Truthfully, Dan Godsil didn't have much left to prove by the time Indiana's April 3 pro day arrived.
The former IU longsnapper performed so well at the annual NFL Scouting Combine last month, he only had to worry about doing as scouts asked when it came to on-field workouts inside Mellencamp Pavilion last week, leaving him feeling confident about his outlook.
“I came in with a goal of certain performance marks and I ended up getting them, so that’s a good feeling," Godsil said.
Godsil had several reasons for that self-assurance, during and after last week's pro day.
The Ottawa, Ohio native had a private workout scheduled with an unnamed NFL club last Thursday and said after Tuesday's pro day that "a lot" of teams have shown interest in him.
He was also the only longsnapper invited to the combine, and stated a strong case for it, too, setting position records for highest vertical jump (34.5 inches) and longest broad jump (118 inches). He pumped out 16 reps of 225 pounds in the bench press as well.
Consequently, Godsil knew exactly what he had to devote the majority of his time to during his training sessions between the combine and pro day.
“I think just getting my head up, moving my feet quicker, that was the biggest focus from the combine just because those guys from the NFL are coming pretty quick," Godsil said.
Besides a record-setting combine performance, Godsil also had the chance to impress NFL scouts in January after securing an invitation to the Reese's Senior Bowl. There, he helped the North squad go 2 for 3 on field goal attempts, knock through all four PATs and average 56 yards per punt in a 34-24 win over the South squad.
Throughout the entire process, the biggest adjustment so far has been learning how to block.
"It’s a little different from me coming from college, I didn’t block in college and now with the NFL, you’ve got to snap and block, so that was a big transition," Godsil said. "It’s just been a lot of work, a lot of repetition, of snapping and working it, going to the Senior Bowl and then the combine, having Pro Day. It’s just the start of it but we’ll see where it goes."
One of only two players in program history to start 50 games, Godsil understands the competitive and narrow outlook of his position group as he prepares for his future.
The NFL's 32 teams carry just one longsnapper on each of their 53-man rosters. It is even rarer for a club to draft one, as only seven have been chosen since 2001 according to DraftSite.com. While a longsnapper has been chosen in each of the last four drafts, the highest one got selected was 166th overall, when the New England Patriots drafted Navy's Joe Cardona in the fifth round in 2015.
The stakes are high, but as he's shown over the last three months, he's confident and ready.
"It’s kind of just the fact no matter where you go you’re going to have to compete and I’m ready for that," Godsil said. "Any team I go to, I’m ready to compete with any guy, so that’s how I feel about that."
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