DaytonDailyNews.com

Michigan State running back Javon Ringer has received very little publicity from the media throughout the draft process due in large part to rehabbing an injured knee. Now Ringer is like a man smoking at a gas station, about to blow up, after a sterling performance at the school's pro day March 18.

According to a source with knowledge of the pro day, the running back absolutely blew NFL teams away with his workout.

The 5-foot-9, 203-pound Ringer ran a 4.42 in the 40-yard dash; posted a 6.68 in the 3-cone drill, which would be the fourth fasted time in combine history for running backs. He ran a 3.72 in the 20-yard shuttle and 10.6 in the 60-yard shuttle.

One NFL scout in attendance said that in his 20-years of scouting he had never seen anyone run the 3-cone as fast as Ringer, a Chaminade Julienne graduate. It was a tremendous day all around for the nation's fourth leading rusher (1,637 yards and 22 touchdowns).

Ringer showed his versatility by catching every ball thrown his way during receiving drills and looked natural doing so. He impressed scouts during agility drills with his quickness, change of direction and work ethic. He was explosive answering questions about his speed and all else.

What made the workout even more impressive is that Ringer is still recovering from January knee surgery. He deemed himself 90 percent recovered from the injury, but that didn't stop the runner from putting on a show.

"I know that I am not where I want to be, but I was glad to show teams that my progression is coming along just fine," Ringer said in a phone interview following the pro day.

Working hard

"I did a lot better in my workout than a lot of other backs and I'm not 100 percent healthy."

Judging by the numbers he put up, I guess you can say that a less than 100 percent Ringer is as good as anything else the draft has to offer at the running back position.

"I'm working hard to get back to where I was," Ringer said. "I hope NFL teams are looking at me saying WOW you're not 100 percent yet and you're still putting up impressive numbers. Me personally, I'm just going to continue to bust my tail so I can get back to the old Javon Ringer where I know I need to be."

NFL teams are indeed looking at the dynamic running back. Ringer is scheduled to visits with four different teams in the coming weeks and his draft stock is clearly on the rise.

Some NFL team could make draft day April 25th especially nice for the Ringer family. Javon's mother Darlene Ringer would like nothing better than to see her son selected on Day 1 of the draft which is also her birthday.

Carlos "Big C" Holmes covers the NFL for Dayton Daily News.

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