{"id":35978,"date":"2016-03-09T08:18:34","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T14:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=35978"},"modified":"2016-03-09T08:18:34","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T14:18:34","slug":"danny-vitale-shows-nfl-scouts-tight-end-potential-at-northwestern-pro-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/danny-vitale-shows-nfl-scouts-tight-end-potential-at-northwestern-pro-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Danny Vitale shows NFL scouts tight end potential at Northwestern pro day"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tolly Taylor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Danny Vitale<\/a> shot out of his break, spinning his head around to track the football. He tapped his toes just before the sideline and lunged his arms out, reaching for another fingertip grab. Too far.<\/p>\n

That one got away from him.<\/p>\n

He shook his head as he got back in line with the other two prospects. Shrugged it off. Then he grinned. It wouldn\u2019t affect the rest of his routes that day. As he repeatedly plucked balls out of the air, Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end coach Jon Embree praised his crisp route running. Vitale seemed to know how Northwestern\u2019s pro day would go before he even stepped out on the Nicolet Football Center field.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just excited to get out there,\u201d he said just two hours before the workout began. \u201cIt\u2019s finally here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are the three main takeaways from Vitale\u2019s pro day on Tuesday:<\/p>\n

Pat Fitzgerald on Vitale<\/h2>\n

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald pointed out that Vitale\u2019s blocking ability is probably his most underrated skill, but he recognized the \u201csuperback\u201d could do much more than just stuff would-be tacklers.<\/p>\n

\"Vitale-2\"
Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald talks to media about Vitale (Tolly Taylor\/MEDILL).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019d be great [as a tight end],\u201d Fitzgerald said. \u201cYou look at him, he\u2019s 6-foot-1, 240 pounds, he can run, he\u2019s physical, he\u2019s got a great demeanor, high football IQ. We\u2019ve moved him around. If you\u2019re an organization, you\u2019re trying to minimize risk, and I think he\u2019s about as low of a risk of a prospect that you\u2019re going to find.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fittingly, the Buccaneers tight end coach worked out Vitale, talking through drills in less than a minute and then expecting Vitale and the two other prospects to run them.<\/p>\n

Route running<\/h2>\n

Whatever Vitale is doing at TCBOOST in Northbrook, it seems to be working. Vitale didn\u2019t repeat any of the NFL Combine<\/a> drills, despite admitting that he wanted another shot at the three-cone drill. But the former \u201csuperback\u201d looked to be the quickest, cleanest route runner of the two tight ends he competed against. And he knew it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I did well,\u201d Vitale said. \u201cI caught everything, except for maybe one that I should have caught. But I felt good. It\u2019s definitely stuff that none of us have ever done before, so you just have to try to find your comfortable spot and just work from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

.@medillreports<\/a> Danny Vitale catching everything at Northwestern’s pro day pic.twitter.com\/4DgOhG7RRc<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tolly Taylor (@TollyTaylor) March 9, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even if some teams don\u2019t see him as a tight end, Vitale is confident NFL scouts now know what makes him special at fullback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I showed that I can do some things that a lot of fullbacks can\u2019t do, especially running routes\u201d Vitale said. \u201cFelt like I was running pretty smooth, felt pretty fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to NFL team workouts<\/h2>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be done with school here in about a week, so I\u2019ll be graduated early,\u201d Vitale said. \u201cI\u2019m just going to shift my focus now to more football relative stuff, rather than the combine testing stuff. So route running again, working on my feet, getting down hill, stuff like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He better hurry. He\u2019ll have less than a week before his first private NFL team workout, a Monday 10:30 a.m. session with the Buccaneers running backs coach Tim Spencer in Evanston.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure how long it is or what to expect,\u201d Vitale said.<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Northwestern’s Danny Vitale warms up before his pro day (Tolly Taylor\/MEDILL).<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tolly Taylor Danny Vitale shot out of his break, spinning his head around to track the football. He tapped his toes just before the sideline and lunged his arms out, reaching for another fingertip grab. Too far. That one got away from him. He shook his head as he got back in line with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":236,"featured_media":35987,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,585],"tags":[1902,1112,2153,1113,1966,1967,435,2156,2154,192,2155,2152],"class_list":["post-35978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2016","tag-danny-vitale","tag-football","tag-fullback","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-combine","tag-nfl-draft","tag-northwestern-university","tag-pat-fitzgerald","tag-pro-day","tag-promo","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-tight-end"],"yoast_head":"\nDanny Vitale shows NFL scouts tight end potential at Northwestern pro day - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/danny-vitale-shows-nfl-scouts-tight-end-potential-at-northwestern-pro-day\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Danny Vitale shows NFL scouts tight end potential at Northwestern pro day - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Tolly Taylor Danny Vitale shot out of his break, spinning his head around to track the football. 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