NORMAN (AP) - After a somewhat disappointing showing at the
NFL scouting combine last month,
Oklahoma linebacker
Curtis Lofton hoped for a bit of redemption on Tuesday during the
Sooners' annual Pro Day.
As scouts from nearly every
NFL team watched inside the
Everest Training Center, the
Big 12 Conference defensive player of the year improved his time in the 40-yard dash, which had been a primary concern of
NFL teams after
Lofton's performance at the combine in Indianapolis.
The 6-foot, 243-pound
Lofton, who chose to enter the
NFL draft after his junior season, ran a 4.77-second 40 at the combine, but posted times of 4.63 and 4.67 seconds on his home turf.
Lofton said after the workout he was pleased with the improvement. So, apparently, were the scouts, one of whom told Lofton that "you made yourself a lot of money today."
That's exactly what
Lofton wanted to hear, even if his goal was to run the 40 in under 4.6 seconds.
"I felt like I did OK," he said. "I definitely feel like I can run a little better, so I'm not satisfied, but it was fine."
Lofton has maintained that he's faster in games than in combine-style drills. He had 157 tackles in 2007, the sixth-best total in school history, and established a school record with nine double-digit tackle games, including a career-high 18 in the first meeting with
Missouri.
"I'm not a track guy," he said. "I'm not going to come in blazing. But when I get on the field, I don't think you'll find anybody who moves the way I do or is as fast as I am out there."
Lofton said he's deliberately trying not to learn too much about where he might be taken in the April 26-27
NFL draft.
"When I get drafted, I get drafted," Lofton said.
Lofton joined 14 other
Oklahoma players at the school's Pro Day, along with two other former
Sooners — quarterback
Tommy Grady, who transferred to Utah after the 2004 season, and wide receiver
David Robinson, who finished his college career at South Dakota.
Unlike Lofton, who was trying to improve his draft stock,
Lewis Baker just wanted to be noticed. The linebacker wasn't invited to the
NFL combine and hoped a good showing Tuesday might result in a team taking a late-round flier in the draft or making him a free-agent offer.
The 6-foot, 204-pound Baker posted the best time in two events Tuesday, the three-cone drill and the long shuttle.
"Today was my day," he said. "... I spent a lot of time getting ready for this. I can only ask for an opportunity and a chance. That's all I need."
Two prominent players — both projected as early round draft picks — did not participate Tuesday. Wide receiver
Malcolm Kelly and
defensive back Reggie Smith both are rehabbing injuries and plan to hold individual workouts on April 9. Like
Lofton,
Kelly and
Smith left the
Sooners after their junior seasons.
Kelly attended the
NFL combine, although he wasn't fully healed from a quadriceps injury that limited him to only two plays during the
Sooners'
Fiesta Bowl loss to West Virginia.
"It's part of it. It's something you've got to do," Kelly said of the workouts. "... The 9th will be a good day for me. I didn't want to come out today. I wouldn't have put on my best show today."
Among those attending the event were former
Oklahoma assistant
Jonathan Hayes, now the tight ends coach for the
Cincinnati Bengals;
Alonzo Highsmith, a former player for the
Houston Oilers,
Dallas Cowboys and
Tampa Bay Buccaneers who's now a scout for the
Green Bay Packers; and NFL
Hall of Famer "Mean" Joe Greene, a scout for the
Pittsburgh Steelers.
