NFL Pro Day Comes To Storrs

Seventeen NFL scouts and coaches were on hand at UConn football's day yesterday to watch the workouts of UConn's Tyvon Branch, Dan Davis, Danny Lansanah, Donald Thomas, Larry Taylor, Central Connecticut's Ryne Nutt and Middlebury College's Erik Woodring. Here is a rundown of the top prospects:

Tyvon Branch

Branch did not participate in any timed workouts, but instead worked solely on positional drills.

Branch's size and speed were more than evident at the NFL combine in Indianapolis when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.31 seconds - the second fastest time of all combine participants - and pumped out an impressive 19 bench press reps, which was fifth among all cornerbacks.

To prepare for the combine, Branch worked out at Athletes Performance in California, where training specialists helped Branch maximize his upper body strength by having him do burnout bench sets with air machines. The staff also critiqued Branch's running form and showed him tape of how he could tighten it to elicit a better 40-yard dash time.

The impressive numbers he posted at the combine brought notable NFL personnel - including former Dallas Cowboys head coach Dave Campo, who now is the team's secondary coach - to Storrs to watch Branch participate in cornerback drills.

"I think my 40 time helped me the most," Branch said. "I think when people saw that number, they went back and looked at some film. And that's the key. If you don't have any film, you could be the best tester in the world, but you're not going anywhere."

Branch's size, athleticism, and versatility - he excels at covering and returning kicks - has him ranked as NFLdraftscout.com's No. 15 cornerback and No. 121 overall prospect and project him as a fourth-round selection.

Donald Thomas

A graduate of Career High School in New Haven, Thomas played basketball and baseball in high school and didn't pick-up football until he decided to walk-on at UConn. After struggling through injuries early on and going through a small off-the-field issue last season, all of the sudden, Thomas is being mentioned as one of the premier guard prospects in the draft.

"It's just a big wow factor when you sit down and talk with a head coach, I mean, that's a guy you see on TV all the time," Thomas said. "You wake up everyday, turn on ESPN, and you see the NFL Draft thing, and say wow, I'm in the NFL Draft. It doesn't get old."

Thomas was happy with his numbers from the combine, which included a 5-second 40-time and 28 bench reps, so he skipped the timed drills and simply participated in blocking drills against Central Connecticut State offensive lineman Ryne Nutt. Thomas flashed tremendous quickness and agility for his 6-foot-4 303 pound frame. The one knock on his game that he couldn't do much to debunk is a perceived lack of a mean streak.

"[The coaches] want to see me get a little nastier in my game," Thomas said. "There were times this season when I could have dominated my opponent, and I didn't. [Coaches] want to see me get a little more physical and definitely pull a little better."

After donning a football helmet for the first time just four years ago, Thomas currently is rated as NFLdraftscout.com's No. 5 guard and No. 113 overall prospect for the 2008 Draft. He credited his coaches and the UConn football family for helping him reach this point.

"Without coach Edsall giving me a shot, keeping me on the team, and giving me an extra semester, I wouldn't be in this situation," Thomas said. "Without my line coach teaching me the fundamentals, I wouldn't be here. I didn't know anything about football when I got here. You have to give them everything."

Danny Lansanah

In terms of production at the college level, Lansanah has few peers. The 6-foot, 251-pound middle linebacker posted 121 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 3 interceptions en route to being named First-Team All-Big East as a senior. Any concerns surrounding Lansanah had to do with how he would translate physically, and after being excluded from last month's combine, Lansanah took the field yesterday in hopes of silencing his doubters.

Despite running a 4.71 40-yard dash, Lansanah exhibited good lateral quickness and change of direction in the positional workouts to go along with 22 bench press reps. Lansanah was hoping to run a faster 40-time, however.

"I think the 40 and the positional drills that they put you through matter the most, because that's all football is," Lansanah said. "Football is change of direction and stuff, but the drills are more football oriented so I think they play a big part in everything."

After spending the winter training at a facility in Florida with West Virginia linebacker Marc Magro and Texas A&M center Cody Wallace, among others, Lansanah is garnering attention from some of the NFL's most prestigious franchises.

"I took a trip out to Indianapolis to meet with the Colts and they were telling me that I had a good chance when I was out there," Lansanah said. "They put me through a physical and everything."

NFLdraftscout.com slates Lansanah as the No. 19 inside linebacker and No. 378 overall prospect.

Larry Taylor

UConn's diminutive return specialist may not be the talk of the draft, but it's not outrageous to expect Taylor to make an NFL roster next fall. After finishing his career as the Big East's all-time leading punt returner by yardage, the 165-pound Taylor added strength to get him ready for the next level.

"I was back home in Florida [during winter break] preparing for this one day," Taylor said. "I was maybe around six or seven bench reps [of the standard 225 pounds] until I started preparing, and with a lot of hard work and the right training, a lot of burnout sets, I got up to 17 today."

Taylor unofficially ran the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds and demonstrated soft hands and quickness while running a variety of short slant routes. He also was forced to look away from the ball and then turn at the last second to grab a high pass, which essentially simulated catching a punt. Taylor looked remarkably comfortable in the situation.

But even with his solid ball skills and added strength, Taylor still feels his most vital asset is his uncanny ability to find space and make cuts with the ball.

"It's just something you don't have to teach me," he said. "It's an instinct, just a blessing from God."

Contact Kevin Duffy at Kevin.R.Duffy@UConn.edu.