FAYETTEVILLE — It's been a long, tough winter for Frank Ragnow. Some of the hardships of the last three months seemed distant Monday as the All-America center showed out at Arkansas' pro day for NFL scouts in the Walker Pavilion.
Ragnow performed the range of drills and lifts for a full complement of NFL scouts, but the highlight was his turn to run the 40-yard dash for the first time in public since undergoing surgery for an ankle injury suffered in Week 7 of the season.
Ragnow clocked 4.98, superb for a 6-5, 310-pound offensive linemen. It's among the chief reasons he's expected to be taken in the first two or three rounds next month in the NFL draft.
“I just wanted it to be in the 4s,” Ragnow told reporters afterward. “It was good.
“It was great to feel like an athlete again. I haven't felt like an athlete since I got hurt. I wanted to show off some today. This was good. You have surgery and you sure don't feel like an athlete for a long time.”
And, he did look athletic. Ragnow always tried to show off in conditioning drills as a college player, running with the tight ends and linebackers and holding his own.
“He looked great, didn't he?” said quarterback Austin Allen, his best friend and another hopeful trying to impress the scouts.
“I know they came to see Frank run, to see if he was healthy. He sure is. I was glad they at least stuck around to see me throw. I did good. I ran 4.8. Did I beat Frank? Wow, he ran under 5.0. That's amazing for his size. He's a freak.”
There was some friendly jabbing among the best friends. Ragnow wanted to talk about the video he put out on his Twitter account of him dunking.
“Did ya'll see it?” he said. “Hopefully, you did. That's what it was for, to create some hype.”
Allen downplayed the dunk.
“It was on a short goal, probably 8 and a half feet,” Allen said. “I can dunk, but only with a women's sized ball. My hands are just small.”
Back to the winter, spent at his mom's house in Victoria, Minn. Most pro prospects go somewhere warm for the pre-draft workouts, finding a trainer in Texas, Florida or California.
Not Ragnow. He bought a used SUV after signing with an agent in January, then drove north.
“Yeah, I was the only guy to spend the winter getting ready for the draft in Minnesota,” he said. “That was smart. My car began to fall apart after two weeks. The heater went first. The temps were in the negative degrees. The brakes went out next.
“I guess the guy who sold it to me got me. I'm telling you, if ever you needed a heater in Minnesota, it was this winter. It was about as cold as I can remember and I had no heat.”
Then, there was a fishing trip on a frozen lake, a winter tradition in Minnesota.
“I bought a new iPhone 10 and got the fishing app,” he said. “It locates fish through the ice. So I was in my seat above the hole in the ice with the phone in my lap. I got one and I stood up. The phone slipped off my knee straight down into the hole. Great.”
The insurance doesn't cover dropping a smart phone into an ice hole.
“I didn't even ask,” he said. “But I know it doesn't.”
All of that is behind Ragnow. He's 100 percent healed from his surgery.
“I think I've been 100 percent for about the last four weeks,” he said.
He didn't really complain about the winter too much. He was glad to hang out with his mom.
“I'll watch the draft with her,” he said. “Really, it hasn't been too tough the last few months. I've had a workout every day (to rehab the ankle) and it lasts about an hour and a half. It's not bad because I'm motivated.”
Ragnow was feeling good after his workout Monday.
“I hit a personal best on the vertical jump, 33.5,” he said. “I didn't do great on my bench press, 27 reps. I've done 36 before. My standing broad jump was 9.5 feet and that's a PR, too.”
Ragnow was the show for the scouts. He did workouts designed by a large group of NFL offensive line coaches in attendance. He waited around for individual interviews.
“It was fun, the drills, everything,” he said. “You learn different terminology from each one. I don't really know where a team might see me, but I think I can play all five positions in the NFL. That's important since they just carry eight in the O-line. I can play center, guard and tackle. I can play tight end, too.”
Ragnow attended the NFL combine earlier in the month, but did not run or lift.
“But it's still a lot,” he said. “You have interviews, tests and (drug) screens,” he said. “It's a lot. I got to talk to quite a few NFL head coaches.”
Among the one-on-one interviews that stood out: San Francisco general manager John Lynch and Seattle head coach Pete Carroll.
“I watched John Lynch play safety,” Ragnow said. “He is one of my heroes.”
That's not to say either one of those teams would be a favorite destination.
“No, anyone that wants me is great,” Ragnow said. “It doesn't matter.”
Are there any nerves as the draft approaches?
“No, but I did have butterflies last night,” he said. “I know I'm going to be busy in the next few weeks. I think there are going to be trips for interviews. I'll try to work in some fishing or hunting in between. I'm headed back to Minnesota.”
Allen has a different way to kill the time.
“I'm playing about as much golf as I can,” he said. “I played 54 holes yesterday with my brother Christian. I won a few bets. He kept wanting to play another 18. I'm sure playing 54 holes the day before your pro day isn't the best thing to do, but that was relaxing.”
And he was sure he was ready.
“I feel great,” he said. “I wanted to show everyone that my shoulder is fine. I think I did that in the all-star game and the combine, that it was going to hold together.
“My velocity is as good as ever. As far as on the radar gun, my best is 58 (mph). I have been at 56-57 the last three weeks. I was at 54 at the combine, so I've gotten stronger.
“I feel 100 percent. I think I can go out there and throw without warming up and do just fine. There have been a lot of questions about my shoulder but I think I've proven to everyone that it's OK.
“I don't know where I'll be drafted, or even that I'll be drafted. To be drafted would be a dream I've had all my life. If it doesn't happen, it will hurt my pride a little, but all it means is that I'll get to pick a team that might be a good fit through free agency. You just hope it's a right fit.”
What advice has brother Brandon given him about the lead up to the draft?
“We talk every day, but it's never about football,” he said. “He just tells me to enjoy it and then we talk about something else.”
Allen and Ragnow both have had frequent phone discussions with former Arkansas coach Bret Bielema. The New England Patriots have hired Bielema for some part-time consulting work ahead of the draft.
“It's been good,” Allen said. “He's always going to be my coach, the one who gave me a chance to play in the SEC and gave me my first start in the SEC.”
Ragnow said pretty much the same thing.
“I can understand why the Patriots would want him around,” Ragnow said. “He's put a lot of guys in the NFL.”
Allen visited with new Arkansas coach Chad Morris after his pro day throwing session.
“It was maybe 10 minutes and I know now he's getting ready for practice with a Red Bull,” Allen said. “He's the real deal. I watched a practice the other day. They hit a 50-yard go route and five offensive assistants sprinted to the end zone for chest bumps.”
There were no chest bumps at pro day, but there were worthy performances.