Marble Falls’ David Morgan impresses at NFL Combine

JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER

INDIANAPOLIS — Former Marble Falls High School football standout David Morgan made the most of his NFL Combine appearance Feb. 25-27.

The tight end, who played for the University of Texas at San Antonio, scored a 5.17 draft grade, which means he has a “better-than-average chance to make an NFL roster.”

According to reports, he amassed plenty of raves by being the top performer in the bench press, the 3-cone drill, the 20-yard shuttle and the 60-yard shuttle.

He lifted 225 pounds 29 times in the bench press, and he caught each pass thrown to him during the gauntlet drill in which he faced away from the passer and had to quickly make a 180-degree turn twice to catch the ball, then run from one sideline to the other while catching four balls thrown to him one at a time.

Morgan, who was measured at 6 feet 4 inches and 262 pounds with 33 5/8th-inch arms, said he wasn’t surprised by the number of reps on the bench press, adding he counted 31 but was told his form was off. Therefore, judges credited him with 29.

“That’s what I was aiming for,” said the 2011 Marble Falls graduate. “That’s something I practice, especially being one of the bigger guys.”

Because of his height and weight, he had to demonstrate that he’s strong enough to block the edge on running plays and powerful enough to fight through defensive linemen on passing plays.

“Those are things I do well,” he said. “It correlates to my strength. Your blocking starts with your speed.”

He finished the 20-yard shuttle in 4.19 seconds, the three-cone drill in 6.93 seconds, the 40-yard dash in 5.02 seconds, the vertical jump in 30 inches and the broad jump in 9 feet and 7 inches.

But the field performances were only one part of the combine. Before he performed over the weekend, he took part in one formal interview with the Oakland Raiders and several informal interviews with numerous teams.

The informal interviews Feb. 25, were held in a large room where prospects sat with different personnel from organizations for about 10 minutes each. Somebody blew a horn to signal the end of interviews, allowing prospects to leave and be grabbed by another team.

Morgan said he enjoyed both, noting the informal interview was similar to what he experienced during the East-West Shrine Game a few weeks ago.

“It’s more of the upper-level people,” he said. “There’s the head coach and the position coaches. There’s more pressure and talks with people. You let them know who you are. It was cool. It was nice to get to know them.”

Morgan’s formal interview included meeting at least a dozen Raider coaches and administrators. They watched videos of his plays where coaches asked Morgan to talk about the play and explain his footwork, his role in the play and other parts.

“It was a chance to dig in,” Morgan said.

In addition, each organization brought their own medical staffs to examine the prospects. So Morgan had MRIs done on his surgically repaired knee and underwent several medical exams.

“Doctors get in front of everyone,” he said. “They knew my past history, injuries.”

He attended a seminar featuring different members of the NFL Players’ Association during which they gave the prospects a crash course in finances and other aspects of being in the league. And companies that specialize in sports merchandising had booths with plenty to give away to the prospects, Morgan said.

Overall, he said, it was a good experience, especially meeting some of the other prospects.

“It was cool to meet and be around them,” he said. “You hear about stuff. It’s fun to see the best in the country compete and go compete with the opportunity to get better.”

Next up for Morgan is the UTSA Pro Day, scheduled for March 22. He is back in San Antonio continuing to prepare for the NFL Draft, which is April 28-30.

“Thanks to Marble Falls for all the support,” he said.

jfierro@thepicayune.com