Every NFL team was represented at Tuesday’s Pro Day for the Texas Longhorns, including appearances from Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer, Schottenheimer’s defensive coordinator Christian Parker, and Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan, as 16 players worked out, including the seven players who were invited to the NFL Combine.

Among the non-Combine invitees, Tuesday marked a particularly important day for edge Ethan Burke, who is up to 267 pounds on his 6’6 frame, up eight pounds from his listed weight by the Longhorns last season. Burke reportedly ran his 40-yard dash in the low 4.8s with a good time of 6.94 in the three-cone drill, a 29-inch vertical leap, and 15 reps on the bench press. Another report had Burke with his best time at 4.94.

Burke’s fluidity through the three-cone drill was his best testing showing at the Bubble.

With long arms, Burke’s functional strength and motor showed up on film over 51 games and 17 starts for Texas to finish his career with 114 tackles, 26.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception return for a touchdown, and three blocked kicks.

Burke’s testing numbers revealed an average athlete who may have some remaining upside because he was lack to football after focusing on lacrosse early in his high school career, but likely didn’t ensure that he will be selected in next month’s NFL Draft.

”I think I’m not even close to where I can be. Happy I chose this path. Obviously, I love lacrosse but football was calling me at the time. I went for it, been here, had some great coaches and teammates. It’s been a great experience. I’m super happy,” Burke said last fall.

The other intriguing performance on Tuesday came from other player who wasn’t invited to the NFL Combine — fifth-year quarterback Matthew Caldwell, who played at Jacksonville State, Gardner-Webb, and Troy before spending last season as Arch Manning’s backup, ripping off a 50-yard run against Sam Houston, completing a 26-pass against Florida when Manning had to leave the game for a play after his helmet was knocked off, and throwing the game-winning, 10-yard touchdown pass to Emmett Mosley in overtime against Mississippi State.

At 6’4, 209 pounds, Caldwell helped his case as an undrafted free agent with a 34-inch vertical.

Caldwell also made the most of a difficult situation — Texas doesn’t have any draft-eligible running backs or wide receivers in the 2026 NFL Draft, forcing safety Michael Taaffe to train with Caldwell and catch passes from the well-traveled quarterback on Tuesday.

A two-way standout at Austin Westlake, Taaffe was a productive wide receiver for the Chaparrals, and helped his own stock in addition to bolstering Caldwell’s NFL case.

“For him to get this opportunity to Pro Day, I hope he goes out there and lights it up. He deserves that opportunity,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said on Tuesday.

Sarkisian referenced Matt Cassel in discussing Caldwell — Cassel backed up Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC when Sarkisian was the quarterbacks coach for the Trojans, sneaking into the end of the draft after a strong Pro Day and going on to play in the NFL from 2005 to 2018.

Specialists like punter Jack Bouwmeester and Mason Shipley, as well as offensive lineman Cole Hutson and defensive tackle Cole Brevard, had a chance to impress scouts to earn free agent deals or minicamp invites, while Tuesday’s testing and drills provided an important opportunity for cornerback Jaylon Guilbeau, who received an invite to the Combine, but didn’t work out in Indianapolis.

Guilbeau is still bothered by the hamstring injury that kept him from testing at the Combine, and it impacted him on Tuesday with a 4.52 in the 40 and 6.86 in the three-cone drill.

According to Troy Pauline of Essentially Sports, Trey Moore helped himself on Tuesday:

“Linebacker Trey Moore, who’s wrongly branded as an edge rusher by many, stood on many of his combine numbers, yet he did time 4.21 seconds in the short shuttle and 7.08 seconds in the three-cone, both terrific marks. He then looked really good in linebacker drills and also stood out in pass-rush drills.”

Other insights included NFL interest from the Cowboys in linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., who had dinner with Schottenheimer on Monday evening in Austin. Notably, Dallas has a first-round pick at No. 20 and a third-round pick, but doesn’t have a second-round selection, where Hill is typically projected. Could the 2025 Butkus Award finalist fall to the third round?

Pauline shared an observation from scouts in attendance — “Several scouts mentioned Hill has a bad (soft) body and needs a lot of weight room work.”

But since Morgan was reportedly on the Forty Acres to watch Hill, it’s possible that the former linebacker could be targeting the Texas standout, too. Carolina has the No. 51 overall pick in the second round and the No. 83 overall pick in the third round.

Another Texas player receiving interest from the Cowboys is Muhammad, who, like Hill, is from the Metroplex. Muhammad reportedly has multiple meetings scheduled with Dallas.

Taaffe reportedly ran a 4.15 short shuttle and 6.8 in the three-cone drill, faster than Muhammad — he’s tested well enough in the pre-draft process to bolster his stock.

As Manning was overheard saying when Taaffe laid out trying to catch a pass from Caldwell, “That’s a dude you want on your team.”