Rutgers football: Janarion Grant goes through Pro Day, a year later than expected

FLORHAM PARK - Friday morning was supposed to be a year ago for Janarion Grant.

One of the most-electrifying football players in recent Rutgers memory was not supposed to be at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center with 19 other Rutgers products, going through the vertical jump, standing board jump, 40-yard dash and various other Pro Day activities.

It was Sept. 24, 2016, Rutgers vs. Iowa, the fourth game of Grant's senior season. Grant takes a pass out on the perimeter from Chris Laviano late in the second quarter. One defender misses, then another. Grant catches a downfield block, makes two more defenders miss, then finds some daylight.

Around the 10-yard line, it looks like Grant may score, but he goes down at the 4. He has himself a 76-yard gain, but also a broken ankle after Hawkeyes cornerback Desmond King inadvertently stepped on it in pursuit.

Season over, college career potentially over, post-Rutgers plans in doubt. If Grant doesn't get hurt, if Grant continues to put up big numbers, especially on kickoffs and punt returns, he almost certainly gets selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. In hindsight. Grant getting picked as high as the fifth round seemed plausible.

Grant got his senior season back, via medical redshirt. He proclaimed himself fully healthy during training camp, but that never seemed to be the case. He never looked like his old self, and that was before other injuries deterred last season. He missed five games entirely, and parts of two others. He returned four kickoffs and a punt at Penn State on Nov. 11, and that was it, sitting out losses at Indiana and Senior Day against Michigan State.

So, after losing his senior season, getting it back, then struggling to regain the form that helped him become Rutgers' all-time leader in kickoff return yards, here was Grant, going through Pro Day, albeit a year later than anyone thought.

The Trilby, Florida, native bench-pressed 225 pounds 22 times, only ranking behind 24 from Sebastian Joseph, a nose tackle, and 23 from Dorian Miller, who started 34 games at left guard for the Scarlet Knights.

Once the action moved to the indoor practice facility, it didn't take long for the morning's main event, the 40-yard dash, to come up on the schedule. If nothing else, this was an opportunity for Grant to show off his speed and that the injuries of the past were behind him.

One stopwatch on the far sideline had Grant timed unofficially at 4.47 seconds for both of his attempts. Had he run 4.47 at the NFL Scouting Combine, it would have tied him for 11th-fastest among wide receivers.

When official numbers from the day were released late Friday afternoon, Grant had run 4.65 on his first attempt, and 4.57 on his second attempt. That, to be perfectly honest, is a shame. It merely leads one to reflect on how dangerous Grant once was with the ball in his hands. Remember, this is the same kid who took a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown on his first collegiate touch at Fresno State in 2013.

Grant is unlikely to be drafted, but chances are good that his phone rings after the draft. He has done too much at a high level for it not to. He is an adept, capable return man, but his future as a pro-level wide receiver would be the real question, simply because he hasn't done a ton in that spot. For his career, Grant caught 99 passes in 46 career games, but only 16 last season.

The entirety of Friday morning's festivities led back to that Iowa game 531 days ago. If things had gone a little differently against the Hawkeyes, Friday never happens.

Staff Writer Josh Newman: jnewman@app.com; @Joshua_Newman