FAYETTEVILLE — Early returns indicate former Arkansas defensive end Deatrich Wise improved his draft status with a big performance in the East-West Shrine Game.
Wise recorded eight tackles and 1.5 sacks in the game last Saturday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. He also had four quarterback hurries and received an 89 percent grade from ProFootballFocus.com.
Wise said he was 100 percent healthy for the game after playing most of his senior season at Arkansas with two injuries. He broke his hand during the Razorbacks' season-opener against Louisiana Tech and separated a shoulder joint against Auburn in October.
After recording 31 tackles and eight sacks as a junior, he finished his senior season with 49 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
"I believe the numbers I put up (in the Shrine game) show people that I can play, and the reason I had kind of a down (2016) season was because of the injuries," Wise said. "I showed my versatility in not only moves, but also positions."
Prior to the Shrine game, Wise said he spoke with "pretty much all" NFL teams and said some spoke to him about playing defensive tackle at the next level.
"The conversations were good," Wise said. "They asked a lot of background information and about my injury information."
Mike Mayock of the NFL Network said during the Shrine game broadcast that Wise had improved his draft stock with his performance.
Prior to the game, CBSSports.com projected Wise to be a sixth- or seventh-round pick in April's NFL Draft. He was not listed among the top 10 at his position in prospect rankings by CBS or Sports Illustrated.
Wise is working out at the Michael Johnson Performance Center in McKinney, Texas, ahead of the NFL Scouting Combine that begins Feb. 28 in Indianapolis. He said he hopes to improve his stock there with target numbers of between 4.7 and 4.8 seconds in the 40-yard dash, at least 20 reps in the bench press and around a 10-foot broad jump.
"I want to show my speed and put up good numbers," Wise said. "I need to show I can run, show I can move, show how explosive I am."