The Stanford Cardinal hosted their annual NFL Pro Day, which featured the likes of Owen Marecic and Richard Sherman putting on a display for NFL scouts from across the country. As would be expected, the 49ers had a large contingent of folks on hand. Santa Clara is just down the road from Palo Alto and given the lockout the coaches have a little bit of non-practice time to spend scouting future players. According to Matt Barrows, DC Vic Fangio, OC Greg Roman, OL Coach Tim Drevno, and RB coach Tom Rathman were all in attendance today.
The players performing for Stanford today included Marecic, Sherman, Ryan Whalen and Thomas Keiser among others. Defensive tackle Sione Fua only did the broad jump and vertical jump. According to Barrows Fua has a private workout with the Jets coming up. Marecic did some drills with Tom Rathman and spoke with the 49ers running backs coach for a half hour. There have been some questions raised about his desire to play football long term or follow a similar path of Robert Smith who left the NFL early to pursue further education. That will be important for NFL teams to figure out between now and the NFL Draft.
On a separate note, Barrows indicated that Andrew Luck was in attendance for the Pro Day. He did not take part, but rather was there to support his fellow Cardinal. He indicated no reluctance about his decision to return for one more year. The upside for SB Nation Bay Area is a full year of Andrew Luck-mania down on The Farm. As a likely Heisman favorite in 2011, the spotlight will be squarely on Luck.