Notre Dame Pro Day Could Be Moving Day for Ronnie Stanley, Will Fuller

On Thursday, several members of the Notre Dame football team will take to the practice field in South Bend, Indiana, for the final time. But it's much more than just a goodbye. Notre Dame's pro day is also a hello—an introduction to the next chapter of their football stories.

For star offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley and wide receiver Will Fuller, it's even more—it's a chance to make a move higher into the first round.

A move that could mean starting their NFL careers with a much beefier bank account.

Of course, in Stanley's case at least, beefy isn't an issue. The 6'6", 312-pounder is a near-lock to be selected inside the first half of the first round after a standout career with the Golden Domers, and in comparing Stanley to Lane Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote that Stanley should be able to step in and make an immediate impact at the NFL level:

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Stanley showed great maturity in acknowledging his weaknesses and returning to school to work on them and improve his game. While Stanley’s core power is still a concern, he showed improved strength and run blocking prowess this year and should be ready to come in and start right away for a team looking to protect a high-­end quarterback.

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Stephen White of SB Nation (who played seven seasons as a pass-rusher in the NFL) went Zierlein one better, writing that Stanley is a better pro prospect than Laremy Tunsil of Ole Miss, who is considered the top player at any position in this year's draft by many pundits:

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So if it came down to Stanley or Tunsil first overall, I wouldn't give a damn about 40 times or bench press or any of that. I'd take Stanley seven days a week and twice on Sunday because I'm reasonably sure from watching his film that, barring injury, he is going to be able to lock down edge rushers for the next decade or so.

My team may not ever lead the league in rushing, but my quarterback should at least make it through a whole season without needing a backiotomy from repeatedly getting blasted from his blind side. If I'm pinning my hopes on a guy getting better at something, I will go with Stanley hopefully becoming a better run blocker rather than hoping Tunsil becomes a better pass blocker.

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However, for all the accolades Stanley received at Notre Dame, for all the appeal his size and wingspan oozes, there are also questions. As Zierlein alluded to, Stanley's upper-body strength appears good, but not great. And throughout his time with the Fighting Irish, there were whispers...

Whispers that he was lazy. That he took plays off. Coasted on his physical ability rather than going all-out on every play.

As Justin Rogers of MLive reported, Stanley addressed those concerns while speaking to the media at the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine: "I think there's a big—I don't know—aura of people thinking I'm lackadaisical, I guess. I don't know, but I'm just really trying to show people how much football means to me and how much I do care about it."

The problem is that while Stanley said he came to Indianapolis to dispel the myths about his effort level, his actual performance in workouts was, well...lackadaisical.

Mind you, it wasn't as if Stanley fell flat on his face in drills. But he also didn't necessarily perform like the second-ranked player at his position. His 5.20-second official time in the 40-yard dash wasn't great, nor was it terrible. Not that anyone cares about a lineman's 40 time anyway.

What they do care about is his 10-yard split. And once again, Stanley wasn't terrible (1.85 seconds), but he didn't burn up the track either:

His 4.90-second time in the short shuttle was well outside the top 10 among tackles. So was his 8.03-second run in the three-cone drill. His 28.5-inch vertical tied for 10th.

Yes, it's one weekend in shorts. A single workout. And I'm not about to sit here and say that the perception Stanley slacks at times is a fair or accurate one. But when faced with a perception like that a player can do one of two things. Fight it or feed it.

Stanley's combine did the latter.

If Stanley's pro day is about a last chance to erase negative perceptions, Will Fuller's is a last shot at establishing a positive one. And for the 6'0", 186-pound Fuller, that may be even more important.

This isn't 2015, when everyone and their mother knew that Alabama's Amari Cooper would be the first wide receiver selected in the draft. From Laquon Treadwell of Ole Miss to Baylor's Corey Coleman to Fuller and Ohio State's Mike Thomas, there are a handful of wideouts who might be the first off the board.

And after Treadwell ran a sluggish 4.65 40-yard dash at the Rebels' pro day earlier this week, the door is open for some moving and shaking in the pecking order at the position.

Now, it's somewhat less than likely that we'll even see Fuller run on Thursday. There just isn't any reason to. His wheels weren't in question heading into the combine, and they certainly aren't after Fuller peeled off a position-best 4.32-second 40 time in Indy.

Make no mistake, as Doug Farrar of Sports Illustrated wrote, it's all about speed, speed and more speed where Fuller's concerned:

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Though Fuller isn’t a completely developed player yet, he’s going to get serious reps in his rookie season and beyond because, quite simply, he’s going to be very difficult for defenses to handle. There are several NFL offenses short of such a receiver, and given his potential to be great, Fuller might just find himself drafted earlier than many pundits expect.

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Fuller told reporters in Indianapolis he felt it was important to reinforce just how adept he can be at hurting defenses down the field: "Just with the year we had, a lot of injuries, for a healthy career I just wanted to get out of there while I was healthy and still put up good numbers this year. I thought that was at a good time."

That doesn't mean there isn't work still to be done though. Numerous draftniks (including Eric Edholm of Yahoo Sports) have compared Fuller to Ted Ginn of the Carolina Panthers. And as Edholm wrote, that isn't exactly a compliment:

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Fuller's slight build, his shaky hands and questionable ball skills (he's a body catcher) make him more of a track star than a true receiver. That's not to say that he doesn't possess skills and instincts for the position, but Fuller likely will be the type of player fans and offensive coordinators want to — figuratively, of course — kiss one minute and kill the next. He's a one-trick pony, even if that one trick is pretty darned good.

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We've seen ample examples of such one-trick ponies garnering high draft picks—Ginn in 2007, Darrius Heyward-Bey in 2009, Breshad Perriman last year. We've also seen as many times as not these youngsters who run like a deer catch like one too. And that pick has come back to haunt the teams who made it.

Yes, Ginn played well in 2015. His 10th season. For his fourth team.

Much like with Stanley, Fuller isn't going to erase negative perceptions about his game borne from hours and hours of tape study just by catching passes for an afternoon. What he can do, however, is perhaps push a team that's on the fence about him to one side or the other—depending on how things go.

And that's the thing. Draft stock can't be made or broken in a pro day. By this point, many teams, scouts and draftniks have already made up their minds. But there are a few who haven't. At least not entirely. A few who can be swayed.

That could make the difference between Stanley going in the top 10 or not, or Fuller being drafted in the first round or not.

And that makes Thursday moving day for both. Onward from South Bend. Onward to the next chapter.

Onward and (hopefully) upward.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.