Montana State’s pro day started with a bang, then a roar.
In the second drill of the day inside the Bobcat Athletic Complex on the MSU campus adjacent to Bobcat Stadium, Ty Okada slapped almost the top rung on the vertical leap measuring device.
In the videos that rapidly made the rounds on Twitter, you can audibly hear Okada smack the measurement tower. And as soon as Okada landed, the former Bobcat defensive back flexed while letting out a cry of jubilation, igniting his fellow NFL hopefuls.
Okada’s jump of 40.5 inches in the vertical drew plenty of cheers from the other former Bobcats in attendance performing for scouts from seven NFL teams. That explosive leap started an impressive display as several former MSU standouts helped fortify their NFL hopes.
“You take each drill one at a time and you have to try to ride those emotional highs because as physically grueling as it is, it’s mentally and emotionally grueling, too, so being able to start off on that page, it was incredible and I know it was helping all the rest of the guys competing today,” Okada said in an interview on Nuanez Now on ESPN MT on Wednesday.
Callahan O’Reilly, who pumped out 24 bench press repetitions to get the showcase started, then followed Okada’s huge vertical with a mark of 37.5 inches himself. The bench and the vertical were two of several standout marks for the two-time All-Big Sky selection at inside linebacker.
James Campbell followed that up by also soaring 37.5 inches, a mark that foreshadowed when he really turned heads by running 4.44 seconds in the 40-yard dashing.
All told, Wednesday proved to be a wild success for six Bobcats with NFL aspirations, particularly the aforementioned trio. Okada certainly improved his pro prospects. O’Reilly might have earned himself a shot to get into an NFL training camp. And Campbell proved his now former strength coach right, stoking the flames for his professional hopes in the process.
The trio were each key contributors on a talented and productive Montana State defense over the last few seasons. And each shone brightly in front of seven NFL scouts on Wednesday morning in Bozeman. Cornerback Tyrel Thomas, safety Jeffrey Manning Jr. and wide receiver Willie Patterson also all participated in the display.
“I’m feeling great,” said Okada, who matched Campbell in the 40-yard dash and the broad jump for a pair of the top marks on the day, numbers that would’ve put the Bobcat duo among the leaders at the NFL combine. “I’m so happy about my performance today and to do it with a group of guys — this group and I have been through a lot these last four years, five years, six years, but we’ve done a lot of great things — and to be able to experience today with those guys was something super special.”
The San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Las Vegas Raiders, Miami Dolphins, Jacksonville Jaguars, Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs all had scouts in attendance.
It’s almost certain they left impressed, particularly with Okada, a 5-foot-10 ¾, 193-pounder from the Twin Cities in Minnesota who went from walk-on to superstar during his time in Bozeman.
Okada followed up his huge vertical by running a pair of sub-4.5 second times in the 40, including a best of 4.44 seconds. He then put an exclamation point on the day by soaring 10 feet, nine inches in the broad jump.
To put those numbers in perspective, Okada had a higher vertical and broad jump that the numbers marked by former Bobcat and 2022 second round NFL Draft pick linebacker Troy Andersen. The numbers were also reminiscent of defensive end Daniel Hardy from a year ago.
“For me, today was all about visualization,” Okada said. “The best part about Landow (Sports Performance in Denver where he trained) was they have mental performance coaches and they harped on every single day, I’m talking for three months, I would visualize myself, what is it going to look like when I’m underneath that vertical jump, what it’s going to look like when I’m lined up at the start of my 40 and you have scouts at the end of it with their clocks out.
“Those are nerve-racking things but if you are disciplined and your visualization, you do that every day, it felt like another day of training and that made it that much easier to hit the marks that I did.”
Okada hit 16 reps on the bench press while clocking 3.98 seconds in the short shuttle and 6.85 in the 3-cone drill.
O’Reilly, who checked in at 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, ripped off a 10-foot-3 mark in the broad jump, ran 4.70 seconds in the 40-yard dash and recorded times of 4.41 seconds in the shuttle and 7.08 seconds in the 3-cone. The Bozeman High School alum spent the last three months in Cincinnati training for the pro day.
During the 2023 season, Skyline Sports printed a senior profile on Campbell, a high school quarterback turned college wide receiver turned special teams ace, and, ultimately, a two-year starter at cornerback for the Bobcats. In that profile, Montana State head strength and conditioning coach Campbell “is the fastest guy on the team. He has 4.4 speed and an even faster mouth.”
Wednesday, he proved the speed notion true, running 4.44 and 4.45 seconds in the 40. That plus his 10-foot-9 broad jump, impressive vertical and all-around raw athleticism might elongate his the Florida native’s NFL opportunity.
Patterson, an all-conference selection as a senior after waiting his turn in a talented MSU receiver room that saw Travis Jonsen, Kevin Kassis and Lance McCutcheon all go on to make active NFL rosters, notched a 34-inch vertical and ran 4.65 seconds in the 40 among his standout marks.
Thomas, a starter as a freshman who had an unforgettable pass break up to seal a Cat-Griz win in 2017 as a rookie only to battle injuries the latter half of his career, showed great explosiveness in the jumps. He notched a 36.5 inch vertical and 10-04 in the broad jump. He ran 4.66 in the 40.
Manning, a former transfer from Oregon State who was a two-year starter on the back end of MSU’s defense, ran 4.78 in the 40 and timed 4.48 seconds in the shuttle.
The NFL Draft begins on April 27.
Montana State Pro Day measurables (unofficial)
| Name | Pos | Hand | Wing | Bench | Vert. | Broad | 40-yd | Pro Shuttle | 3-cone |
| Ty Okada | S | 9 1/2 | 73 1/4 | 16 | 40.5 | 10-09 | 4.44 | 3.98 | 6.85 |
| Callahan O’Reilly | LB | 9 1/4 | 75 1/8 | 24 | 37.5 | 10-03 | 4.70 | 4.41 | 7.08 |
| James Campbell | CB | 8 1/3 | 75 7/8 | 14 | 37.5 | 10-09 | 4.44 | 4.19 | 6.81 |
| Willie Patterson | WR/KR | 9 3/8 | 73 1/8 | 15 | 34 | 9-07 | 4.65 | 4.28 | 7.08 |
| Tyrel Thomas | CB | 8 9/10 | 72 3/8 | 10 | 36.5 | 10-04 | 4.66 | 4.65 | 7.25 |
| Jeffrey Manning Jr. | S | 8 7/8 | 75 1/2 | 8 | 29 | 9-03 | 4.78 | 4.48 | 7.20 |
