https://theathletic.com/2431098/2021/03/05/dash-for-cash-georgias-eric-stokes-jr-blazes-to-4-24-40-yard-time-at-combine?source=user-shared-articleFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Eric Stokes Jr. ran the 40-yard dash in a laser-timed 4.24 seconds Friday, and when his time was announced to the crowd of athletes, media members and onlookers at the House of Athlete pre-draft showcase event, the imaginary sound of cash registers opening began filling the air.
"That man just got paid!" former Cincinnati Bengals coach Hue Jackson shouted.
"He just made some money!" former All-Pro receiver Brandon Marshall said during the live-streamed broadcast on YouTube.
Former Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder joked and suggested Stokes should head to Wells Fargo Bank and cash in his check. Stokes, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound cornerback out of Georgia, didn't actually make any money for his blazing time Friday, but he certainly opened some eyes league-wide.
The fastest 40 time ever at the NFL combine was a 4.22 set by Bengals receiver John Ross in 2017. Former Tennessee All-Pro running back Chris Johnson had the previous record at 4.24 seconds.
Projected as a potential first-round pick, Stokes started working out at HOA on Jan. 2 with the goal of putting up a sub-4.35 time in the 40-yard dash. He did it Friday more than once. The second time just didn't count.
"I didn't register," Stokes said.
But he was clocked at 22.8 miles per hour.
Did his second effort feel faster than his first? His second sprint was clocked at 23 mph but didn't register because of a false start.
"Nah," he said with a chuckle. "My feet would have been smoking then."
What was Stokes trying to get out of Friday's combine?
"Just show what type of player I am," Stokes said. "I'm pretty much fast. I just wanted to leave all the doubts out. I just wanted to show all of my other skills. I can jump. I can do broad. I can do vert. I'm versatile."
Stokes said he learned a lot from Mo Wells, the program's director, over the past two months.
"I remember the first time I ran, it was 4.5. Then it was 4.4s. Last week, it was high 4.3s. I just kept progressing down," Stokes said. "I put the effort in. I was even eating healthy. I just cut a lot of little things out for this end goal."
Wells said his goal with all the athletes he has trained in the past few months is to get NFL teams to see something that maybe didn't show up on game tape during a pandemic-affected season.
"The main thing you try to get out of this is (see) where these guys are at," Wells said. "A lot of them you haven't seen in a long time. It's a different year. You didn't see them at the combine. Who are these guys? Have they been working? And are they who we believe they are?
"You want to confirm or deny who you saw on tape during the season. So that's all we're doing here; all the work they put in, you get to put your eyeballs on them. Not every pro day is going to be televised. This gives our guys an extra opportunity to showcase what they have and get more eyeballs on them."
Stokes achieved that with his 40 time on Friday. But his improvement started in earnest last fall. He said he felt like he improved his ball skills in 2020 and demonstrated it with "two pick-sixes" for the Bulldogs.
"It was a big concern for me not for everybody else," he said of being unable to produce a college interception until his third season at Georgia. "I just wanted to have my first pick. I went out and had four of them."
As much as he enjoyed those INTs, nothing topped putting up the 40 time he did Friday, he said.
"I don't care what anybody says," Stokes said. "Just so I could tell my kids, 'Go try beating that 40 time.'"
In addition to providing draft prospects with in-house training, meals and lodging, House of Athlete also partnered with Therabody and supplied each participant with a Theragun Pro, which each player received Wednesday during the event's opening ceremony. Theraguns are intended to help athletes relieve pain and muscle tension and also recover from and prevent injuries.
Moments before Stokes burst onto the scene Friday afternoon, he was seen pressing the massage gun against his quads and hamstrings on the field. Marshall partnered with Therabody founder Dr. Jason Wersland when he founded House of Athlete several years ago.
"Brandon cares so much about the body and mind," Wersland said in a phone interview Friday. "Therabody wanted to make sure we did whatever he needed to make sure all these athletes are put in pristine conditions before they're tracked in these events at the House of Athlete combine."
Kicker/punter Donald De La Haye (UCF) and linebacker Chazz Surratt (North Carolina) warm up with their Theraguns before doing the bench press Thursday. (Josh Tolentino / The Athletic)
Marshall acknowledged the inaugural HOA event might have had some natural bumps, but he's proud of the combined effort in putting together a showcase that he hopes NFL teams will take seriously. After all, the combine utilized the same technology and tracking system used by the NFL combine in Indianapolis.
"It's amazing, man," Marshall said of the growth of HOA, which began to pick up steam with his YouTube TV show featuring former Jaguars All-Pro running back Fred Taylor, former Bengals All-Pro receiver Chad Johnson, Crowder and himself.
"I mean, we did this in the middle of a global pandemic. To push through and power through, it says a lot about how we were built as athletes. You've got to find a way. Really, that's what inspired me. When the global pandemic first started, I saw athletes in Africa, this 17-year-old young lady, track star, shot putter, she found a way. I saw other track athletes, thinking they still had an opportunity to go to the Olympics, working out on concrete.
