The Pro Day information keeps coming in. The Steelers’ position coaches were all over the map yesterday. Joey Porter was in Maryland. Mike Munchak at South Carolina. And John Mitchell was reportedly a dart throw away from Munchak, attending South Carolina State’s Pro Day, per Tony Pauline and Walter Football.
The big name on hand, and the reason Mitchell was there, was to watch DT Javon Hargrave. Per Pauline.
“Defensive line coaches from the Philadelphia Eagles, Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals put Javon Hargrave through a workout which lasted almost 45 minutes. Hargrave looked good, displaying terrific quickness, explosion and movement skills.”
Pauline also notes that Hargrave met personally with each team.
He’s one of the star small school prospects and may wind up being the third FCS player off the board, behind Carson Wentz and Noah Spence. Hargrave excelled in every big-school stage he was at: Shrine Game, Senior Bowl, and Combine.
At the latter, weighing in at 309 pounds, he ran a 4.93 and jumped 34.5 inches in the vertical. He is undersized at 6’1 and doesn’t have much length, 32 inches, and has always seemed to fit in as a true 3 tech in a 4-3 scheme.
In 2015, he racked up a ridiculous 15.5 sacks, including 10 over his final five games. He also put up 22 TFLs, forced a pair of fumbles, and was named MEAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Frankly, it would not be surprising if he failed to even fall to pick 58, the Steelers’ second rounder. And again, though history means only so much, Pittsburgh has one of the worst track records of drafting players from this level. But the exposure Hargrave has gotten against top competition, and to excel, could make him a rare exception.
