BYU football: Max Hall, Dennis Pitta do their best to bolster NFL profile

PROVO — Since leading BYU to a Las Vegas Bowl victory last December, quarterback Max Hall has been busy.

Besides working out the past two months in Scottsdale, Ariz., in preparation for the National Football League draft in April, he participated in the NFL combine in Indianapolis. A week ago, not long after he returned from the combine, Hall became a father.

He's already training his young son, named Rex, to be a quarterback.

"I'm trying to keep his release high, above the ear," Hall said, grinning. "He actually likes it when I do it. He's a great looking kid. It's exciting. I have a little family now. I've got a kid. I feel like an old man."

But on Wednesday, it was back to Provo and back to work. Hall was one of several former Cougars who attended the annual Pro Day event on BYU's campus to try to impress scouts and coaches from about 20 NFL teams — including the Packers, Bengals, Browns, Ravens, 49ers, Cardinals, Steelers, Raiders and Buccaneers.

Hall participated in the timed tests and drills. He was happy that he improved on some of his numbers.

"At the combine, I ran a little slower, a 4.84 (in the 40-yard dash)," he said. "Today, it was 4.72 or 4.73. I improved in that. That's what I wanted to run. I wanted to show my play-action footwork and some of the stuff I didn't get to do at the combine. Now, it's just seeing what happens."

When it comes to the draft, Hall said, "I'm optimistic. I've been talking to a lot of teams. One of the things the teams have talked to me about is, can I make all of the throws? I didn't do a lot of play-action, down-the-field stuff at BYU. That's what we showed them here today. I showed them I can throw the ball downfield. The (NFL assistant) coaches who were here were impressed and said I did everything they needed to see. I think things are bright. I think I have a very good shot of getting drafted."

Hall's brother-in-law, tight end Dennis Pitta — a consensus All-America selection in 2009 — didn't take part in the timed tests because of his stellar performance in Indianapolis. In Provo on Wednesday, Pitta caught passes, ran routes and did blocking drills.

"Obviously, I didn't do any of the testing today because I was pretty happy with the way things went at the combine. I stand by a lot of my numbers there," said Pitta. "I wanted to come out and continue to show my ability to run routes and do some of the blocking things they wanted to do, which was really good. It was about showing myself as a football player. All the testing is over for me. Now, it's all about just playing football."