 and 1/8 inch arms, and everybody’s like, uh-oh, he’s in trouble,” Pauline explained. “He’s going to play guard. No one’s going to see him as a tackle. He goes to Pro Day, and he comes in at 6/8 of an inch longer, 32 and 7/8 inch. He still didn’t hit that magical 33-inch mark for tackles. But then as someone else pointed out to me, hey, Joe Thomas didn’t have 33-inch arms either, and he worked out pretty well.”

Pauline also learned that teams are projecting Fano to switch from right tackle to left tackle. He’s a very athletic player, so while a move inside may not be in the cards, a move to the other side of the offensive line might be.

“I think the big takeaway that I got, which I reported on EssentiallySports last week, is a lot of teams are projecting Fano as a left tackle versus a right tackle,” Pauline continued. “And if you watch the film and you look at the numbers from his combine, he ran a 4.91. The athletic numbers are there that would warrant a move to left tackle.”

Fano’s measurements were huge for him. Tackles make much more money than interior offensive linemen, so if he can actually hold his own as a tackle in the NFL, he’s going to earn a lot more from his second contract than if he was a guard.

Emmanuel Pregnon vs Olaivavega Ioane

Emmanuel Pregnon seems to be the consensus No. 2 guard in this draft class, but Pauline has learned that a lot of teams don’t see a huge gap between him and Olaivavega Ioane, the No. 1 guard in the draft class.

“Emmanuel Pregnon. I mean, everybody loves Olaivavega Ioane, the guard from Penn State, but people I’ve talked to who like Pregnon, who had a great workout, who’s an absolute masher, a lot of people don’t see a huge spread between the two,” Pauline said. “The difference between Ioane and Pregnon is Pregnon’s more versatile. You can use him more or he’s got more of an opportunity to be used in a zone blocking system compared to Ioane, who’s much much stronger at the point of attack. He’s more of a power blocker. But Pregnon can be used in a power gap scheme. He can also be used in a zone scheme. He’s a little bit older, t00, which isn’t a bad thing for an offensive lineman.”

Pauline also reported that Pregnon could go as early as pick 25 to the Chicago Bears, and likely won’t fall any further than the New Orleans Saints at pick 42. He’s ceiling in this draft is higher than most are projecting.

Brandon Cisse’s Disappointing Lead Up to the Draft

Brandon Cisse is in that second tier of cornerbacks behind Mansoor Delane, Jermod McCoy and Avieon Terrell. After those three, there are a bunch of guys that could come off the board in any order, and many were hoping Cisse could standout among the rest. He’s not a fully polished cornerback, but many thought he would test really well a the combine and pro day. However that was not the case.

“Brandon Cisse, the cornerback who I think has had a very disappointing lead up to the draft at the combine. Everybody thought that he’s a big physical athletic cornerback who is more athlete than corner right now but he’s got he’s got a great upside,” Pauline explained. “He goes to the combine, and he was under six foot tall. He was just over 5’11 and a half, 189 pounds. So he wasn’t that 6’1, 6’2 people thought he was going to be. But then he goes to the pro day and runs in the mid 4.4s. I believe it was like a 4.43 to a 4.46. He’s not the 4.3-40 guy uh that people thought.”

After measuring in under 6 feet and running in the low 4.4s instead of the 4.3s, where many projected him to run, Cisse’s stock has fallen. It would be pretty surprising if he ends up being a first-round pick now.

LSU Pro Day Thoughts

I was lucky enough to be in attendance for LSU’s pro day on Monday. All 32 NFL teams had representatives at the Tigers’ pro day, where guys like Mansoor Delane, Garrett Nussmeier and Harold Perkins worked out, and pretty much everyone impressed in one way or another.

Delane only tested in the 40-yard dash, but he put all of his speed concerns to rest by running a blazing 4.35-second 40-yard dash. Pro day times can be a bit all over the place, but I didn’t hear of anyone who clocked him slower than a 4.39. He was already getting some top-10 hype, but that 40 time may just push him over the edge.

Nussmeier also had a pretty good pro day. He didn’t test, but he completed 69 of his 72 passes during his workout and looked really sharp, and most importantly, healthy. Nussmeier was launching deep balls left and right and had some really good zip on his passes. He was also really open about his abdomen injury in his post-pro day presser, explaining just how much is hampered him this season. He definitely helped his draft stock on Monday.

I was shocked when Harold Perkins didn’t test at the NFL Combine, because his biggest trait is his athleticism, but he showed it off at his pro day where he ran a 4.40-second 40-yard dash – some scouts had him as low as 4.38 – and tested well in the vertical leap and broad jump. There’s still the question of where he’ll line up at the NFL level, but he showed he’s still a freak athlete.

One more guy I want to mention is Zavion Thomas. He was a gadget player for LSU, but during Nussmeier’s workout, he put his route running on full display. He looked really good in and out of his breaks, and if you couple that with his 4.28-second 40-yard dash from the combine, someone may take a chance on him earlier than expected.

For my full recap from LSU’s pro day, click here.

Upcoming Pro Days

Here’s a list of every single pro day still to come.

March 24

• Auburn
• Boise State
• Cincinnati
• Iowa State
• Louisville
• N.C. State
• Notre Dame
• Texas
• UConn

March 25

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Nebraska
• Ohio State
• Texas A&M
• UCF
• Wake Forest

March 26

• Florida
• Pittsburgh
• TCU
• Texas Tech

March 27

• Arizona State
• Florida State
• Houston
• Maryland
• Mississippi State

March 31

• Buffalo
• Tennessee

April 1

• Indiana