NFLDraftScout.com is following Brian Orakpo's road to the NFL from the combine to his Pro Day workout to the draft April 25-26. This is the third in a four-part series. Part 1 | Part 2
Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo is about to learn which city he'll be calling home to begin his NFL career.
That's good, because over the past month he has flown into more cities than most airline pilots.
Orakpo has been shuttling between Athletes Performance Institute in Tempe, Ariz., to Austin for his March 25 Pro Day and about every compass point in the country for visits with NFL teams. He started north to Kansas City, east to Cleveland and Washington, south to Houston and west to Denver.
As fun as the traveling has been, it was a phone call last week that might have been the most exciting.
It was Gil Brandt, the leading draft expert for the NFL.
• Complete NFL Draft coverage"It was cool," said Orakpo, the excitement obvious in his voice. "I had hoped to be invited to the draft, but didn't know what to expect. I actually got a call from Gil Brandt from the NFL, who told me that I was invited to attend the draft and that to expect an official invitation in the mail in the next few days.
"It is a huge honor. To get to experience the whole draft from New York in Radio City Music Hall and to meet the commissioner [Roger Goodell] and hold up the jersey of the team that drafts you and the whole nine yards ... it is difficult to put into words how much of an honor it is. I just really can't wait."
If Orakpo hadn't overcome a hamstring injury in time for his Pro Day, Brandt might have been dialing the number of a different prospect.
Despite a consensus All-American senior season in which he posted 40 tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks en route toward earning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, the Nagurski Trophy (nation's top defensive player), Lombardi Award (nation's top lineman) and Hendricks Award (nation's top defensive end), Orakpo knew he must perform well at his Pro Day after the hamstring injury stopped his workout at the combine.
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| Brian Orakpo has been living in standby mode. (AP) |
His 10-foot, 10-inch broad jump displayed spectacular explosiveness. His effort would have eclipsed the numbers put forth by any defensive line or linebacker prospect in Indianapolis, including outside linebacker Aaron Curry, defensive end Tyson Jackson and defensive tackle B.J. Raji, who are expected to be the first three defenders off the board Saturday. The top number by a front-seven defender was 10-8 by two other defensive ends who could switch to outside linebacker in a 3-4, Cincinnati's Connor Barwin and Georgia Tech's Michael Johnson.
Orakpo also posted respectable times of 4.43 seconds in the 20-yard shuttle and 7.25 in the three-cone drill. Both would have ranked within the top 10 at his position in Indianapolis.
"Yes, I thought the Pro Day went well," Orakpo said. "The linebacker drills and the defensive line drills went well and I did everything the scouts thought that was necessary to show what I am capable of and to show that I can play either position. It helped show what kind of athlete and competitor I am."
It went well enough that teams began lining up private workouts and asking Orakpo to visit their facilities. Denver and Cleveland, both expected to operate almost exclusively out of the 3-4 next season, traveled to Austin to put Orakpo through a private workout.
"I understand that scouts and coaches want to see you do these drills," Orakpo said. "They're making a big decision with their picks, so if they want me to run extra linebacker drills or defensive line drills or whatever they want, I look forward to doing them and showing scouts what I'm all about -- that I'm a hard worker and a competitive guy."
He said the workouts at the combine, his Pro Day and for individual teams can be surprisingly different.
"There are some basic drills that everyone wants to see you do, but there are also other, specific football-related drills that pop up with different coaches," Orakpo said. "With Cleveland, for example, they had a four-cone drill, in which there were four cones arranged in a square and I was positioned in the middle and was asked to turn and run to each corner."
Unlike the three-cone drill in which prospects are timed at the combine, Pro Day and other workouts, the four-cone drill is not timed by scouts. The coach orchestrating the drill changes the direction, intensity and frequency of the player's shuttles going left, right, forward and back. The scouts and coaches observing the workout aren't focused on time but in the fluidity and acceleration with which the player changes directions.
Following his private workouts in Austin with the Browns and Broncos, Orakpo began the first of his five visits to team facilities.
"It is basically like a recruiting visit," he said. "You go in to meet the coaches and meet and greet the rest of the staff. You meet the players that are working out at the facility, doing whatever they can to prepare for next season.
"After lunch, you go into the second phase of the visit to go the meetings. You meet with your position coach and then the defensive coordinator and then up to the general manager and head coach. Usually, you'll meet with the position coach and he'll put on your film and ask you to explain what you're doing or what you're responsibilities were on a given play. Or, they'll put on their film and explain their defensive scheme, and then they'll bring in their head coach and general manager and wrap it up."
It has been a constant whirlwind for Orakpo, who was talking from a hotel room in Washington before visiting with the Redskins this week.
"That's the thing. You can always get a call from your agent telling you there is another team that wants to fly you out," he said. "You always got to be on standby."
Now it's off to New York. And the next flight he'll have his bags packed for will likely be a private plane headed for an introductory press conference in his new NFL city Saturday night.
Rob Rang is a senior analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, distributed by The Sports Xchange.
