Mellott shines at MSU Pro Day

BOZEMAN – Just how fast IS Tommy Mellott?

It’s been the question on a very many people’s minds since Mellott took the Football Championship Subdivision by storm as a true freshman in 2021. 

It’s been a question for the last four years as the Montana State quarterback left defenders in the dust as often as any college football player in America. 

Bobcats strength coach Sean Herrin had clocked the Butte product at speeds exceeding 23 miles per hour on a few touchdown runs during his senior season, which culminated in the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year and Walter Payton awards. 

Mellott answered questions Friday with one of the more impressive pro days ever by a Big Sky Conference player.  

He started by pounding out 19 repetitions on the bench press and soaring 41 inches on the vertical: After hitting 41 on his first try, he had the scouts move up the measurement so he could go for 43 inches. He just missed that mark. 

“This is a relief,” Mellott said. “The season gets over and the next week, you are shipped off for training. You are away from your family, your loved ones and it takes consistency. 

“But I would also like to point out that it’s much more than consistency the last 12 weeks. It’s the last eight, nine, 10 years and so many people pouring into me. Coach (Arie) Grey (Butte High’s football and track coach) was a track and football athlete at MSU and he. ... did so much for me. And everyone at MSU, and then the last three months down in California, everyone that contributed to this is something special.” 

When the workout moved over to the North Dome, Mellott continued to put on a show. He broad jumped 10 feet, four inches. He ripped off a pair of 40-yard dashes that many scouts had under 4.40 seconds, coming in “officially” at 4.39. Skyline Sports had Mellott’s 40s at 4.38 and 4.33.  

Mellott also had elite times in the short shuttle (4.20 seconds) and the L-drill (6.93 seconds) before going through both throwing and route running/catching drills. 

 “I loved working out as receiver. I’m a football player, always have been, I just happened to play quarterback the last few years,” Mellott said. “That’s what our team needed to win. And I put everything into it. People doubted my ability to play the quarterback position. After four years, I became the player of the year at the quarterback position. That’s the type of growth I can have at any position there might be. I’m glad to see there’s a start to it and there’s a couple of weeks here I can start to develop that. I just want to continue that.” 

Brody Grebe, the defensive end out of Melstone, showed the speed and versatility to  perhaps transition to linebacker or even tight end/H-back. The 6-foot-2, 244-pounder got 25 reps on the bench and notced a 38-inch vertical. 

Grebe registered a 10-foot-4 in the broad jump. In the 40, he also elicited strong visual reactions from the 13 NFL and five CFL scouts in attenendance by running 4.58 and 4.54 seconds. 

“The main thing for me was size-wise, I probably wasn’t an ideal size for defensive end, length and height, so being able to show that I could do different things off the ball, full back, tight end, that’s what I wanted,” Grebe said. 

Marcus Wehr ended Montana State’s 2024 season as possibly the Big Sky’s the top NFL draft prospect. He solidified that with 29 reps on the bench and a 34.5-inch vertical, which would’ve been a Top 3 mark among offensive lineman at the NFL Combine. 

He ran a pair of 40s around 5.2 seconds at 301 pounds. And he notched 9-foot-6 in the broad jump, which would’ve been the second-best O-lineman mark at the combine. 

Rylan Ortt, a walk-on turned team captain who capped his career with first-team All-Big Sky honors as a safety, performed well. The Missoula Sentinel product notched 23 reps on the bench, a 37.5-inch vertical, a 9-foot-9 broad jump, and ran a 4.72 40. He had a time of 4.32 in the shuttle and a pro day-best 6.89 in the L-Drill. 

Other participants included wide receivers Ty McCullouch and Clevan Thomas and offensive lineman Cole Sain. 

 McCullouch’s best mark was 4.58 in the 40 and a 35-inch vertical. Thomas, a senior in 2023, ran 4.51 in the 40, notched a 37-inch vertical and pumped out 18 reps on the bench. Sain, a second-team All-Big Sky selection as a center, hit 27 reps on the bench and a 9-foot broad jump.  

“This was a special day to be back here and compete with those guys again,” Mellott said. 

“After our last game (a 35-32 loss in the FCS national title game to North Dakota State), you end the season emotionally and it’s abrupt. You immediately have to pick yourself up and immediately have no idea where you are going. You have to tell loved ones, your family, everything that is comfortable, goodbye. 

“All these guys worked their butt off the last several months and to go see everybody’s performance was very special.”

Colter Nuanez is executive editor of skylinemtsports.com