Penn State Pro Day winners and losers

Penn State football held its annual Pro Day afternoon with representatives from NFL teams in attendance. It was an important day for several players who either didn’t get an invite to the NFL Combine or needed to improve their marks from February.

We’ll Review the standout performers and which players failed to make a good impression on the assembled scouts.

Mitchell Tinsley has a great day

By far, the biggest standout of the afternoon was wide receiver, Mitchell Tinsley. The Penn State wideout ran a 4.60 40-yard dash at the Combine, which is well below what NFL teams would find acceptable. However, on Friday, he clocked a 4.52. That alone was enough to help his stock. Tinsley has great NFL size at 6-0, 200 pounds with a 32-and-a-half-inch reach.

But his best performance came in the three-cone drill. Tinsley flew through the drill and posted a time of 6.61 seconds. That figure would have been second only to Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba at the Combine. It’s an essential drill showing route running and short-area quickness, a critical part of Tinsley’s game. Showing that he has elite physical route-running skills, plus an improved shuttle of 4.16s, vastly increases Tinsley’s profile. He went from a potentially undrafted player to a quality mid-round prospect for a team that likes his particular skills.

Jonathan Sutherland

As we discussed yesterday in our Pro Day preview, Jonathan Sutherland was a player that should shine in this situation. Other than a slower 40 time of 4.58, the Penn State hybrid posted similarly excellent agility and explosiveness metrics. He ran a 6.87 three-cone drill and the best short shuttle of the day at 4.13. Like Tinsley, his three-cone numbers would have been second at the Combine and the fastest short shuttle of either linebackers or safeties at the Combine.

His positional drills were acceptable, but his value will be on special teams. Posting those athletic scores shows he has the skills to be a special teams ace.

Penn State players who didn’t show out

Sean Clifford

Penn State’s veteran quarterback posted quality testing numbers, running a 4.57 40-yard dash and a 6.87 three-cone. The issues for Sean Clifford came in the positional drills to end the day. In years past, we’ve seen Christian Hackenberg and Trace McSorley perform well in the sterile environment of the pro day, missing very few throws. Clifford was not as accurate, missing several deep passes and short throws in low red zone work.

Unlike Hackenberg and McSorley, Clifford was more vocal, giving feedback to his receivers and encouraging them when they performed well. However, all of that leadership doesn’t mean much if you can’t put the ball in the correct spot routinely. It would take quite a bit for Clifford to get the attention of scouts beyond a tryout as a camp arm. It’s hard to say he secured that Friday afternoon.

Parker Washington and PJ Mustipher

As expected, Parker Washington didn’t participate in any of the team’s workouts or on-field testing. The slot receiver prospect was in sweats for the afternoon thanks to a late-season injury that he’s still rehabbing. Without any offseason exposure, it’s hard to see Washington making any movement in his draft stock. If he runs or tests for the NFL, it must be in private team workouts.

Meanwhile, PJ Mustipher avoided trying to improve on any of his times from February, which is probably a good idea. As we saw before, his testing numbers were last or second to last in every situation, so improving on that doesn’t move the needle much. However, he went through on-field drills again. While we didn’t have a perfect view of his work, he didn’t show much more fluidity or movement skills from the last time he attempted them. So again, he didn’t perform any worse than he did in Indianapolis, but he didn’t improve his stock at all.

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