Former Army Black Knights’ punter Alex Tardieu’s agent Scott Bergman was more than happy with this client’s Friday afternoon pro-day performance that took place at Jacksonville University in front of at least nine NFL teams including the Eagles, Giants, Colts and Jaguars.
“Next step ... get him a NFL local pro-day with Giants, Jets or Eagles,” said Bergman, who still appeared annoyed with personnel at Towson University, who initially cleared Tardieu to participate in their pro-day last week, but did a 180 degree turn at the last minute. “What happened at Towson was not cool, but we rebounded.”
As such, GoBlackKnights.com caught up with the punter, who was in temporary status mode at Jacksonville Airport, preparing to head back to the United States Military Academy at West Point [New York] as he reenacting Friday’s event.
PRE-WORKOUT TESTING
Prior to working out for the scouts, Tardieu indicated that he joined the other players who were on hand, as they went through various tests for speed, strength and jumping abilities.
“I got there about 8am and I caught up with Coach [Ian] Shields and Trent Steelman,” said Tardieu, who for two years played under then Army offensive coordinator Ian Shields, along with having quarterback Trent Steelman as a teammate.
The day kicked off at 9am, where the players who were participating were measured in (e.g., height, weight, wing span, etc.). This was followed by several standard pro drills and testing ranging from broad jump, vertical, bench press, pro agility and L-drill cones, along with the 40 yard dash.
“After the drills, it got into position drills,” shared Tardieu. “So, they had the offensive players, like the receiver which were a lot and running backs catching balls, running routes and stuff like that. “The same with cornerbacks, where they were doing drills like back pedaling.”
“I was the only specialist there, so that saved me for last {laughing},” added Tardieu. “During the down time, I just tried to keep the leg ready, because it was a long and hot day. I was also talking to the scout during that time to see what they were interested in and getting a view of what they are looking for.”
PRO-DAY TESTING PERIOD
When his time was called, Tardieu shared with GBK what that moment was like for him.
“The scout from the [New York] Giants gave me a run through of what we were going to do, so I was kind of like ready and knew what was coming.,” the former Army Black Knight punter.
“So, I was standing on the far side 40-yard line in the middle of the field and I’m just kicking as far as I can and as high as I can ... just big punts down the middle,” he explained. “So, we did like five of those and then we went to directional kicks [punts] and looking at hang time. So, I’m in the same spot and we’re dropping punts in the 10-yard line on the numbers ... on the right and then we flipped it to the left. I had about three punts for each of those.”
When asked how he felt he performed at that point, the 6-foot-4, 215 pounder provided his own assessment. “I think I did pretty well,” he said. “I had some big punts to start with and I did pretty well with the directional and the hang times.”
“Then we finished with trying some of the Australian kind of punts ... end over end and trying to stick it inside the 10-yard line. Again, same spot staying on the forty and trying to pin it inside the ten.”
If you take a look at Tardieu’s stats from his 2015 senior season with Army, one of this strengths was his ability to effectively place his punts ... where last season he registered 20 inside the 20 yard line. “That’s really my bread and butter,” confirmed the punter.
“I did well with those and I was glad with my performance. Obviously there were a couple of punts that could have been better but, I felt pretty good about the overall performance.”
“I then talked to the Giants’ scout and he asking a lot questions about other tangibles like holding, fake punts ... any of that kind of stuff that I might have done in the past,” explained Tardieu. “Luckily I was able to answer yes to all those because last year I was the holder for Daniel Grochowski [Army’s kicker] and we also ran some fake punts. I’ve had the opportunity to pass, run and all that stuff. I have a pretty good repertoire for that.”
Tardieu said that he is hoping to secure an invite to an NFL camp and also indicated that the Giants were the team to ask him the most questions throughout the day, as well as receiving quality feedback their representative.
Now that we have the pro-day and his performance is now on record, the idea is to make his way to a specific team and perform for them.
“In my chain of command, all of the officers above me that help me to get through West Point ... they all have my back and they’ve been very supportive and helping me do these pro-days,” acknowledged the product of Grants Pass (OR). “They definitely want to see me go to the next level.”
“As far as I know, it will come down to actually signing a contract and once that happens then all the legal stuff with the Army kicks in, which means the adjustment of the job and stuff like that.”
The 2016 NFL Draft will be held April 28-30.
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