Along with Spring Practice, Pitt held its pro day workout with representatives in attendance from every NFL team. Several players attended and it sounds like a bit of a mixed bag as far as making impressions.
Dion Lewis was the only one to run the 40-yard dash, so it looked like many players were content with their times at the combine or couldn't participate (i.e. Hynoski is still recovering from his hamstring injury at the combine). Lewis actually benefited from the 'do-over' and improved his time. Meanwhile, Dom DeCicco was merely trying to get in front of scouts as he wasn't invited to the combine:
"I think I surprised people, just that I'm more athletic than people give me credit for," DeCicco said. "I had a chip on my shoulder because I wanted to be invited to the (NFL Scouting) Combine. I wanted to show I could compete with the guys that were there."
Greg Romeus was on hand and did some lifting. He also said he didn't have any regrets about staying in school when his stock would have been higher last year:
"That was a risk I had to take, coming back to school," said Romeus, who received a third-round draft grade from the NFL advisory committee after being named 2009 Big East co-defensive player of the year. "It was tough. I'm not going to lie, but when I made up my mind, I told myself, 'no regrets.' That's what motivates me every day."
Romeus had as tough a year as you can have and it's something you wouldn't wish on anyone.
Dion definitely impressed some people (must be an Insider to view), but Jon Baldwin apparently did not:
Wide receiver Jon Baldwin has been called a first-round prospect by some in the media, but that's just crazy talk. He is a big receiver with a tight upper body and almost zero quickness or acceleration off the line or out of breaks. He lacks zero elusiveness running after the catch, too. Although he didn't drop a pass in Tuesday's workout, he still traps way too many balls against his body instead of reaching out and snatching them. Plus, he trashed former coach Dave Wannstedt in the media after he was fired, turning off many NFL people who would have considered him as a backup receiver. Coaches make exceptions for me-first receivers with rare talent--that's not Baldwin.
Even though I've heard of Baldwin likely falling out of the first round, this may be the first report I've seen that says it's 'crazy' to consider him a first-rounder. No, I don't expect him to go that high, but reading that is kind of an eye-opener about just how Baldwin has turned people off. Still, all it takes is one team to fall in love with him and he could still go pretty high.