Kansas State football's Deuce Vaughn takes NFL Draft advice from Darren Sproles to heart
MANHATTAN — In deciding to pass up his senior year and enter the 2023 NFL Draft, Deuce Vaughn reached consulted with his Kansas State coaches and family for guidance.
Once that decision was made, Vaughn turned not only to his father Chris, a Dallas Cowboys scout familiar with all the ins and outs of the NFL Draft Combine, but also to former K-State All-American Darren Sproles, another undersized running back who went on to great success as a pro.
No surprisingly, Chris Vaughn and Sproles urged him to "be yourself." It had gotten him this far.
But Sproles, who played 15 years in the NFL as an all-purpose back and return specialist, offered up an even more practical piece of advice, something Vaughn quickly took to heart.
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"Catch punts," Vaughn relayed from Sproles. "It's going to be the easiest and fastest way onto the football field, because there's not a lot of guys who do it. Not a lot of guys are good at it.
"That's one way to put yourself in space and be able to showcase what you can do on offense is to catch punts. That's probably one of the biggest tips of advice for myself, because these past two months, I've been catching punts. I'm sensing that I can, and now I'm starting to get comfortable with it."
Vaughn, who was measured at 5-foot-5, 179 pounds at the NFL Draft scouting combine, already is an accomplished receiver, but he did not return a punt during his college career, and all seven of his kickoff returns came his freshman year.
So in order to prove himself, Sproles braved the gusting wind swirling around Bill Snyder Family Stadium to show the 47 scouts — representing all 32 NFL teams and one from the Canadian Football League — that he was more than capable of catching punts under challenging circumstances.
"Outside, even though we had 30-mile-an-hour winds, be able to track the football, be able to catch it and secure it cleanly," Vaughn said. "It was a little tough to do with the winds, but I feel like I did a pretty good job."
Vaughn also acquitted himself well in other areas, as a pass-catcher and in timed tests, including the 40-yard dash, shuttle run and three-cone drills.
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"I wanted to showcase, of course, my route-running and being able to catch the ball out of the backfield," said Vaughn, who already proved his worth as a receiver during his three years as a Wildcats, catching 116 passes for 1,280 yards and nine touchdowns. "And of course, coming here you're always going to have the narrative of the 40. I felt like everybody feels I'm going to do a good job with the cone drills and stuff like that, but I wanted to come out here and run a good 40 as well, and I feel like I did a pretty good job."
Although he didn't get an official time in the 40, observers had him clocked under 4.5 seconds in his only try. Vaughn had an ear infection and 101.5 temperature earlier in the week and was concerned at one point that he wouldn't be ready to participate in the pro day.
"I only ran one (40) because I didn't want to gas myself, because I knew I had a lot on my plate today," he said.
Vaughn was just one of 13 Wildcat draft hopefuls scheduled to take part in the pro day workouts, though cornerback Julius Brents and wide receiver Malik Knowles didn't work out for the scouts.
Vaughn, defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah, Brents and Knowles all were invited to the NFL Scouting Combine held Feb. 27 to March 6 in Indianapolis as well.
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More than a dozen Wildcats participate
Others on hand at the pro day were wide receiver Kade Warner, quarterback Adrian Martinez, tight end Sammy Wheeler, defensive tackles Eli Huggins and Robert Hentz, defensive backs Ekow Boye-Doe, Josh Hayes and Drake Cheatum, and punter/kicker Ty Zentner.
Warner said the unusually high number further validated a K-State program that went 10-4 last year, won the Big 12 championship and played Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
"There's a lot of great players here," said Warner, who completed his career as a super-senior in 2022 with 46 catches for 456 yards and five touchdowns. "And a lot of the great players weren't highly recruited guys, either. Kansas State's not a team that's going to go out there and get five-stars day after day after day.
"These guys that were under-recruited came here and got developed and now are good enough to go to the league and have a chance to be professional athletes. So I think it speaks volumes for not only this place, but the atmosphere the coaching staff."
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Felix Anudike-Uzomah is Wildcats' top prospect
While Vaughn might be the biggest name among the K-State players in the draft pool, he is not projected as the first Wildcat to hear his name called in the draft.
That honor should go to the 6-foot-4, 255-pound Anudike-Uzomah, who is expected to go somewhere in the first two rounds.
With this year's draft scheduled for April 27-29 at Kansas City's Union Station, an early selection would be a dream scenario for Anudike-Uzomah, the Big 12 defensive player of the year from nearby Lee's Summit.
"If they (invite me to) the green room, I'll be there," Anudike-Uzomah said. "If not, I'll just stay home. It's 10 minutes away."
Vaughn said he'll either watch the draft with family from his home near Austin, Texas, or perhaps join Anudike-Uzomah, his college roommate, in Kansas City.
Arne Green is based in Salina and covers Kansas State University sports for the Gannett network. He can be reached at agreen@gannett.com or on Twitter at @arnegreen.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas State football NFL Pro Day results, including Deuce Vaughn
