Several graduated Syracuse seniors and Ron Thompson worked out at the Ensley Athletic Center on Wednesday for NFL scouts as part of SU’s Pro Day. Here are reactions from several of the players hoping to get selected in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Ron Thompson, defensive end

Once former Syracuse head coach Scott Shafer was fired and his staff was let go, Thompson had his mind made up. He had talked to defensive line coach Tim Daoust, who Thompson called a “father figure,” throughout the season. Daoust being let go was partially the tipping point for the former defensive end.

During the season, the two would joke that if Syracuse didn’t start winning, he’d “be gone.”

“He just told me, ‘You know, it’s going to be a lot different, you’re not going to have me calling you at five in the morning, six in the morning.’

‘Let’s go, it’s time to get up, you’ve got to learn to do that on your own,’” Thompson said of Daoust’s advice.

Thompson said that he’s in good enough standing with the university if he ever wanted to return to finish his degree, but was in jeopardy of being academically ineligible at the end of the season.

“Jeopardy, I would say yes, but there was things that I could’ve done like before,” Thompson said. “I had the same situation last year and all I had to do was a couple extra assignments and I would have been eligible.”

After leaving, Thompson was invited to the NFL combine. Thompson said he feels as if he’s talked to every team. Before coming to Syracuse in the last week, he had a private workout with the Dallas Cowboys.

Several teams asked Thompson about potentially playing tight end, which he played in high school. At SU’s Pro Day, he caught passes in addition to doing his defensive position drills. Many teams have also talked to Thompson about being an edge rusher without his hand in the ground at defensive end.

At the NFL Combine, Thompson ran a 4.92 second 40-yard dash. Will Hicks, the assistant athletic director for athletic performance, said Thompson improved his time into the 4.7-4.8-second range.

Rob Trudo, offensive line

Trudo, a former SU offensive lineman who played both center and guard for the Orange, has been trying to prove he’s more athletic. He said an ankle sprain he suffered during the 2015 season and an MCL injury he suffered in 2014 tightened up his hips.

To help open up his hips, Trudo said he started jiu-jitsu at home in December and started going to Inner Circle Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai in Liverpool, New York in January. He goes three times each week, but recently stopped going to prevent any injuries before SU’s Pro Day. The lineman said he’s seen the mobility in his hips improve and Hicks echoed that. Trudo also worked out with Hicks to open up his hips.

“We did some hip stuff every Friday,” Hicks said. “(Trudo) thought that was the worst day of the week because that’s like 30 minutes of fury.”

Riley Dixon

He may not be competing for Heisman anymore, but he is gunning for a spot on the NFL Draft board in April. Dixon said several of the scouts at SU’s Pro Day were ones he had seen at the NFL Combine.

On Wednesday, he worked out for New York Jets’ special teams coordinator, Brant Boyer, he has another private workout with the Denver Broncos scheduled for tomorrow and has one scheduled with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, too. The Houston Texans had a private workout scheduled with Dixon for later this month, but they had to cancel. Dixon hasn’t changed anything mechanically with his punting and is working on being more consistent with his directional punting.

Published on March 23, 2016 at 6:41 pm

Contact Chris: cjlibona@syr.edu | @ChrisLibonati