Back in August, on a day when reporters were allowed to glimpse a bit of a Nebraska preseason camp practice, a group of NFL evaluators congregated on one end of the Huskers’ outdoor practice fields.
Not surprisingly, the cluster of scouts wanted to see tight ends Austin Allen and Travis Vokolek go through drill work.
The duo lived together, played the same position and both went through the 2021 campaign not fully sure whether it would be either’s final in college.
Turns out it was for Allen, but not for Vokolek, who opted to return for 2022.
That reality hit in a football sense for Vokolek on Monday when NU opened spring ball.
“Out there today, there’s a (practice) period where we go and the tight ends catch balls from the quarterbacks, and it was just me out there,†Vokolek said after that practice. “I was like, ‘Where’s Aus?’ It was kind of different. But I know he’s killing it. He’s been training down in Florida.â€
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Last fall, Allen set several positional records at Nebraska, including 36 catches for 602 yards, and was named the Big Ten's tight end of the year.Â
He'll work out on the field in Indianapolis on Thursday and his friend back in Lincoln will be among those watching.Â
“I just talked to him before this (interview),†Vokolek said. “He was getting on the plane down to Indy. … I’m really excited to see how he does. I know he’s going to kill it.â€
Allen, who measured in at the NFLPA Bowl in Los Angeles in late January at 6-7¾ and 259 pounds, will do athletic testing and go through position drills on the field with his fellow position-mates in the midst of a week full of medical evaluations and interviews with NFL teams.
So, too, will three other former Huskers in center Cam Jurgens (on-field workout Friday), linebacker JoJo Domann (Saturday) and defensive back Cam Taylor-Britt (Sunday).
Those three have all appeared in the neighborhood of the top 100 to 130 or so overall prospects according to various outlets like ESPN, The Athletic and The Draft Scout, and all are surer bets to hear their names called during the NFL Draft in late April than perhaps Allen is.
draft analyst Lance Zierlein has Domann (6-1 and 226) rated the highest of NU’s combine quartet, describing him as having, “a vengeful field demeanor and outstanding play strength.”
Jurgens is the only of the four who didn’t play in a collegiate all-star game — Domann and Taylor-Britt were both at the Senior Bowl — so the combine perhaps is more important for him in terms of the on-field work. He is also expected to be an upper-level athletic tester considering he had a 34-inch vertical leap at 295 pounds last winter in Lincoln.
Nebraska is holding its pro day on March 22, and that will give those four along with other NFL hopefuls like defensive tackle Damion Daniels, wide receiver Samori Toure, and safeties Deontai Williams and Marquel Dismuke another opportunity to work out in front of scouts.