SALT LAKE CITY -Star Lotulelei finally had his shot to impress NFL scouts, and he didn’t disappoint at Utah Pro Day.
One month after he was not allowed to workout at the NFL combine after an echocardiogram revealed he had a heart condition that required further testing, Lotulelei benched 225 pounds 38 times, tying the best effort at the NFL Combine. He also ran a 5.31 in the 40 yard dash, and looked impressive in defensive line drills.
“I felt pretty good with the drills and everything,” said Lotulelei. “I think I should I can move around very well for a big guy at 315 pounds.”
Tests before the NFL combine showed his left ventricle was working at 44 percent efficiency, which is below the normal efficiency rate of 55 to 75 percent. But he was re-evaluated with a CT scan and a treadmill test before Wednesday’s workout, and he said the results were positive.
“They said everything looked fine,” said Lotulelei.”They said it might have been from maybe a virus I might have had, from a cold or something earlier in the year. Now my heart is just slowly getting better from that. They said my test that they had from here already look better and had improvement from what they saw at the combine.”
Lotulelei will be re-evaluated by the NFL next month. If all goes well, he’s expected to be selected early in the NFL draft.
