THE FLATS – Fifty-seven coaches, scouts and front-office personnel representing all 32 National Football League teams and two Canadian Football League teams were on hand for Georgia Tech’s 2026 Pro Day on Friday at the John and Mary Brock Indoor Practice Facility and Rose Bowl Field.
Eighteen Yellow Jackets – DL Matthew Alexander, TE Josh Beetham, TE J.T. Byrne, DB Omar Daniels, DB Jy Gilmore, DB Ahmari Harvey, RB Jamal Haynes, QB Haynes King, P Marshall Nichols, WR Dean Patterson, DB Clayton Powell-Lee, WR Eric Rivers, WR Malik Rutherford, OL Keylan Rutledge, TE Brett Seither, DB Rodney Shelley, DL Akelo Stone and DL Jordan van den Berg – auditioned for the 57 pro football reps, which included Atlanta Falcons president of football Matt Ryan and general manager Ian Cunningham.
The majority of Georgia Tech’s participants participated in the bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 40-yard dash, three-cone shuttle and 20-yard shuttle, as well as on-field positional drills. Highlights included:
- van den Berg bench-pressing 225 pounds a whopping 35 times (for comparison, only one player at the 2026 NFL Combine had more than bench press reps (37) and just six Combine participants even had 30 reps on the bench press);
- at 310 pounds, van den Berg also clocked an impressive 4.9-second 40-yard dash (only seven defensive tackles at the 2026 Combine had a sub-5.0 40 time), had a 9-foot-11 broad jump and 36-inch vertical jump (which would have ranked first and second among DTs at the ’26 Combine), and posted an other-worldly 4.19-second 20-yard shuttle run, which was nearly half-a-second faster than the best time by a DT at this year’s Combine (4.68), would have been tied for sixth among all of this year’s Combine participants, regardless of position, and is faster than any 20-yard shuttle time by a DT at the Combine since at least 2013;
- 28 bench press reps for Rutledge, which was better than all but six offensive linemen that bench-pressed at the Combine;
- Shelley running the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds (would have been tied for fifth among cornerbacks at this year’s NFL Combine) and a 4.25 20-yard shuttle (would have been fourth among CBs at the Combine), and posting a 37-inch vertical jump;
- Haynes clocking a 4.25 20-yard shuttle, which is faster than any running back posted at this year’s NFL Combine, a 4.51 40-yard dash (would have ranked ninth among RBs at this year’s Combine) and a 36-inch vertical (would have ranked sixth at the Combine).
After posting impressive numbers at the Combine themselves, King and Rivers only participated in on-field positional drills on Friday, while Rutledge only did bench press and positional work.
The 2026 NFL Draft is set for April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.