Happy Hump Day, friends and fans!

The Oklahoma Sooners’ annual Pro Day was held this morning, where NFL scouts saw the likes of CB Parnell Motley, WR Nick Basquine, RB Marcelias Sutton and several others up close for pre-draft workouts and testing. Meanwhile, Jalen Hurts and CeeDee Lamb went through some drills to provide an exclamation point following great performances at the NFL Combine. Kenneth Murray sat out on Wednesday, as he showed all he needed to show before suffering a minor hamstring injury in Indianapolis.

For Motley, this opportunity is especially important given he was controversially not invited to last month’s NFL Combine. Out of the Sooners who were not in Indianapolis, it would appear the Washington, D.C. native has the best chance for being selected in the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft.

Compared to defensive backs that participated at the combine, Motley’s solid 4.5 40-yard dash time would have him tied for 18th out of 29 DBs, which is totally respectable, while his 30-inch vertical would have him tied for 15th out of 23. On a more sobering note, the lockdown CB measured out with a 108-inch broad jump, a 7.20 second 3-cone drill, and a 4.47 second 20-yard shuttle, all of which would either be last or next to last in comparison to the corners who were tested at this year’s combine.

Overall, while somewhat underwhelming from a numbers standpoint, it’s realistically not all that surprising. Still, Motley was able to show that he has enough speed to warrant a second look on film, and it’s his tape that remains his greatest selling point. For more on the rest of the happenings coming out of OU’s Pro Day, check out the links below.

Now onto today’s Hot Links! The ‘Canadian Bulldozer’ is back, OU baseball stays hot, two Nebraska football players have temporarily traded in their cleats for sneakers and more!

OU Links

• QB Jalen Hurts completed approximately 62 of 69 passes during his Pro Day workout, with former Sooners CeeDee Lamb and AD Miller filling in as his receiving targets. Since the college football season ended, there’s been a buzz around Hurts and his NFL potential that’s only continued to grow with every opportunity he’s had to showcase his ability.

• Speaking of Hurts, here’s what he had to say to ESPN following his performance:

• WR Lee Morris vertically launched himself 38 inches at OU’s Pro Day, which is 3.5 inches higher than what Lamb recorded at the NFL Combine. That’s an outstanding leap by any measure.

• Former Virginia Cavaliers OL RJ Proctor helped anchor the left side of the Sooners’ offensive line as a graduate transfer in 2019, and on Wednesday he ran off 29 reps at 225 pounds on bench. That mark would have been good for sixth most among all O-Linemen at the combine. Now we know who’s been putting in that iron work.

• RB Marcelias Sutton saw his 2018 season cut short with an injury, but we was eventually picked up by the Seattle Seahawks as a UDFA in May of 2019 before being cut a couple months later. Today he returned to Norman to participate in the Pro Day opportunity, where scouts could re-evaluate him up close, and honestly he did very well for himself. Not only did he run a 4.5 40, his standing broad jump was a staggering 135 inches, which would have led all running backs at this year’s combine and would rank tied for fifth-most of all prospects, regardless of position. Great stuff from Sutton.

• DL Neville Gallimore continued to impress during his Pro Day workout after shining at the combine. Pound-for-pound, ‘Big Canada’ aka ‘The Canadian Bulldozer’ is easily one of the most physically-gifted athletes in this year’s draft class, and there’s a real possibility he could become a Day One pick come April.

• ESPN college football writer Mark Schlabach previewed the Big 12 with the start of spring ball ramping up, and he explored the most burning questions for the likely contenders, including Oklahoma. Also, he addresses the question everybody has been asking for the past 10 offseasons — is Texas back?
• OU baseball (14-4) shut out a good UT-Arlington team in their own park on Tuesday, 3-0. The red-hot No. 9 Sooners have now won three straight games and six of their last seven. Next up is a four-game series at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Calif. After that, the Sooners have a midweek contest with the Arkansas Razorbacks (March 17, Oklahoma City) followed by a three-game Big 12 series with the Texas Longhorns (March 20-22, Norman)

Around the Sports World

• SB Nation’s Dan Kadar says that the Kansas City Chiefs will be able to return to the Super Bowl stage next season if they address a few key positions on the team, most of which are on defense. Sounds about right.
• After suspending two players indefinitely, the Nebraska Cornhuskers men’s basketball team only had seven scholarship players available going into the Big Ten Tournament. That is, before coach Fred Hoiberg added a couple Husker football players to his hoops team. Talk about emergency reinforcements.
• It’s been discovered that LSU Tigers redshirt freshman QB Peter Parrish has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules just days into the start of spring camp. The dual-threat signal caller was expected to challenge junior Myles Brennan for the starting spot this fall, but for now that’s been put on hold.
• Former New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski is reportedly close to finalizing a deal with the WWE that would officially make him part of the World Wrestling family. The details of said deal are undisclosed at this time, but even if it’s just for one mega match, that’s all Gronk needs to fulfill a childhood dream.
• Free agency in the NBA is unlike any other pro league, because it’s not uncommon for one player to join a team that previously missed the playoffs altogether to becoming a contender in its respective conference. So who will be the top 20 free agents this summer in the National Basketball Association? SB Nation’s Tom Ziller offers his take.
• Banner Society’s Alex Kirshner took a look at the best (and worst) mid-20th century college mascot logos that for some reason all featured angry cartoon animals dressed in ridiculous sailor hats. This is some content of the week level material right here, folks. Check it out!

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