Syracuse’s NFL prospects discuss offseason, professional outlook at Pro Day
Nineteen Syracuse football players participated in Pro Day in front of NFL Scouts on Monday, testing their vertical and 40-yard dash times. Lars Jendruschewitz | Senior Staff Photographer
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
Nineteen Syracuse football players participated in the program’s Pro Day in front of NFL scouts at Ensley Athletic Center Monday.
The day’s activities began with players running the 40-yard dash, short shuttle and three-cone drill before transitioning to positional drills to close the open media portion. Georgetown transfer quarterback Danny Lauter threw passes in the latter portion of the workouts, the first look at him after transferring to the Orange.
Here’s what some participating athletes said about their Pro Day performance, offseason work and NFL outlook:
Jack Stonehouse
Jack Stonehouse was SU’s only player invited to the NFL Combine, and he also participated in the East-West Shrine Bowl in January. His punting workout wasn’t visible to the media Monday. He said it’s been valuable to hear how NFL teams train punters as he prepares to make the jump to the highest level.
“So a lot of people doing the same thing that you’re doing, you just have to go out there and try to do it one one step better,” Stonehouse said of his experience at the combine and the East-West Bowl.
Stonehouse’s family experience in the NFL has helped him navigate the pre-draft process, he said. His father, John, punted at USC and for the New York Giants. His uncle, Paul, played at Stanford. His cousin, Ryan, punted in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans. He’s taken “bits and pieces” from all of them on what’s worked and what hasn’t for them.
“I get to understand how the coaches operate and how contracts work,” Stonehouse said. “So it’s just cool to see and have kind of like that insider knowledge.”
During the offseason, Stonehouse partially worked out in Syracuse with former Orange punter and NFL veteran Riley Dixon, he said. Stonehouse focused on improving his B-ball, so though it may not be the best ball he hits, it still travels 40-45 yards, and the direction is sound.
“(Dixon) knows that he’s not going out there and banging 100 balls,” Stonehouse said. “He’s going out there, he’s taking his 30-40, balls, and he’s really honing it in and saying, ‘OK, this is what I need to get better at. This is what I need to do.’ And that’s what I need to get better at, just going out there, taking every rep and just saying, ‘OK, this is exactly how I need to do it.’”
Stonehouse’s sales pitch to NFL teams is that his average distance has increased each college season, and he’ll continue to improve in the league.
“I haven’t hit my ceiling yet,” he said. “I’m still going up … obviously, there’s so much more that I need to learn, but I think just pitching like, ‘Hey, I’m not at my top yet. I still got more to give you.’”
Duce Chestnut
Duce Chestnut said his dream since he was 4 or 5 years old was to compete in the NFL. He came one step closer Monday. The pressure of performing in front of many NFL scouts didn’t faze him.
“It’s kind of just been the same as every offseason, just going to a spot where you’re just working out hard, keeping your head down, working out over two months for one day,” Chestnut said. “So it’s what we’ve been doing my whole life and just getting ready in the offseason, preparing.”
Along with many SU players and coaches, former Syracuse safety and current Dallas Cowboys player Alijah “Cinco” Clark was at Pro Day to support Chestnut, the defensive back. Chestnut called Clark his “brother from another mother.”
Chestnut said he can “do everything” at the NFL level, whether that’s in the secondary or a run fitter near the line of scrimmage, he added. Chestnut said some teams he’s spoken to have liked him at safety, while others prefer him at nickel back. Playing cornerback has also come up.
“I’m just gonna be a guy that brings energy, whether that’s just being a guy that’s supporting or a guy that’s actually making a play,” Chestnut said.
Devin Grant
Devin Grant said his four years in college went by like the snap of a finger. He snapped his finger to drive home the point. He’d watched the previous two Pro Days and said it was a “blessing” to showcase his skills for NFL scouts and coaches.
Grant spent the last two months in Austin, Texas, in warmer weather, he admitted, working out with former Syracuse wide receiver Trebor Peña, who played for Penn State in 2025.
“Whatever team takes a chance on me, I’m going to work hard, I’m gonna put my head down and grind,” Grant said. “I’m a tall DB with great ball skills and have good twitch, little fast, so you’re getting a dog. I just want to let all 32 teams know that.”
Grant said he’ll play wherever a coach puts him and noted he’s versatile. He even said he’d play long snapper before admitting he was being facetious.
Grant’s uncle, Dean Marlowe, played in the NFL from 2015-23. Grant said Marlowe’s been one of his mentors, and the SU prospect has sent videos to Marlowe and been in touch with former Syracuse players Justin Barron and Clark.
“Go out there and ball,” Grant said of the motivation he’s received. “I’ve been doing this since I was born. So to be honest, just go down there and just grind. Grind, grind, grind. And that’s what I’ve done.”
Dion “Tank” Wilson Jr.
Dion Wilson returned to his hometown of Perris, California, during the offseason and said the pre-draft process has been “eye-opening.” The defensive lineman was satisfied with how we performed at Pro Day Monday.
“I feel like I did amazing,” he said. “All 32 teams, they gave me some great looks. So I was just excited today. I kept my energy up, and just no nervousness was in my body. I was ready to attack today full-fledged. I’m in shape. I’m healthy, fast. So, hey, I couldn’t be more excited about today.”
Wilson said his work ethic and energy will translate best to the league. He said he’s willing to learn and improve.
“You could tell me to go run through a wall,” Wilson said.
Wilson also reflected on his football career up to this point. He said he didn’t start playing the sport until his junior year of high school. Then, he spent six seasons playing college football, spending the last two at Syracuse.
“When I got here, I worked so hard, I just put my head down,” Wilson said. “(I) looked up, and there’s so many parts of my game that I worked on noticing that I got way better at.”
Justus Ross-Simmons
Justus Ross-Simmons transformed his body over the last few months to prepare for the draft, even sporting an eight-pack now, he said.
The wide receiver has been training in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the last few months with fellow college players and a few NFL players, too.
“I know what the potential of the guys in the league have and what I have,” Ross-Simmons said. “I can just see the difference between everything, on the field and off the field.”
Ross-Simmons said he was a little disappointed in his 40-yard time Monday. He slipped on both attempts and said he wasn’t accustomed to the turf. However, he felt his route running made up for it.
The wide receiver said he’s feeling healthier. In the offseason, Ross-Simmons said he was treated for a pelvic tilt that affected him while running in recent seasons.
“Working with my trainers strengthens my core to keep my pelvis to where it is at,” he said. “That helps me a lot, because from having a weak core in the past, it was not doing me no good. So now that I have that adjustment, I feel a lot better, and everything on the football field is way smoother.”
Ross-Simmons also had to recover from a high-ankle sprain he suffered during the 2025 season, which limited him to just seven of SU’s 12 games. He’s nearing 100%, he said.
Ross-Simmons believes his ability to catch 50-50 balls in the red zone will set him apart in the NFL. He believes his basketball background and boxing ability to box out the defender make him hard to contain.
“I believe that in the red zone, there is no receiver that can go up and get the ball like me with the 50-50 balls,” he said. “A guy might have a higher vert(ical) than me, but it’s really not about how high you jump with the 50-50 balls. It’s about the ball time, and when you jump, how you jump.”
