"My road in college football wasn't always the smoothest," Montana QB Justin Roper was saying hours after a bizarre set of circumstances left him working out at Georgia's recent pro day in front of family, media and friends of the Bulldogs' program — but not NFL scouts and coaches.
Roper, who grew up in Buford, Ga. and began his collegiate career at Oregon before transferring, believed he could work out at Georgia's pro day on March 22. The Bulldogs didn't have a draft-eligible passer at the workout, and the school gave him permission to participate at their pro day. Roper's agent, Tom Mills, told PFW he had received permission from the NFL's player-personnel department for Roper to participate. (The NFL declined comment on Mills' version of events.) For a week leading up to the pro day, Roper worked with Georgia WR A.J. Green, likely to be a high first-round pick in April's draft, and Green's teammate, Kris Durham, a friend of Roper's.
However, on the morning of the workout, Roper was informed he couldn't take part in the pro-day drills. The reason? Per NFL rules, a Division I prospect who is attending a pro day at a school at which he did not attend must live within the metropolitan area (as defined by the Rand McNally atlas) of the school. According to those guidelines, Buford is within the metropolitan area of Atlanta, not Athens. Thus, Roper was ineligible to participate in front of NFL personnel, according to the league.
For a time, it was unclear whether Roper would participate or whether a stand-in quarterback such as Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden would throw to Green — whose workout was eagerly anticipated.
In the end, Roper threw to the Georgia wideouts, but not in front of NFL personnel, who had the option to watch inside. However, many elected to leave.
For Roper, it wasn't the ideal outcome, but he's thankful for Green, Durham and Georgia FB Shaun Chapas going to bat for him and insisting he throw. The workout was shown on ESPN3 and was taped, which can't hurt his visibility.
Roper, who is not ranked among PFW's top 30 draft-eligible quarterbacks and was not invited to the Combine, is planning to participate in a scouting combine the Falcons will hold for area prospects on April 14. He has worked with noted QB coach George Whitfield, who has tutored Ben Roethlisberger and Cam Newton.
The 6-6, 215-pound Roper transferred to Montana for the '09 season after losing his starting job to Jeremiah Masoli. Roper began the '08 season as the starter but suffered a partially torn MCL in a victory at Purdue, opening the door for Masoli.
In his senior season at Montana in 2010, Roper completed 171-of-278 passes for 1,885 yards with 19 TDs and 11 interceptions.
Roper had targeted the Georgia pro day "to be my big chance" to perform in front of NFL personnel. His agent, Mills, said that Roper's most likely path to the league will be as an undrafted free agent.
Roper and Mills both said there could be some value to getting some publicity from the workout snafu. That wasn't the plan, but not everything went as planned at Georgia's pro day.
Save for Roper throwing to Green, of course.
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