Justin Pugh now wakes up at 7 every morning. He reports to Competitive Edge Sports at 8:30, ready to start his new job.

He gets right to work with resistance training, then lifts for about an hour and a half. After a brief lunch break, he gets back to work with former New Orleans Saints tackle Jon Stinchcomb for his position drills, all with the goal of performing well at the NFL Combine.

“They train you on working on explosion, working on specific drills you’ll be running,” Pugh said, “so I’m training for the combine basically.”

Pugh is one of four former Syracuse players headed to Wednesday’s NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Quarterback Ryan Nassib, wide receiver Alec Lemon and strong safety Shamarko Thomas are set to join the tackle at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Both Nassib and Pugh currently project as fringe first-round picks. In a quarterback class with “a whole lot of holes,” NFL Network’s Mike Mayock ranks Nassib No. 4 among quarterbacks heading into the combine. The NFL Draft analyst also placed Pugh as his No. 5 offensive tackle and a likely late first-rounder.

The major knock on Pugh right now is his wingspan. His arms measured shorter than what’s considered ideal at the Senior Bowl, and many now peg him as a guard. Not Mayock, who said Pugh could go as high as No. 24 to the Indianapolis Colts.

Pugh expects to be one of the most athletic offensive linemen at the combine – he feels good about the 10-yard split in his 40-yard dash – but where his greatest strength lies is in his interviewing. A general manager came to Duluth, Ga., to help Pugh and the rest of the prospects learn how to interview properly.

“He had already told me basically, ‘Hey look, you’re one of the best. I’m going to use you as the example for next year,’” Pugh said. “He didn’t really have to do much.

“I think once teams meet me, see what kind of kid I am, it’s just going to increase my stock even more.”

The interview expectation is also what makes Nassib an intriguing prospect. Nassib is a player whose stock will rise between the combine and the NFL Draft, Mayock said, because of his personality and intelligence.

“Coaches are really going to like Ryan Nassib,” Mayock said. “He’s got good physical attributes, not great, but good physical attributes, plus he’s got all the intangibles: toughness, intelligence and work ethic. He’s going to start to quietly climb boards.”

Nassib and Pugh’s invites weren’t a surprise to anyone. But for Lemon and Thomas, self-proclaimed bubble players, the invite is a massive opportunity.

“I was kind of nervous,” Lemon said. “I always wanted to go to the combine, I just wanted to go out and prove myself.”

What Lemon needs to prove is his speed. Right now, he’s tagged with a tough-to-shake “possession receiver” moniker.

Coming out of high school, Lemon ran just a 4.62 40-yard dash at a Scout.com Combine in Baltimore. To surge up draft boards, that has to improve. That’s what he’s been working on at Fischer Sports in Phoenix, where he said he’s run one of the three fastest 40-yard dash times among the prospects training there.

“I feel like I’m capable of doing it with the great training I have,” Lemon said. “I see myself as I’m not a blazing fast guy, but I do have some speed, so I just try to go out there and prove it to everyone how fast I am.”

Thomas called his invite to the combine “a dream come true.” For as long as he can remember, he fantasized about participating in the NFL Combine before getting drafted. For a player surrounded with question marks, whether it is about injuries, size or coverage ability, the combine is even more important.

It’s somewhere he can watch his stock skyrocket. At Syracuse’s Pro Day last year, Thomas clocked 4.26 on the 40-yard dash. A potential workout warrior, Thomas said he’s been running times in the 4.4s and 4.5s during his training, but is ready to surprise people.

“We’re going to show in the combine,” Thomas said. “ … It’s just great to have the opportunity to be at the combine, so if I show out, I hope I go up somebody’s radar.”

Thomas wakes up at 5 a.m. every day, trying to make that happen. Mayock is higher on Thomas than most, projecting the safety as a third- or fourth-round pick.

“Shamarko Thomas is one of the better safeties I’ve seen on tape,” Mayock said. “ … He’s short, but he’s tough as nails. I’d like to see him run well.”

Thomas is working with some of the nation’s top athletes with Pete Bommarito in South Florida, including former South Florida quarterback B.J. Daniels and Michigan wide receiver Devin Street. Even with the stiff competition, Thomas consistently performs at the top of the heap in drills.

The combine is his chance to rise in the draft.

“I work too hard not to be at the top,” Thomas said, “so I stack up at the top of athleticism, everything, in every competition.”

Published on February 19, 2013 at 12:15 am

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2