“We all know our senior class is one of the winningest senior classes in Michigan State history so I think as a team coach (Dantonio) has built a great program here,” linebacker Mylan Hicks said. “Overall I think we did pretty good (at pro day).”

There were three NFL head coaches in attendance, including Minnesota Vikings’s Mike Zimmer, who appeared to be watching running backs closely, Philadelphia Eagles’s Chip Kelly, a coach from which anything can be expected, and Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Tomlin has been a familiar face at the MSU pro day. The Steelers have only drafted former MSU running back Le’Veon Bell in Tomlin’s time with the organization, but nonetheless Tomlin seemed to be impressed with the prospects.

“(This many coaches) speaks volumes about where we’ve come as a football program," Dantonio said.

Former MSU cornerback Darqueze Dennard was in attendance to cheer on his former teammates and Dennard couldn’t speak more highly of cornerback Trae Waynes.

Waynes is a projected first-round pick who decided to leave school early.

Dennard was impressed with Waynes and said he thinks the cornerback should go in the top 10.

“I told him from the get-go that he should (get drafted higher than me),” he said. “He pretty much looked up to me when I was coming up and I told him, ‘man you can be better than me, you have all the tools that I don’t have.’”

One of the standouts during Wednesday’s pro day was defensive end Marcus Rush. Rush has not had a lot of hype surrounding his name as he is a bit small for a prototypical defensive end, but he has the versatility to also play as a 3-4 outside linebacker.

Rush, who wasn’t even invited to the NFL combine, had a phenomenal pro day—his 6.73 three-cone drill time would have been No. 1 among defensive lineman at the combine. He also ran a 4.68 40-yard dash that would have been No. 3.

Rush also ran an 11.49 60-yard shuttle that would have been No. 2, a 20-yard shuttle that would’ve been No. 4 and a broad jump and vertical jump that both would’ve been tied for No.8 among defensive lineman at the combine.

'‘Marcus Rush looked very fluid out there as a guy that could possibly play linebacker,” Dantonio said.

Rush certainly proved he should have been invited to the combine. Another player who may have brought a little attention to his name was Hicks. Hicks posted the fastest time among Spartans who participated in the 40-yard dash at the pro day with a 4.47.

“I think (I) was one of those guys under the radar so I think my performance out here definitely helped to turn some eyes and get some attention," Hicks said.

Running backs Jeremy Langford and Nick Hill both had solid showings at the pro day. Their presence in the backfield will be missed even more with sophomore running back Delton Williams being suspended indefinitely. Dantonio will let spring practice clear up the running back situation.

“You’re always going to be disappointed when (your players) have problems, but that is part of what we do here too, we have to manage issues,” Dantonio said. “We’re going to find out (who our starting running back will be) this Spring.”

The draftee hopefuls have a little over a month to make impressions and meet with teams before the NFL draft. The draft will be from April 30. to May 2.