MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – There were a lot of NFL teams represented at Monday’s Pro Day inside the Caperton Indoor Practice Facility. Twenty-eight teams came to Morgantown to get another glimpse at wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton and defensive tackle Dante Stills.
Both performed well at last month’s NFL Combine in Indianapolis, particularly Ford-Wheaton, who posted some historically impressive numbers for a player who stands close to 6-feet-4 and weighs close to 225 pounds.
In the 40-yard dash, Ford-Wheaton’s time of 4.38 seconds was fourth-fastest among all wide receivers, and his 41-inch vertical jump was only second to SMU’s Rashee Rice.
ESPN’s Next Gen Stats had Wheaton’s 40 time and vertical jump in DK Metcalf category in terms of players weighing more than 220 pounds. Another historical comparison point for Ford-Wheaton is Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson.
That’s elite company.
“Bryce’s measurables are off the charts,” West Virginia coach Neal Brown said Monday. “His numbers at the combine speak for themselves. You look at historical numbers for guys that size and who he compares to and he’s in rare air. What I talk about a lot with Bryce is his growth and maturity as a person and as a player.
“If you saw him in the spring of 2019 compared to where he was in the fall of 2022, or where he is now, it’s night and day. It’s not even close,” Brown added. “It’s not like he got a little better. If I showed you film from the spring of 2019 and told you that was Bryce, you wouldn’t believe that was him.”
Brown said the scouts he’s talked to were impressed by Ford-Wheaton’s performance in West Virginia’s 24-19 win at Oklahoma State to end the regular season.
Keep in mind, his stat line in that game was just two catches for 22 yards.
“The last game of the year, we’re out of bowl eligibility, and it was awful weather at Oklahoma State,” Brown recalled. “It was in the 30s and when I say it rained, that’s an understatement. He won big on about three go-routes, and we overthrew him, and he had one big catch in the game, maybe two, but he played super-hard. He played well on special teams, and I think that really speaks to his growth. It would have been easy for him not to compete at a high level, but he did the opposite and really played hard.”
Ford-Wheaton admits some of his old game film has come up in discussions with NFL personnel when he’s met with them.
“One scout told me, ‘Sometimes, when I put your tape on, I see Calvin Johnson, and other times I put it on and you couldn’t play on a juco team in Iowa.’ I was sitting there looking at him like, ‘Alright.’ I knew what he was trying to do,” Ford-Wheaton said.
“I look at my film from 2019, and I just feel sick sometimes looking at the plays that I missed,” he continued. “I’m so much better than that right now, but I’m not a finished product. I have a lot more room to improve.”
Stills puts himself in the same category. He once considered putting his name in the NFL Draft following his sophomore season in 2020 and reconsidered last year.
Each time, the feedback he got was that he needed additional seasoning and maturity. Today, he’s thankful for the advice he’s gotten to stay in school to continue to grow and develop, physically and emotionally.
“I wanted to become a better leader and stuff like that, and this helped my situation a lot,” Stills said. “I do have five years of film so I feel like I’ve done all I can. I have a better overall film now. I feel like I played my position very well. I wasn’t just jumping out of gaps trying to make plays. I wanted to do my job and be a good leader on the field for the young guys.”
Brown points to Stills’ versatility playing multiple fronts in West Virginia’s defense as one of his biggest assets.
“You can make an argument that he can fit in a four-down front or a three-down front, and that’s sometimes where some D-linemen get pigeon-holed because they can only do what’s asked of them from a four-down or a three-down,” Brown explained. “He’s got video of playing both. He’s changed his body and he’s even made improvements to his body since January.
“He’s grown in his mental approach, and he’s done well when they’ve gotten to look at him at the all-star game or in Indianapolis. He’s been highly productive at the collegiate level,” Brown said.
Stills said he’s approaching the remaining time up until the draft like he’s unemployed and seeking a job. His goal yesterday was to improve his bench press, which he did by six reps, so now it’s about getting himself mentally and emotionally prepared for his big moment.
“I’m taking it like I don’t have a job right now, so I’ve got to earn a spot and try and take a spot from somebody who has been in the league for seven or eight years with kids and stuff like that. Now my whole mentality has changed,” he explained. “It’s a grown man’s game.”
Ford-Wheaton, too, has done everything he’s needed to do up to this point. He said he’s part of the NFL 30 visit program, which allows each team to host up to 30 prospects on pre-draft visits. This is reserved for high-value players in what basically amounts to a job interview.
Ford-Wheaton will likely meet with someone from each organization before this year’s draft begins on Thursday, April 27 in Kansas City.
Stills said he has met with at least 15 teams so far, including having dinner with scouts from the New Orleans Saints on Monday evening.
Both plan on low-key family gatherings on draft day, Ford-Wheaton at his uncle’s house in Charlotte and Stills at his mother’s house in Fairmont. Both are also remaining in Morgantown to work out with WVU strength and conditioning coach Mike Joseph to stay in shape.
“It is stressful at times with the unknowns, but I’m having fun,” Stills said.
Brown believes both players will be assets to the organizations that draft them.
Plus, what they did in Indianapolis last month could have aided some of their WVU teammates taking part in yesterday’s Pro Day. All but four teams were in Morgantown to watch them.
A much heavier Sam James helped his cause by posting a 4.5 time in the 40 and performing well in pass-catching drills. Safety Jasir Cox ran a 4.59 time in the 40 and posted a 39-inch vertical jump.
Other Mountaineer players taking part in yesterday’s Pro Day were cornerback Wesley McCormick, tight end Brian Polendey, linebacker Exree Loe and kicker Parker Grothaus. Former quarterback Jarret Doege returned to campus to take part as well.
Multiple West Virginia players are expected to go in this year’s draft for the first time since 2020 when Colton McKivitz and Kenny Robinson Jr. were taken with consecutive picks in the fifth round.