Instead of the typical eight to 10 scouts, barely enough to run the wide assortment of drills, typical for Liberty Universitypro day, 70 NFL coaches, scouts and front office personnel will be on campus.
Instead of having one or two players hopeful of being a late-round pick or an undrafted pickup, 19 will be on display.
All 32 NFL teams will be represented, but some more than others. They will all be here because of one player: senior quarterback Malik Willis, whose never-before-seen-talent in these parts has put Liberty on the NFL map in ways few, if any, ever imagined.
It reminds Liberty athletic director Ian McCaw of when Robert Griffin III (the No. 2 overall pick in 2012) had his pro day at Baylor when McCaw was the AD there. He called that the turning point of that program because of the exposure.
Griffin, now an analyst for ESPN, agreed. He reminded that Baylor was in a major conference and had a football history that Liberty doesn’t as an FBS Independent.
“I thought Liberty was just some writing on the Statue of Liberty,” Griffin said with a laugh. “We’ve all come to know more about it because of Malik Willis. Now the entire NFL community, the entire world is going to know about it.”
It’s all hands-on deck. All other football-related activities for the day were canceled, even though the team is in the middle of spring practice.
This monumental moment could help convince more players with Willis’ talent to choose Liberty.
“This is monumental,” Hubbard said.
“This is going to work wonders for this university,” said Griffin. “Liberty is going to feel the benefits of Malik Willis for the next 10 years.”
For more information, NFL Quarterback Prospect Malik Willis brings “Once in a Lifetime” Pro Day to Liberty was originally published on ESPN by David Newton.
