Pro Day's Top Moneymakers are Rodriguez, Harper, and Holmes
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State hosted representatives of 28 NFL teams in the form of scouts and coaches. The Dallas Cowboys sent their linebackers coach Scott McCurley and he put both Malcolm Rodriguez and Davin Harper through their on the field drills. The former starting Oklahoma State linebackers made money on Thursday at the 2022 Oklahoma State Pro Day. Rodriguez started his strong positive impression for the NFL Draft back in Inadianapolis at the NFL Combine but Harper and cornerback Christian Holmes, another strong Pro Day performer, did their heavy lifting at Pro Day.
Rodriguez, who some of us watching pro day on Thursday that have been around the program decided he is one of the top 10 players here of all-time, started his NFL job interview in Indianapolis at the NFL Combine with a 4.52 in the forty, one of the top five times. He also had a 39-inch vertical jump. He impressed, so much so that Dallas brought McCurley and he finished up talking to Rodriguez after the workout and gave him his number and said any information he needed to just call.
Rodriguez rocked the crowd of scouts and all other viewers in the West End Zone weightroom with 36 reps on the bench press rep test. That would have topped all players at this year’s combine and is tied for the all-time tops in the NFL Combine era for linebackers. Rodriguez also blazed with a 4.15-seconds on the 5-10-5 agility drill.
I asked him how he decided on the two prong approach to giving the NFL scouts and evaluators what they wanted. The strategy worked fantastic.
“The whole EXOS players they don’t do the bench and the running (40, agility, and L drills) on the same day,” answered Rodriguez, who trained at EXOS in Arizona along with Harper. “It is one of those things where they don’t want to shock your nervous system, so just run (Combine) and do your bench on pro day. It is one of those things where I listened to the coaches out there. It paid off in the long run.”
Rodriguez, who walked across the street from the weight room to the Sherman Smith Center with his mother and family now waits on the NFL Draft coming up April 28-30. He’ll be in Wagoner, Okla. for the draft and I now think he can expect to hear his name called on Friday night (second and third round).
“I’m happy to get the process over with and I can’t thank my family enough,” Rodriguez said. “They have been in my corner and everybody at OSU, coaches, strength staff, and media. I thank you guys for covering me. Yes, from now on it is football and that is what I do best.”
Yes, he does with 409 career total tackles, 255 unassisted, 35-tackles-for-loss, 7.5 sacks, two interceptions, eight fumbles forced, four fumbles recovered, and two defensive touchdowns. I would nominate him for that Ring of Honor someday.
| Name | 40-Yard-Dash | Vertical | Broad | 5-10-5 Agility | Bench Press Reps |
| Combine Best-LB | 4.42 (Trey Anderson-Mont.St.) | 40.5” (Channing Tindall-UGA) | 11’-1” (Jeremiah Moon-UF) | 4.25 (Terrell Bernard-Bay) | 27 (Chad Muma-Wyo) |
| Malcolm Rodriguez | 4.52 | 39” | 10’-0” | 4.15 | 36 |
| Devin Harper | 4.50 | 40.5” | 9’-11” | 4.13 | 21 |
Meanwhile, Devin Harper, who worked out in Arizona with Rodriguez churned after no combine invite. He channeled some anger into his workouts and came back to Stillwater with a chip on his shoulder, maybe a boulder.
“One hundred percent, when I didn’t get the invite it kind of hurt, but it added fuel to the fire and at the end of the day I had to get out there and show what I had and what I could do,” Harper said. “This pro day was my chance and that is what I did.”
The numbers that boulder produced were awesome with a 4.5 in the forty, a 40.5-inch vertical jump, and the 4.13-second 5-10-5 drill. That got everybody’s attention and those numbers would have made him along with Rodriguez one of the best in Indy.
Just a few days ago, Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy told the media that his staff made a mistake not playing Harper more. I remember when Harper filled in for an injured Amen Ogbongbemiga and with just three starts earned Big 12 All-Midseason honors from Pro Football Focus and their analytics people. Gundy is right, Harper should have played more.
“It may mean a lot and I can’t get it back,” Harper said acting as if he had heard about that comment from his former head coach. “Like at the end of the day I had to make the best of my opportunity and that is what I did. I stayed here and this year did what I wanted to do the whole time. It was just a matter of time.”
Finally, cornerback Christian Holmes gave some validity to his Cowboy career, The Big 12 coaches and the media voted him second-team All-Big 12 after this season and that was no joke. Holmes did it on the field.
| Name | 40-Yard-Dash | Vertical | Broad | 5-10-5 Agility | Bench Press Reps |
| Combine Best-CB | 4.23 (Kalon Barnes-Bay) | 42” (Tariq Woolen-UTSA) | 11’-1” (Zyon McCollum-SHSU) | 3.94 (Zyon McCollum-SHSU) | 18 (Jaylon Watson-Wash.St) |
| Christian Holmes | 4.48 | 39” | 10’-6” | 4.18 | 16 |
“I did, like Devin,” Holmes answered. “Devin called me the day we didn’t get it (NFL Combine invite) and he said we had another opportunity today to put up some numbers out there and he gave me some uplift,” Holmes said. “Today I wanted to show the numbers you see with the guys at my position that I am easily in the top 10 at my position. Like you said, I had the chip on my shoulder and I wanted to prove to everybody what I could do.”
Holmes is a ferocious tackler and a good pass defender. He would be a strong corner prospect for an NFL team in the AFC South, AFC North, NFC East, and NFC West where they still run the ball a good percentage of the time. The former Missouri player (three seasons) will tell you his Oklahoma State experience delivered for him.
“Man, I was literally having that conversation last week,” Holmes chuckled. “My Missouri guys know that I love them to death, but Oklahoma State has done for me what I left Missouri to accomplish. I came to win championships and get rings. I’ve got two. Oklahoma State did it for me and I did it for them. I can’t wait for the (Fiesta Bowl) banner to drop. I know they will get many more wins and win that Big 12 this year.”
Yes, and Christian Holmes banked some money in his final work out on the Oklahoma State campus. Holmes, Harper, and Rodriguez earned a big chunk of money on Thursday that will end up in the bank sometime after the NFL Draft.