Indiana Football: 2019 Pro Day Review

Indiana football conducted their pro day yesterday in which 12 players tried to improve their draft stock in the last event before the 2019 NFL Draft.

Pro days are a bittersweet moment for many coaches and players as they have put in the blood, sweat, and tears together on the road to success. This is no different for coach Tom Allen and his 12 pro day participants, many of which have had a dream of playing in the National Football League since they were kids. They now have one last opportunity to show the NFL scouts from 26 teams what skillsets they can bring to their team this fall.

As the early morning weight room session started, many of the scouts were eager to watch Wes Martin display his raw power in the bench press portion of the day. For Wes, each rep meant much more than just his NFL career. It meant saving at-risk dogs for the Brave Breed Rescue in Milton, Ohio. Martin took to Twitter asking for any donations towards every rep that he completed.

Following his astonishing 38 reps (which would have been second at the NFL combine) he was able to raise $1,361. The charity will still be open for another six days if you would still like to donate. You can go to his twitter account to find the link @Wesley Martin76.

Here is how some of the other Hoosiers tested in the bench press station.

Martin also added a great showing in the broad jump, jumping 9’5”, which would have been the seventh best at the combine.

While on the field Wes Martin was an effective blocker who also was a William Campbell trophy semifinalist (recognizes some of the best scholar-athlete in college football). In 2018 Martin only allowed two sacks in 935 snaps. He was a part of an offensive line squad that ranked second in the Big Ten in first downs per game (23), while also anchoring a line that helped Stevie Scott run for over 1,000 yards on the season. In his career, Martin started 43 games at left guard while playing in 50 total games. He is one of four Hoosiers to compete in 50 games while providing leadership by being a 24 game captain.

Martin comes into the draft as a very durable guard option for any NFL team. If he could get to sit back and learn from a veteran for a couple of years, he would be a great interior anchor for any team.

The feel-good moment of the day was seeing Fishers High School (IN) product J-Shun Harris competing exceptionally well at his pro day. J-Shun had had three straight season-ending ACL tears with two of them coming right before the season.

Despite these knee injuries, Harris stayed determined to show everybody what he could do. In 2018, Harris caught 33 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns. Harris also collected 147 yards in punt returns with one touchdown.

In the most anticipated event of the pro day, the forty-yard dash is where J-Shun excelled and proved to the scouts that his knees aren’t a problem.

After Harris bolted past the forty-yard marker, he was clocked by Dr. Matt Rhea at 4.37 and 4.41 respectfully. Even after all of the adversity in the past three seasons, he was still able to display to scouts that he can play at a high level.

In just about three weeks from now these former Hoosiers will be waiting for a phone call that will change their lives forever. As these former Hoosiers are being called to their new NFL homes, coach Allen is preparing another talented squad for 2019.

While they may have played their last down in an Indiana uniform, they have left a lasting impact on the 2019 unit.