Diary of an NFL Draft Underdog: Justin Perillo's Pro Day
By Jason McIntyre
Part I: Diary of an NFL Draft Underdog: Justin Perillo
Part II: Diary of an NFL Draft Underdog, Part II: The Pro Day Awaits
Justin Perillo’s football future boiled down to March 24, his Pro Day at the University of Maine. You’ll see in the video how he performed in the 40, bench press and everything else.
Among the teams that could make a call to Perillo on Day III, and have shown the most interest throughout the draft process: New England, Houston, Atlanta, Minnesota, Philadelphia and Indianapolis. Players frequently get drafted by teams that have shown little or no interest – heck, the Redskins took tight end Jordan Reed in the 3rd round in 2013 despite not contacting him once. Even he was surprised.
There are a few connections for some teams with Perillo:
* Brian Gaine, the Director of Pro Scouting for the Houston Texans, went to Maine. He played tight end. And long snapped. And he played basketball in high school. The Texans lost their 2nd best tight end, Owen Daniels, to free agency, and behind starter Garrett Graham (49 catches) are Ryan Griffin (19 catches), Zach Potter (signed in February) and Phillip Supernaw (0 catches).
* Frank Giufre, the offensive quality control coach of the Colts, was an assistant at Maine for five seasons, leaving in 2011. The Colts, if you couldn’t tell based on last year’s draft, love tight ends in Pep Hamilton’s offense. They have five on the roster.
* The New England Patriots, who were present at Perillo’s Pro Day, have a scout who played college football at Davidson with Perillo’s brother. And as mentioned in Part II, the Patriots recently had a tight end from Maine, Matthew Mulligan. New England, which for two years employed the Gronkowski/Hernandez TE duo, only has two TEs on the roster right now.
Will any of this matter on Saturday?
[Video credits: Jessica Gagne, Kwanza Gooden, Michael Shamburger and the University of Maine.]