UCF Pro Day 2022: A Spring Homecoming for NFL Hopefuls

While this year's UCF Pro Day wasn’t necessarily the spectacle it was pre-COVID, today certainly had its share of headlines and highlights.

Attendees included Woody Barrett, Big Cat Bryant, Nate Craig-Meyers, Kalia Davis, Noah Hancock, Brandon Johnson, Cole Schneider, Marcus Tatum as well as UCF Legend McKenzie Milton. Davis, who many believe is the most NFL-ready prospect didn’t perform in any drills as he’s still recovering from his knee injury that ended his season last year.

Milton having performed all of his drills and tests at FSU’s Pro Day earlier in the week, only participated in position drills showing off his passing ability.

When asked about his performance in his return to the Nicholson Fieldhouse, he stressed how much fun it was to be back on UCF’s campus in a football capacity. In his words, “it was fun to be back here where it all started and finish it off right”.

Finishing off right could certainly be said for his accuracy on the day. While not every single pass connected, Milton did enough to remind people of his days slinging the ball around the Bounce House. As for his future, Milton says the NFL is definitely his goal but doesn’t see himself moving away from the game of football as he charts his career path. He simply “loves the game too much” to not have it connected to his profession in some capacity.

Also of note, Schneider in his position drills ran a few reps snapping a ball. While he is primarily known as a guard on the offensive line, this is likely to demonstrate his utility and willingness to play center as he did filling in for Matt Lee last season when he missed time to injury.

Schneider clearly demonstrated his speed and footwork during the day’s workout and mentioned that coming up on Thursday that he would be running drills for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While his goal is to play guard in the NFL, the possibility of any other pursuits such as combat sports and the WWE would also be on the table to help quench the former Knight’s love of physical sport.

As for other events at the UCF Knights pro day, it was hard to tell whether any other prospect was able to boost their stock. Official 40-yard dash times and other clocked measurements from the event weren’t released. Annoying as that may be to UCF fans and draft analysts, it’s possible that this benefits the players who had trouble keeping their footing during drills due to the slickness of the new artificial turf that was in place at the site.