McDonalds Stock Soaring

There may not be another player in the entire NFL Draft pool that's seeing his stock rise as quickly as Rice Tight End Vance McDonald.

Already a Top 10 NFL Tight End prospect entering draft preparations, McDonald has parlayed a series of post-season opportunities to push himself into contention for a possible first day draft selection.

In January McDonald turned pro scouts' heads at Senior Bowl practices with an enticing blend of power, speed, and size. Though he didn't have any balls thrown to him in the Senior Bowl game itself, the practices alone bumped him as many as 5-7 spots on some NFL TE draft boards. That was before the NFL Combine. The past couple days at the event have boosted his stock further and only validated those scouts' interest.

McDonald was invited to this week's NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis, reserved for only the top players at each position and wasted no time in asserting himself. In bench press testing, easily doing the most reps of any TE at the Combine and in the process perhaps erasing any remaining doubts NFL personnel directors had about his ability to block from a 3-point stance. Here are the rest of his results...

Vance McDonald 2013 NFL Combine

Height: 6-4 1/4

Weight: 267 pounds

Wingspan: 84"

Hand: 10 1/8"

Bench Press Reps @ 225 pounds: 31 (1st among TE's)

Broad Jump: 9'11" (2nd, TE)

Vertical Jump: 33 1/2" (6th, TE)

40 yard dash: 4.63 seconds (5th, TE)

3-cone drill: 7.08 seconds (3rd, TE)

60 yard shuttle: 11.73 seconds (3rd, TE)

McDonald has spoken to several teams prior to the combine including the Bills, Buccaneers, Colts, and Rams - all at Senior Bowl practices. However Green Bay seems to openly have the most interest in Vance.

Last week legendary Cowboys' scout Gil Brandt posted this on his Twitter account about McDonald last week: "he'll come out of next week's NFL Combine as one of the stars". Looks like he was right!

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