Former Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri was a little nervous when he woke up before Alabama’s second pro day.
“I felt like I was going into my first football game since Oct. 19,” Sunseri said. “No sleep, waking up nervous. I went through my football routine. Woke up, took a shower. Studied all my starts on my 40 just like I was about to go into a football game.”
He said he ran times ranging from 4:48 to 4:52, which is where he wanted to be five months out of surgery. Despite missing the last five games due to a knee injury, Sunseri said he feels like his film from the 2013 season was what it needed to be.
“I got a chance to play at safety,” Sunseri said. “I felt really comfortable back there and I was able to make a couple of plays at the beginning of the season. I was an All-American before I got hurt, so I felt I had a great film. I feel like I’m ready to take that next step. I feel like I’m mature enough. I feel like the coaches in the NFL see that.”
Sunseri said his draft grade is from fourth round to free agent.
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Former left tackle Cyrus Kouandjio looked at the pro day as a way to improve his stats from the NFL Combine.
“I felt great,” Kouandjio said. “I felt smooth. I felt loose. I came out here, and it looked good.”
At the combine, he had a 27.5-inch vertical, according to NFL.com. He said it’s now 31 inches.
“It’s much different. My favorite part about it was my vert,” Kouandjio said. “The way I trained, I just did the best I could each week. I didn’t record my times or my measurements or anything like that. I just did as hard as I could, and I just waited until today to see what I had.”
He said he is going to work out for Tampa Bay next.
(See also “Alabama football live updates for 2014 National Signing Day“)
After missing the NFL Combine and the first pro day due to a shoulder injury, former right guard Anthony Steen said he just started training again six or seven days ago.
“I hope they all understand I haven’t done anything in 16, 17 weeks and understand that I did my best out there, and hopefully they liked what they saw,” Steen said.
Even though he hasn’t been able to train, he said he doesn’t think his current status will hurt him too much with the NFL scouts.
“It really hasn’t been that tough,” Steen said. “I know a lot of guys out there are looking for a guard, both positions left and right, and center. I just tell them I can do that and I can snap, too. I’ve just been trying to focus on getting back in shape to where I was so I can show them that I can do that.”
The 2014 NFL Draft starts on May 8.
(See also “Top 10 football moments in 2013“)