"This is an awesome opportunity for these guys to come out here and compete. A lot of guys made some money today. You had Stokes run a 4.24. That's worth it right there. Nobody was talking about him. Now, everybody is going to talk about this kid."
Marshall said he hopes the combine will continue beyond 2021.
"I think this is a great opportunity for us to potentially partner with the NFL, keep this going," Marshall said. "People love the production. It was a great show. The team did a great job. These regional combines I'd love to expand. Not everybody gets invited to Indy. So let us take on everything else out here."
Iowa wide receiver Brandon Smith turns in an impressive vertical jump Friday at Inter Miami CF training facility in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Sam Navarro / USA Today)
Brandon Smith puts on a show
Wide receiver Brandon Smith registered only 23 catches this past season at Iowa, but he was on full display at the combine.
Smith, 6-2 and 215 pounds, seized the day with personal bests in the broad jump (136 inches) and vertical jump (44.75 inches). He also put up 22 reps on the bench press and showcased his skills during receiver route-running drills with quarterbacks Kellen Mond (Texas A&M), Jeff George Jr. (Pitt) and D'Angelo Fulford (free agent) throwing him passes.
Smith registered a 4.6 and 4.56 in two attempts at the 40-yard dash. He's hoping to drop his time to a sub-4.5 for his college's pro day, which will be March 22 in Iowa City.
"This is just the beginning. I know I can compete at any level," said Smith, who feels like he has something to prove after a disappointing statistical season at Iowa. Smith led the Hawkeyes in touchdown receptions in 2019 with five. He caught two touchdowns in 2020.
"House of Athlete has done such a phenomenal job in preparing me and a lot of other draft prospects for this stage," Smith continued. "I'm honestly very grateful to have this platform to show that I can jump and run with the best of them. I've been a competitor for a long time."
The Athletic's Iowa beat writer, Scott Dochterman, projects Smith as a sixth-round selection in his draft projection for the Hawkeyes.
Dochterman wrote: "Few players will enter the draft with a more impressive-looking physique and athletic qualities than Smith. He's going to turn heads at pro day he has all the physical qualities of an X-receiver. Last year, the passing game struggled with inexperienced and inaccurate quarterback play, and that filtered to Smith. He is the best downfield blocking receiver in the draft. Smith boasts plenty of upside, but it might take a few years before development takes root."
Clemson running back Travis Etienne, who has been projected by some including The Athletic's Dane Brugler to be drafted by the Dolphins, said he wouldn't mind spending more time in South Florida. (Manny Navarro / The Athletic)
Five minutes with Travis Etienne
One standout athlete who has been working out at the House of Athlete training facility but didn't participate in any of the combine showcase work this week was Clemson running back Travis Etienne.
The ACC's all-time leading rusher (4,952 yards) is the No. 2-rated running back on The Athletic's Dane Brugler's board, behind Alabama's Najee Harris, and could end up being taken in the first round in large part because he has developed into a complete running back, producing 85 catches for 1,020 yards and six touchdowns in his final two collegiate seasons.
But teammate Amari Rodgers remembers when Etienne "couldn't catch at all."
"It's crazy to see the transition from when he first got there to the end," Rodgers said Friday as the two watched from the sideline.
"I just spent a lot of time working after practice with Amari," Etienne said. "He made me realize what I wanted in my future, how to transition. So I just locked in, started catching balls after practice with Amari and just became comfortable with it, knowing I needed to do it if I wanted to make a living.
"Coach trusted me. Trevor (Lawrence) trusted me, started giving it to me more. I came from a Wing-T system. I had probably 15, 16 receptions my entire (high school) career. To go from Wing-T to the spread was a challenge for me. I'm just grateful for the work ethic I had and the guys I had around me."
Etienne said he spent the last two years studying Alvin Kamara and Christian McCaffrey, two of the best catch-producing backs in the league, quite a bit.
"I feel like I could take a lot from their game for where I'm headed," Etienne said. "Unbelievable pass catchers, but also runners between the tackles and outside. They're both three-down back guys, all-around guys on the field each and every play. I definitely want to be like that when I get to the league."
Etienne said the biggest benefit he has had working out at HOA is learning from other running backs who have been in the league. "I've been asking questions, picking their brains," Etienne said.
He said he'll go through the full gauntlet of combine drills next Thursday at Clemson's pro day.
"We're going to have all 32 teams there," Etienne said. "I can showcase my skills there."
As for potential NFL landing spots, Etienne said it wouldn't be bad spending more time in South Florida and, even more specifically, Miami Gardens. Brugler projected Etienne to the Dolphins in his Mock Draft 3.0.
"I love it. There's definitely not a better venue for this," Etienne said. "I'm really not trying to leave Florida, honestly."
(Top photo: Cliff Hawkins / Getty Images)