Jon Cooper, Duke Robinson and Phil Loadholt played next to each other the last two seasons. The offensive linemen were massive parts of Oklahoma’s offensive both figuratively and literally during that period.
But they arrived at OU’s Pro Day Tuesday morning with bodies heading in different directions.
“Everyone is doing their best to be in they best shape they can be in,” Loadholt said. “You have to be.”
For the offensive line trio, the best possible shape meant different things.
Loadholt and Robinson are massive men by any standard. Loadholt measured in a 6-foot-7 and 332 pounds Thursday morning. Robinson was two inches shorter and three pounds lighter.
Still huge, but noticeably slimmer than when they last wore a Sooner uniform Jan. 8.
Loadholt said he dropped 13 pounds since the national championship game. Robinson was in the trimming mode as well. He said he reduced 19 pounds from his frame over the last two months.
“When you’re trying to get to that next level, you have to get done what you need to get done,” he said. “You have to show these scouts what they need to see. You have to prove to them that you’re dedicated enough to handle what they’re going to throw at you.”
They, along with 15 other players, went through the Sooners’ Pro Day in front of representatives from 27 of 32 NFL teams, including Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress.
He spent most of the morning chatting up OU coach Bob Stoops. He also kept his eye on the workouts of the offensive linemen.
Cooper, Loadholt, Robinson and Brandon Walker all went through vertical jump, broad jump, 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash, three-cone drill, and bench press (reps at 225 pounds).
All have spent the last two months trying to shave tenths of a second off those times to increase their draft stock.
In Cooper’s case, it meant putting on weight instead of taking it off.
The center weighed in at 290 pounds Tuesday. He’s one of the few people you’ll every meet that was excited to see the scale keep rising. Weight was an issue for him as he started to preparing himself for the NFL draft.
Cooper entered his senior season weighing around 285 pounds. A little naturally came off when practice began in August. But by OU’s game against Texas A&M; Nov. 8, he was down to 255 pounds.
A bout with strep throat and a stomach parasite caused Cooper to almost wither away. He wasn’t really able to put any weight back on until after the season ended.
“I had a little break and started being able to keep stuff down and really started putting the weight back on,” he said. He was noticeably bigger and stronger Tuesday morning.
Cooper did 32 reps in the bench press.
The linemen won’t find out for sure if the reshaping pays off until the NFL draft in April. Until then, Cooper, Robinson and Loadholt will keep tweaking their bodies. In football, players are always being torn down and built back up.
John Shinn
366-3536
jshinn@normantranscript.com
OU Sports
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