Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories about former Bobcat Kalvin McRae’s quest to get drafted in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Although their paths have been different since the Bobcats’ season ended a little more than three months ago, runningback Kalvin McRae and linebacker Taj Henley have reunited to work toward a common dream — making it on an NFL roster.
McRae has played in a senior all-star game and been invited to the NFL Scouting Combine while Henley is working hard just to get noticed by scouts.
“It’s been a lot less stressful,” McRae said. “We’ve been through so much together … He’s like a brother to me and we’ve been able to hang out on and off the field. It’s been real helpful.”
McRae, Henley and former Oregon wide receiver Cameron Colvin have been working out since mid-January under the tutelage of three-time Olympic sprinter Dennis Mitchell in Clermont, Fla., in an attempt to improve their speed.
“He’s got us really working hard at getting faster,” Henley said of Mitchell. “It’s an advantage that I don’t think a lot of people in the country have.”
Instead of lifting a lot of weights, Mitchell is trying to get the players into sprinter shape. They are doing different hurdle drills to strengthen their hip flexors and a lot of sprint work in an attempt to lower their 40-yard dash times.
McRae said that the workouts that Mitchell has them doing have been tough, but they are starting to pay off.
“We’re working out muscles I didn’t even know I had,” he said. “The hardest part is trying to get our muscles from being so strong to being so flexible.”McRae impressed scouts during workouts at the Hula Bowl, which includes some of the nation’s top seniors, but said there is one persistent question that scouts have asked him throughout the process: What’s your speed like?
Ohio offensive coordinator Tim Albin believes that his former running back is already a do-it-all back, but understands why McRae is focusing on improving his speed.
“Every team has their own criteria for the running back,” Albin said. “But no one’s ever going to pass on a guy in the draft because he’s too fast … that will go a long way in his draft positioning.”
Before they could even start working out, though, McRae and Henley had to rid their bodies of the dining hall food that they had eaten for the last four years. Mitchell made Henley and McRae completely change their eating habits.
“We cleaned our systems right on out,” Henley said. “We could only eat boneless chicken breasts on a Foreman Grill, greens, fruit, Gatorade and water. Once they are cleaned out we can perform at a higher level.”
Henley is trying to reach his goal of lowering his 40-yard dash time to the 4.4-4.5 range by Ohio’s Pro Day on March 6. If he impresses scouts there, they will invite him in for private workouts, which will be his last chance to showcase himself.
McRae has another big opportunity to prove himself to scouts and become the first Bobcat to be drafted since Dave Zastudil in 2002, when he participates in the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, held from Feb. 20-26. He’ll be there with the 350 top players in the country in front of scouts from every NFL team.
Players’ stock can skyrocket or plummet during the combines, but Albin believes that no matter what happens, McRae’s time to shine will come a little later.
“I don’t care if he’s drafted in the first round, the last round or a free agent,” Albin said. “Once they get through all of these tests … when they get on helmets and pads that’s when things are going to change.
When he gets into camp that’s when eyes will get wide.”
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