Auburn Pro Day: Blake Countess stands out, Duke Williams back on campus

AUBURN, Ala. — When Blake Countess was a little boy – and before he started dreaming of playing in the NFL some day – his father Wendell kept him dressed up in Dallas Cowboys gear.

Dallas was Wendell’s team, and Blake was coming along for the fan ride whether he liked it or not.

So now it’s time for Blake’s NFL dreams to come true, and come NFL draft day, it might be the Cowboys. It might be 31 other teams, too, and every last one of them is just fine with Countess, the Auburn defensive back who also spend three years at Michigan before transferring to The Plains.

His college career has prepared him well, and even though he’s undersized – he checked in just under 5-foot-10 and right at 184 pounds at Auburn’s Pro Day on Monday – he’s ready for his shot.

A shot. That’s all he asking for.

“I hit all my numbers today (in the workouts), so I’m very happy,” said Countess, who prepared hard for Monday’s event because he didn’t get an invite to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis last week.

“I wanted to run 4.4-something [he ran 4.57 and 4.49, unofficially] and I did and I did 21 reps on the bench, which was my goal. I wanted to be over 20. I paid attention to what they did at the combine and if I had been there, I would have been in the top three in a lot of drills.’’

Countess, who also had an impressive 36.5 inches in the vertical leap, has plenty of film for scouts to look at, too. He played well for three years at Michigan and after the coaching change to Jim Harbaugh, Countess had the chance to move on after graduating.

Coming to Auburn was a great thing.

“He really enjoyed his year here at Auburn,” said his father, Wendell Countess, who watched all of Blake’s drills with his wife, Melody. “He fit right in with his teammates and was accepted right from the beginning. When he was named Auburn’s Defensive Player of the Year at the end of the year, he had tears in his eyes. It meant that much to him. It meant a lot to him that his teammates and coaches thought that much of him.”

Countess started the year at cornerback but switched to safety when the Tigers really needed his help there. Anywhere he was needed – corner, safety, covering slot receivers – he was up for the challenge. Making those sacrifices didn’t go unnoticed.

”Blake is a tremendous kid, a great, great kid,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “I loved having him around this year. Everybody did. He was a great teammate and he gave us all he had every single day. That’s what makes him so special.

“Let me tell you, he’s a football player, and he’s a football player from the word go. What he did for us was amazing. He played great for us at corner and when we needed him to play safety, he was great there too.”

That versatility should pay off at the next level. Defenses need to morph into many things against the NFL’s high-flying attacks. Countess can play anywhere, and teams will like that.

“I think my versatility is going to help me a lot,” Countess said. “I basically played three positions here. Corner, slot, even safety, I’ve done it all and there are people who’ve already told me that they like that about me. I know they love versatility at the next level, so that should be a plus for me.

“Having played in the Big Ten and SEC, that’s helped me a lot. It’s a thinking man’s game and I’ve really seen in a lot in the last four years. I’m really familiar with different formations and difference schemes. I feel like I can line up anywhere.”

Pro Day notebook

Duke Williams back on campus: Former Auburn wide receiver D’haquille (Duke) Williams participated in Auburn’s Pro Day on Monday. The embattled receiver, who was booted off the team in August by Malzahn after multiple violations of team rules, got the chance to show off in front of scouts and coaches. He caught the ball well and ran so-so (4.70 and 4.72 in the 40, unofficially), but skipped the three-cone drill and struggled in the vertical leap. He had to do it four times before he finally jumped right, and did only 30.5 inches.

“It was great to have him back around. He’s my guy,” Auburn running back Peyton Barber said. “He’s handled all this bad stuff great, taking responsibility for what he did wrong and trying to go forward. It says a lot about the type of guy Coach Malzahn is, to let him be here. It was good to see him.”

Malzahn said he decided a few weeks ago to let Williams come back. “I talked to the people I needed to talk to and decided to give him a chance to help his future and I wished him the best,” he said. Williams didn’t talk to the media.

Malzahn likes Coleman’s chances: Big Shon Coleman, a two-year starter at left tackle for Auburn, has a bright future, according to Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. Scouts liked what they saw Monday of the 6-foot-6, 313-pound offensive tackle from Memphis.

“He’s going to be a big-time left tackle for somebody,” Malzahn said. “He really only has two years of SEC experience, but he really improved from the first year to the second. He’s going to keep getting better. He’s going to be a good player.”

Draft night is going to mean a lot to the potential early-round pick. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010 and beat it, becoming a star at Auburn. He’s going to get paid well at the next level.

Lots of NFL eyeballs: A total of 55 personnel folks were present from 31 NFL teams, with only the Arizona Cardinals not sending anyone. New England coach Bill Belichick was in attendance.

Tom Brew

Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist and author who is covering SEC football for Saturday Down South.