Always enjoyed talking with Badet. Glad he killed it today:
***
It happens every year at Oklahoma pro day. Although the scouts flock to the headliners, there’s always someone who sneaks up and steals the show on the day itself.
Last year it was linebacker Jordan Evans, who parlayed a great outing in Norman into being drafted in the sixth round by the Cincinnati Bengals.
This time around it was former OU wide receiver Jeff Badet. He called his shot following the NFL Combine and delivered in spades.
No doubt the scouts came to see former quarterback Baker Mayfield and offensive tackle Orlando Brown, but they left knowing who Badet was following his performance.
Badet was timed at 4.27 seconds in the 40-yard dash, faster than any participant at the Combine two weeks ago.
“This is a day I’ve been waiting on for a long time,” Badet said. “I got a chance to sit down and watch the Combine and see the type of numbers the receivers were putting up. I knew I had to come out and try to beat every single last one of them because I felt like I should have had the invite.”
The time is impressive enough, but Badet said it’s not even the best he’s run. He has been timed at 4.25 seconds during his two months of training with Matt Gates and XPE Sports in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but still the 4.27 was enough to turn some heads.
He knew what he could do even if he wasn’t going to let anybody in on it.
“All the teams that I talked to would ask me what am I gonna run in the 40? I used to always beat around the bush,” Badet said. “I always wanted to know what they had me in the 40. I kept hearing 4.5s, 4.4. I think the fastest I heard was 4.47. I was like yea, that sounds about right.”
Badet was a graduate transfer from Kentucky, spending just the 2017 season with the Sooners. Known for his speed, Badet had to battle some nagging injuries during the second half of the season and didn’t always get to showcase his skills.
He finished with 26 catches for 400 yards and three touchdowns. His goal in transferring to OU was to help his draft stock. In that regard, no complaints. Mission accomplished.
“To be completely honest with you, if guys are gonna base it off numbers, I’ll give you that,” Badet said. “If they’re going to base it off film, I have that also so I feel like, yea, I did what I had to do in order to possibly get my name called.”
Badet said he’s starting to line up interviews with teams that most likely didn’t know too much about the Florida native entering Wednesday.
To go along with receiving, Badet averaged 20 yards per kick return and was the team’s second-leading returner in 2017.
Badet had the best vertical leap at 39 ½ inches and was tops in the broad jump, but he got the day started with a bang in a peculiar way.
As Badet was being measured, it was announced he had a deformed pinky finger. Badet was adamant to show nope, that’s not the case.
“As you guys can see, I don’t have a deformed pinky,” Badet said. “I don’t know where that came from. It’s just that my pinky shoots out and is longer than my right arm. I don’t have a deformed – I don’t know why he said that. I had so many messages off that. What’s wrong with your pinky? Nothing’s wrong with it.”
Badet wanted the invite to the Combine. It was tough to not be in Indianapolis. But on his one stage to deliver, back in Norman, he did everything he could to put himself in the best spot possible moving forward.
***
It happens every year at Oklahoma pro day. Although the scouts flock to the headliners, there’s always someone who sneaks up and steals the show on the day itself.
Last year it was linebacker Jordan Evans, who parlayed a great outing in Norman into being drafted in the sixth round by the Cincinnati Bengals.
This time around it was former OU wide receiver Jeff Badet. He called his shot following the NFL Combine and delivered in spades.
No doubt the scouts came to see former quarterback Baker Mayfield and offensive tackle Orlando Brown, but they left knowing who Badet was following his performance.
Badet was timed at 4.27 seconds in the 40-yard dash, faster than any participant at the Combine two weeks ago.
“This is a day I’ve been waiting on for a long time,” Badet said. “I got a chance to sit down and watch the Combine and see the type of numbers the receivers were putting up. I knew I had to come out and try to beat every single last one of them because I felt like I should have had the invite.”
The time is impressive enough, but Badet said it’s not even the best he’s run. He has been timed at 4.25 seconds during his two months of training with Matt Gates and XPE Sports in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., but still the 4.27 was enough to turn some heads.
He knew what he could do even if he wasn’t going to let anybody in on it.
“All the teams that I talked to would ask me what am I gonna run in the 40? I used to always beat around the bush,” Badet said. “I always wanted to know what they had me in the 40. I kept hearing 4.5s, 4.4. I think the fastest I heard was 4.47. I was like yea, that sounds about right.”
Badet was a graduate transfer from Kentucky, spending just the 2017 season with the Sooners. Known for his speed, Badet had to battle some nagging injuries during the second half of the season and didn’t always get to showcase his skills.
He finished with 26 catches for 400 yards and three touchdowns. His goal in transferring to OU was to help his draft stock. In that regard, no complaints. Mission accomplished.
“To be completely honest with you, if guys are gonna base it off numbers, I’ll give you that,” Badet said. “If they’re going to base it off film, I have that also so I feel like, yea, I did what I had to do in order to possibly get my name called.”
Badet said he’s starting to line up interviews with teams that most likely didn’t know too much about the Florida native entering Wednesday.
To go along with receiving, Badet averaged 20 yards per kick return and was the team’s second-leading returner in 2017.
Badet had the best vertical leap at 39 ½ inches and was tops in the broad jump, but he got the day started with a bang in a peculiar way.
As Badet was being measured, it was announced he had a deformed pinky finger. Badet was adamant to show nope, that’s not the case.
“As you guys can see, I don’t have a deformed pinky,” Badet said. “I don’t know where that came from. It’s just that my pinky shoots out and is longer than my right arm. I don’t have a deformed – I don’t know why he said that. I had so many messages off that. What’s wrong with your pinky? Nothing’s wrong with it.”
Badet wanted the invite to the Combine. It was tough to not be in Indianapolis. But on his one stage to deliver, back in Norman, he did everything he could to put himself in the best spot possible moving forward.
