Wisconsin's Nagy Puts Himself On Packers' Radar

Wisconsin offensive lineman Bill Nagy met the Packers braintrust at the Badgers' pro day workout last month.

University of Wisconsin offensive lineman Bill Nagy might not get the attention of fellow Badgers linemates Gabe Carimi and John Moffitt, but that doesn't make him any less of an NFL prospect.

"I don't feel overshadowed at all," Nagy told Cheesehead TV. "Those guys had great careers here. Those are two of my best friends, so I'm not jealous or anything of them. That's cool that they get to do [the NFL Combine] and everything. I'm just really focused on just bettering myself."

Nagy figures to be a late-round draft prospect or an undrafted free agent type. But he feels that after his pro day workout last month, he'll be getting more attention from NFL teams.

With Packers general manager Ted Thompson, head coach Mike McCarthy and assistant director of college scouting Shaun Herock in attendance that day, Nagy took it upon himself to put a face to a name.

"I shook some of their hands, introduced myself to some of them," said Nagy.

Among the more impressive numbers Nagy put up on March 9 was his vertical jump, which reportedly measured in at 30.5 inches.

That height would have put him in the upper echelon of offensive lineman at the NFL Combine and displayed his athleticism to all the scouts and coaches watching, including Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and Chicago Bears assistants Mike Tice and Mike Martz.

"I think I bring athleticism to the offensive line, and I take a lot of pride in the mental aspect as well," said Nagy. "I feel like I'm a pretty smart guy and don't make many mental errors. I feel like those are some of my strengths."

Despite being primarily an interior offensive lineman, there's perhaps no better example of Nagy's athleticism than the two consecutive games he started at tight end in Wisconsin's jumbo package in wins against Minnesota and then no. 1 ranked Ohio State last season.

It was a season in which Nagy started eight games for the Badgers, helped them become co-conference champions, earn a trip to the Rose Bowl and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten by the league coaches.

As a player that's started at both guard and center throughout his college career, Nagy has recently been working on improving his game with former NFL offensive lineman and two-time Pro Bowler LeCharles Bentley.

"I was working out with LeCharles Bentley leading up to [Wisconsin's pro day], doing some offensive line stuff," said Nagy. "I was just talking, watching film with him, just learning all sorts of new stuff. And the cool thing that he said, he said there are guys that have been in the league for 10 years and they're still like, 'Man, I've got to work on this. I've got to work on that.'

"So it's always a process of trying to better your game, try to learn new things, just keep really doing well, sharpening the trade I guess you could say."

The NFL Draft is exactly two weeks from today, beginning on Thursday Apr. 28 and concluding on Saturday Apr. 30.

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