Michigan State University Athletics
Spartan NFL Combine Report: Friday
2/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Michigan State offensive lineman Jack Conklin runs a drill during the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016 in Indianapolis. (Perry Knotts/NFL)
Spartan NFL Scouting Combine Central
INDIANAPOLIS -- It was an eventful day for the former Spartans in attendance at the NFL Scouting Combine Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
While two defensive linemen -- Shilique Calhoun and Lawrence Thomas -- answered questions from the media on the concourse level, a pair of All-America offensive linemen was working out for scouts on the field.
Offensive tackle prospect Jack Conklin, already considered a potential first-round pick, boosted his status by running the 40-yard dash in 5.00 seconds, fourth fastest among the offensive linemen in attendance. In an exclusive interview with msuspartans.com on Wednesday, Conklin said he was hoping to surprise the scouts with his athleticism.
Conklin also was a top performer in the 20-yard shuttle (seventh at 4.57 seconds) and 3-cone drill (13th at 7.63 seconds). He recorded a broad jump of 103.0 inches (8'6") and benched 225 pounds 25 times on Thursday.
Bucky Brooks of NFL.com listed Conklin as one of his three winners from Friday's workouts.
Center Jack Allen, a two-time first-team All-American, ran the 40 in 5.29 seconds, the 3-cone in 7.90 seconds, and the 20-yard shuttle in 4.73 seconds. He had a broad jump of 101.0 inches (8'4") and repped 225 pounds 23 times on the bench press.
The Spartans were one of just four schools, along with Alabama, Clemson and Penn State, to send three defensive linemen to the 2016 NFL Combine. In addition to Calhoun and Thomas, Joel Heath is also in Indianapolis, but is scheduled to meet with the media later this weekend.
"Having all of my guys here with me, Shilique and Joel, it's just a beautiful experience," said Thomas, who weighed in at 286 pounds and was listed at 6-3. "Coming in 2011 as freshmen and just to go out at this stage right now, it's just amazing."
One of the biggest things helping Thomas at the NFL Combine is his versatility along the defensive line, where he played both end and tackle his senior season and recorded career highs in tackles (38), tackles for loss (5.0) and pass break-ups (6).
"It just shows them that I can play wherever and know all of the positions on the defensive line," he said. "Being versatile is really helping me out a lot."
Shilique Calhoun meets with the media on Friday at the NFL Combine.
Thomas and Calhoun were also quick to give credit to defensive line coach Ron Burton and head coach Mark Dantonio.
"My relationship with Coach Burton is amazing," Thomas said. "A guy who gets on me on and off the field, makes sure I'm doing the right things. A guy who makes sure to push me to the limit. I can always respect him for that because he always got the best out of me. Coach D, recruiting me out of high school, making sure that I graduated and making sure I was a man on and off the field. I'll always look at them like father figures. It was a true blessing playing for them."
"Coach Burton has been an inspiration to me," remarked Calhoun. "He's one of the guys that taught me a lot over just the couple of years that he's been here. (He's) definitely someone I look up to. He's that guy that's going to constantly motivate you. He's going to be the loud guy in the room because he wants to see you with energy, he wants to see you with passion, because that's the passion that he has within himself.
"And Coach D, my love runs deep for him. He's done a lot for me over the years, not only as a football player, but as a person. He helped me grow as a man, a brother, a son, definitely just someone who has just pushed me in different ways. He only wants the best for you, so he's going to push you as hard as he knows you can go. I thank him for my opportunity at Michigan State."
Calhoun was a potential candidate to be at the NFL Combine last year, but he decided to stay in school for his senior season in 2015, a decision he looked back on as a positive one.
"It was a great year," said Calhoun, as the Spartans won their second Big Ten Championship in three years, earned a berth in the College Football Playoff and finished in the Top 10 for a third consecutive season. "We had a great run. I had some great teammates and I was surrounded by some great people, so it was a great opportunity just to be around them, and also obtain my degree (earned bachelor's degree in criminal justice in December). That's something that was really important to me and my family."
Although Calhoun became the first three-time first-team All-Big Ten defensive end in school history, he said that some teams have talked to him about the possibility of playing outside linebacker at the next level.
"I'm a natural athlete, I'll be good to go -- you put me at tailback, you put me at safety, I could pretty much play any position," commented Calhoun with a smile. "I definitely talked to a couple of teams, and they talked about maybe outside linebacker; I look forward to it. I think that I move very well in space, so I look forward to showing them that on Sunday."
WHAT'S NEXT
Live coverage of on-field workouts continues with the quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends on Saturday, Feb. 27. Coverage starts at 9 a.m. on the NFL Network and NFL.com. On Friday, the wide receivers began testing with the bench press, and Aaron Burbridge tied for first with 20 reps of 225 pounds.
