Buffs stars shine in 2025 Pro Day, continue journey to NFL Draft
- Liam Howard
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Sixteen players from the Colorado Buffaloes football team competed in the “We Ain’t Hard 2 Find” showcase on Friday. Each drill saw several players increase their draft stock as scouts from all 32 NFL teams got a close look at what Boulder has to offer. Here’s a look at the top performers in each drill and how their draft stocks improved as a result.
Bench Press
Top Three Performers:
1. DT Chidozie Nwankwo (30 reps)
2. DL Shane Cokes (29 reps)
3. OL Justin Mayers (28 reps)
Only four players took part in the bench press at Colorado’s Pro Day this year, but they all made their presence felt. Nwankwo’s performance was especially impressive as his bench would’ve been the best among defensive tackles at the 2025 NFL Combine. This show of strength will help to put him on the map as he’s currently unranked as a prospect by Pro Football Focus.
Cokes’ performance would’ve tied the top mark for the Combine, and as a fellow unranked prospect, he had a lot riding on this performance and delivered in a big way.
Vertical Jump
Top Three Performers:
1. WR Will Sheppard (40.5 inches)
2. S Herman Smith (36 inches)
3. S Travis Jay (33 inches)
Sheppard’s performance dropped jaws in the weight room, as his vertical paired with an over six-foot wingspan gives him all the physical tools of an NFL-style receiver.
Sheppard has been a projected day-three pick in most PFF mock drafts primarily due to him never receiving primary targets at CU or his first school, Vanderbilt. This was just the first of his great performances Friday as he emerged as a Pro Day MVP.
Smith and Jay both needed a good performance Friday, as the two special teamers only appeared in four and two games, respectively, registering six combined solo tackles. They did themselves some justice in this drill, however, with Smith’s performance on par for the top 10 at the Combine and Jay’s falling just inside the top 15.
Broad Jump
Top Three Performers:
1. WR Will Sheppard (10’11”)
2. WR Jimmy Horn Jr. (10’8”)
3. S Travis Jay (10’1”)
Sheppard continued his hot start to the day with a broad jump that would’ve ranked fourth at the NFL Combine. His performance in both jumping drills showed scouts what Colorado fans became all too familiar with this season: his deep threat and high-pointing ability.
Horn came into the Combine with a smaller frame than Sheppard, less to show statistically and consequently, a larger chip on his shoulder. That didn’t deter the senior receiver, however, as he nearly matched Sheppard’s mark in the broad jump. This was merely the beginning of his success for the day, as an even better performance in the 40-yard dash and position drills awaited him later on.
Finally, Jay put forth another nice performance but was still left with a lot of ground to make up in the remaining drills to make his way onto draft boards.
40-Yard Dash
Top Three Performers*:
1. WR Jimmy Horn Jr. (4.40 seconds)
2. WR LaJohntay Wester (4.50 seconds)
3. S Shilo Sanders (4.52)
Horn took .06 seconds off his time from the Combine in his Pro Day performance and assisted his standing as an undersized receiver. Speed was the name of his game in his time with the Buffaloes, and he displayed to the scouts in attendance that it jumps off the page the same way it does off the tape, and solidified him as an early-to-middle day-three slot receiver prospect.
Wester, who’d had a relatively quiet day to that point, showed why he was the second-leading receiver on the Buffs this season. The Florida Atlantic transfer emerged as a talented weapon in the Buffaloes’ offense this season, with his speed the primary reason he was able to separate himself amid a gifted receiver room.
Finally, Shilo Sanders surprised many with his performance, posting a time two to three milliseconds below what some scouts projected.
“Nobody even thought I could run a 4.5 or a 4.6,” Sanders said. “Everyone’s talking about a 4.7 and stuff like that, but I’m proud of it.”
* All times fastest recorded out of two attempts
Position Drills
The position drills saw the only appearance of the day from projected top-five picks Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. The offense competed together for one final time and left it all on the field in their showcase.
“I mean, I’m not sure that one of these guys won't be on my team,” Sanders said. “It’s a lot of ‘I don’t knows’ right now, so I just like taking things one day and one step at a time.”
Sanders displayed pinpoint accuracy, completing 58 of his 63 passes (three were dropped), and a powerful arm that has him projected as high as No. 2 overall in many mock drafts, and Hunter displayed some of the best routes of the day with quick, agile cuts and rapid acceleration out of his breaks.
Horn was the other standout in this drill as his routes bore similarities to Hunter’s while generating some highlight catches, including a leaping over-the-shoulder grab followed by a backflip in celebration. To conclude the day, the offense ran a full-field tempo drill and completed all four passes in an efficient drive.
The next stop for these players is the NFL Draft, which will take place starting on April 24 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, at 6:00 p.m. MT.