BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Real men wear leopard tights.
They just sometimes hide them.
For this we turn to Dan Feeney, a mountain of a man at 6-foot-4 and 305 pounds, who unleashed his NFL potential during seven offensive line drills as part of Indiana’s Pro Day.
Underneath Feeney’s dark shorts were the tights that might have gotten him banned from a national airline because, well, in some circles, fashion trumps substance.
For the record, Hoosier teammates Mitchell Paige, Devine Redding and Marcus Oliver also went leopard while showing their potential in front of scouts from all 32 NFL teams
Here in the Mellencamp Pavilion, the only thing that really mattered was whether you had the ability to help an NFL team.
Feeney, a two-way lineman at Sandburg and a two-time All-American for the Hoosiers, qualifies in a big way. He can play every offensive line position. As his drill work showed, he has power, short-space explosiveness and strong technique.
What will that mean for Thursday’s draft?
Stay tuned.
NFL.com draft analyst Mike Mayock rates Feeney as the No 3 interior offensive line prospect behind Western Kentucky’s Forrest Lamp and Alabama’s Cam Robinson. IU coach Tom Allen said feedback has Feeney going as high as the late first round or early second round, but nothing is sure until the picks are made.
“It’s hard to say,” Feeney said. “It’s such a weird process. There are so many variables. It’s tough right now, Teams could like you, but they need corners. It’s all up in the air. It’s all about what the teams need.”
Added Allen: “We’ve gotten a tremendous amount of feedback from scouts regarding Dan, his versatility and his ability to play all the positions up front. The character and leadership, even in the combine, he showed all those qualities.
“It didn’t surprise us because that’s the kind of young man we see here every day. He’s a special young man projected to play for a long time.”
Feeney skipped on doing the bench press, vertical jump, broad jump and agility drills because he’d done them during February’s NFL combine in Indianapolis. He led all lineman there with a time of 7.52 seconds in the three-cone drill. He ran a 5.24 40-yard dash, bench pressed 225 pounds 26 times, had a broad jump of 8 feet, 5 inches and ran a 4.68-second 20-yard shuttle.
“I got feedback from a lot of guys,” Feeney said. “Everything I did in the combine was pretty solid. I could have gotten a little better, but it wouldn’t have made a huge difference, so I went with just doing the position drills.”
Feeney and running back Redding were the only Hoosiers to participate in the combine.
“It was awesome,” Feeney said. “It was cool to see the top dogs in college. It was a great experience.”
Does Feeney consider himself one of the top dogs?
“I wish,” he said. “I guess so. It was so cool going there with the biggest names in college football. It’s insane.”
Last season Feeney started five games at right tackle and four at right guard as IU juggled its lineup because of injuries. He projects as a right guard in the NFL.
He missed 18 quarters because of a concussion.
As far as what preparing for the draft is like, Feeney said, “It’s a lot of sitting and waiting. Doing what you can. Controlling what you can control. That’s the biggest thing. I can’t determine what teams think of me, but I can do the best I can. That’s all I can control.”
After the season, Feeney spent some time working out in Florida before returning to IU to train with the strength coaches. He’s also spoken to several former Hoosiers now in the NFL, including Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Jason Spriggs.
“They said it’s going to be long and tough, but fun,” Feeney said. “You’ll see the best of the best. It’s going to be competitive. That’s the best part of football, that competitive atmosphere.”