Ricky Pearsall Let His Combine Numbers Speak for Themselves

Photo Credit Chris Spears

Ricky Pearsall elected to go with his NFL Draft Combine numbers Thursday morning rather than work out for pro scouts. The Combine numbers were excellent, especially that 4.41 in the 40, and he showed both at the Senior Bowl and the Combine that he’s got the hands, the quickness and the precision to run clean routes. His draft stock has risen to the point that he's being projected as high the second or third rounds when the NFL drafts in April.

While he chose not to work out Thursday, Pearsall was willing to talk about his Florida experience and what he sees as the future of the football program moving forward under Billy Napier.

Health of the Florida football program: “I think it’s going in the right direction, for sure. I think Coach Napier does a tremendous job filtering a lot of things that needed to get filtered out, as far as just changing the culture itself. Having the guys trust in him. I think they’re taking off with it.”

What Billy Napier has done for him: “Honestly, ever since the first phone call when he reached out to me, that’s when I just gained respect for him, knowing that he was about business from day one. I like that, too. I’m about business, really, at the end of the day. He’s done a lot for me, man. He’s done a tremendous job, putting me in the right positions, setting me up for success. I can’t thank him enough. As well as treating me like family, man, at the end of the day, every time I walked into this building, I felt like I was around my family. I can’t thank him enough for that.”

Choosing to leave the Pac-12 (Arizona State) for the SEC and Florida: “I think that logo speaks volumes, that SEC logo, man. It spoke volumes to me when I was making my decision, for sure. There was a lot of Pac-12 teams I was talking through throughout that transfer portal process. A lot of SEC teams. Obviously I was favoring the SEC teams to come over here and play against the best competition. Being able to put on tape that I can excel in the Pac-12 as well as in the SEC, I think was really important for myself. I wanted to go against the best competition. Like I said earlier, that’s one of the best things that’s going for me is my competitiveness. Being able to come over here in the SEC and play against the best opponents.”

Florida’s young wide receivers: “I think they're gonna make tremendous strides. I'm excited for them. I was actually at some of the practices. I went to their practice two days ago, I believe, and I was just watching Tre Wilson out there at work. He’s gonna be amazing this year. I'm super excited to watch him work. I've been texting him throughout this time, just giving him feedback. I still got some of the passcodes here so I'm spying a little bit, watching practice, watching one-on-ones, just giving them a little feedback that I can give him and just letting him play his game.”

Freshman wide receiver Tank Hawkins: “He looks really good, too. He came up to me, too. That was actually – I hosted him. He can move. I’ve heard that he’s looking a lot better than people expected, and I heard that their expectations were really high.”

Biggest thing he learned at UF: “How to be a pro, that’s the biggest thing. I feel like I’m a pro even before I became a pro, to be honest. How I handled myself off the field, on the field, throughout my work, really, and being detailed and having a game plan each and every day. I think that’s something Coach Napier really harps on to the guys is creating a plan for yourself each day. You have to know what you’re going to do.”

What he offers to NFL teams: “… just being a consistent guy. I think that's the main thing. I’m a consistent worker, consistent person off the field along with all my explosive things that I got to show at the combine. But that I'm a competitor too, at the end of the day. I feel like a lot of teams want competitors, and that's what football is.”

What he’s hearing about how he raised his draft stock at the Combine: “I’m hearing different things. I just try to leave that up to my agent to decipher. For me, I’m just grinding each and every day and how I can get better today.”

Benefit of playing in the Senior Bowl: “It was very beneficial. I think that’s one of the most beneficial things because you’re actually playing football. You’re going out there with the pads on, throwing the ball around. So I think that’s really important for a lot of teams. While I was there they had a lot of coaches come in there and talk about how important it was.”

Favorite memory of his two years at Florida: “I really liked that Utah game my first year just because it was just all new and that was my first game ever in the Swamp. So it was a great experience for myself and obviously we won that game. It was a big-time game. So I think that's my favorite memory.”

UF SWIMMING: Gators 2nd after day to at NCAA Championships

Despite a 1-2 finish in the 500 free, the Gators fell behind three-time national champ Virginia on day two of the NCAA Championships in Athens, Georgia. Bella Sims and Emma Wyant scored gold and silver for the Gators in the first event final of the evening, but Virginia won the next three swimming events, scoring 40 points to close out the night in the 200 free relay.

Isabel Ivey got a silver medal for finishing second in the 200 IM.

Friday, the Gators should score big in the 400 IM and 200, plus they should challenge Virginia for the gold in the 400 medley relay.

Top ten team scores after two days: 1. Virginia 210.5; 2. FLORIDA 163; 3. Texas 141; 4. Stanford 105; 5. Tennessee 104; 6. Louisville 99; 7. Southern California 94; 8. Indiana 87; 9. Michigan 80.5; 10. Georgia 75