Yesterday at the Pitt Pro Day, former Panther ILB John Petrishen was allowed to workout for 31 NFL teams and 4 teams from Canada.
Petrishen was originally a safety at Penn State before a string of injuries hampered his career. In 2021 he went to Pitt and had a productive season, but no interest from any NFL team to be given a roster spot.
Well, the Giants kept in touch with Petrishen, and suggested he work out yesterday for them to observe. His numbers:
6' 3/4"
231 pounds
4.59 40
6.91 3 cone
Since Petrishen is finished with college, he is currently a free agent and could be signed by any team immediately.
And can you imagine that Pitt running back Israel Abanikanda was NOT invited to the Combine ?? And remember, he led all of college football last year with 20 rushing touchdowns.
Here was his Pro Day:
5' 10"
217 pounds
4.34 40
10' 8" broad jump
41 inch vertical
He was the New York Gatorade Player of the Year in high school. He is from Brooklyn, so the Giants get a day with him at the Local Pro Day in April.
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These are always fun
Maybe he can find a niche on special teams somewhere. He returned a bunch of punts for TDs in high school. A 231 pound punt returner would be fun to watch. In interviews, Petrishen mentioned the XFL and CFL as options that he had ruled out last year but would consider now. He seems like a natural for the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL, although he'd be joining late: Local product, high school star, hard-luck story at Penn State, reborn at Pitt, etc.
There doesn't seem to be much of a draftnik consensus about how to stack the next tier of running backs after Robinson and Gibbs. Abanikanda is in there someplace. Whether he'll be the fifth RB off the board or the tenth (or fifteenth) is anyone's guess. That pro day performance should nudge him toward the upper end of that cluster. Still, with so much talent available, some teams may figure they can hit other positions with premium picks and let a running back fall to them. That could work to the Giants' advantage: they need to plan for life after Barkley, but spending a Day 2 pick seems extravagant in their current circumstances.
Just like to hear that the Giants search for talent is far reaching. Remember the year the signed a shot putter who had just missed qualifying for the Olympics, and gave him a shot at Guard?
There are some "Victor Cruz" stories each year, and great to see the Giants broad search for NFL talent.
The Giants checked out Ball State CB Nic Jones this week.
Ball State really doesn't have draftable players this year, but the Giants traveled and attended the Pro Day to see Jones perform and the feedback seems to be he looked solid and could get drafted late. And the Giants have three picks in the 7th.
That guy actually started for us. Sweet Jeezus.
And Jon Dorenbos actually made himself an NFL career as a long snapper with several different teams and I believe he actually made a Pro Bowl.