TXST FOOTBALL
Texas State Pro Day gave former Bobcat players a chance to impress NFL scouts in the hopes of improving their draft stock and their chances of signing with one of the 32 teams.
Head Coach G.J. Kinne was proud of how his players competed at Pro Day and thought some of them had really good showings.
“It’s always just fun to see these guys come out here and compete one last time as Bobcats,” Kinne said. “You can tell this is a special group. The guys are rooting for each other, going out there and competing. I thought some of the guys really had good days today, guys like Lincoln Pare and Jaden Rios. Those guys stood out to me. They came out here, trained their butts off in the process, came out here, competed today and had a really good day.”
Former Texas State running back Lincoln Pare had a strong showing at Pro Day as he looked to make an impression.
After competing at Pro Day, Pare felt good about his showing.
“One thing that I really felt about it is I was really prepared,” Pare said. “I stayed in town, and I trained with our head strength coach, Coach [Bret] Huth. I felt very prepared out here and I was ready for all my drills. I felt comfortable, and wasn’t too nervous. I came out here and executed today.”
Pare’s journey to Pro Day was almost derailed after suffering an ACL tear in his second year at Texas State.
But Pare never gave up on his football dream and worked with strength coach Bret Huth to be back healthy. Leading up to Pro Day, Pare trained with Huth in order to properly prepare.
“I’ve been with him the past three or four years, and I just feel at home,” Pare said. “It’s the same thing. It’s like we never stop. I graduated and I’m done playing for Texas State, but it’s like I was still on the team for a little bit being able to work out with him. I just felt at home. I feel very strongly about him, what he does in the weight room, and I feel like that showed today with myself out there.”
Another Bobcat player who had a good showing was defensive back Jaden Rios.
“I feel like I had a great day,” Rios said. “You have certain benchmarks in your head, and you want to hit them, so, I was where I wanted to be. Could have done better in some places, but I’m proud of how I did.”
Rios’ focus was on speed, knowing how critical it was to showing off to the NFL scouts.
“I was really focused on being fast,” Rios said. “That’s a big thing for DB, so I was focusing mostly on being fast. I was training out in Naples, Florida, with the TAP program and Derek Touchette, he’s a great trainer.”
A former teammate that has helped Rios in the lead up to Pro Day is former Bobcat Jordan Polk.
Polk had a similar experience to Rios, first playing at East Texas A&M before transferring to Texas State. Polk signed with the New England Patriots during the offseason last year and made an interception during preseason but was ultimately released.
Rios’ relationship with Polk has helped him during the lead up to Pro Day.
“That’s a really good friend of mine,” Rios said. “He was actually my first roommate the first day I stepped on campus at East Texas A&M. … He had a great time with the Patriots. I feel like he was more than capable of being out there at that level but it’s up to people higher than us.”
For Rios, learning from someone who has gone through the same experience he is going through has been extremely rewarding.
“I always want to pick his brain,” Rios said. “He got to see what I haven’t seen yet, so it’s always good to hear about stuff when you’re not there yet and get an idea of how it’s going to be. Growing up playing football your whole life, you meet people who are already at the highest level, just try to pick their brain and get to learn more about football.”
The NFL Draft is set for April 23.
