TAMPA — Nothing that touched his hands Wednesday hit the FieldTurf inside USF’s indoor practice facility. Sean Atkins navigated this job interview as sure-handedly as ever.
Hooks and hitch routes, patterns to the post and pylon — Atkins snagged every spiral. After vertical leaps, bench presses, broad jumps and shuttle runs, the Bulls’ record-setting receiver ended USF’s four-hour pro day brandishing his best attributes.
His route precision and reliable hands.
“I enjoyed the whole process,” said Atkins, “and proud for what I did today.”
Yet Wednesday’s proceedings, before representatives of all 32 NFL teams and one Canadian Football League club, represented only the launch point of the most challenging route of Atkins’ unlikely career. It’s a vertical one, all right; uphill all the way.
Sean Atkins with some red-zone work as @USFFootball pro day winds down pic.twitter.com/e3Tmp36Q7o
— Joey Knight (@TBTimes_Bulls) March 26, 2025
For all the knocks on USF’s all-time leading receiver, naivete isn’t one of them. Atkins knows full well his size (5-8 ½, 177 pounds) and lack of elite speed likely will result in him being bypassed on draft weekend. Fact is, the 15 or so Bulls who participated Wednesday (none of whom were invited to the NFL draft combine) appear draft long shots. Hence the reason so much rode on Wednesday’s performances.
“You just hope that you get a call,” tailback Kelley Joiner said.
If and when that call comes from an NFL club to Atkins, be it during the draft or when players are invited to a camp as undrafted free agents, he knows exactly what he’ll say.
“I understand that I’m undersized, but you still have to guard somebody that’s undersized,” said Atkins, a one-time walkon who finished his career as USF’s all-time leader in receptions (200), receiving yards (2,167) and bowl-game catches (17).
“I feel like I know my weaknesses, and I feel like I play to my weaknesses. I feel like I can still get open no matter who’s guarding me, and it doesn’t matter about the height or the weight or anything, just the dog in the fight.”
On Wednesday, in front of his mom, dad and at least four other family friends from the East Coast, Atkins did 12 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press (darn solid for his size) and recorded a 9-foot, 10-inch broad jump. By contrast, 29 receivers at the combine eclipsed 10 feet.
While 40-yard dash times weren’t released, it’s believed Atkins didn’t match the effort of Joiner (unofficially 4.47) or fellow tailback Nay’Quan Wright (4.38). But offsetting any lack of fleetness is film, and Atkins has a ton of it, against quality opposition.
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Nay’Quan Wright’s unofficial 40 time: darn fast @USFFootball pic.twitter.com/9vy5Ap1Ymu
— Joey Knight (@TBTimes_Bulls) March 26, 2025
He had 10 catches for 107 yards last season against Miami and six for 42 yards the year before against Alabama. In the 2023 Boca Raton Bowl against Syracuse, he caught six passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns.
“I talked to a lot of coaches, talked to a lot of (general managers), the questions are all the same: ‘What’s the 40 going to be?‘” Bulls coach Alex Golesh said.
“I tell everybody the same thing: I think similar to high school recruiting, just turn the film on, and look at the production. And look at the production in the big games, in the games against the best competition. He’s just a competitor.”
With a back story any NFL franchise would love to share: Atkins the walkon, logging 18-hour days attending classes, practices and meetings before logging lengthy shifts at one of various jobs including a fitness center, Hyde Park steakhouse and urban convenience store. He still was maintaining that ruthless pace after being awarded a scholarship by Jeff Scott, and after Golesh’s arrival in December 2022.
When Atkins stepped back, opted to focus on football and embraced the process Golesh would install for all players, everything changed. Of his 200 career receptions, 181 came in Atkins’ final two years, both under Golesh.
“He’s a kid you feel like, if he goes to a camp — whether he gets drafted or not — he’s going to be hard to cut,” Golesh said.
“Return value, other things he can do on special teams, catch everything, is fearless, third-down value, the ability to get open. He’ll have knocks — size, speed, whatever you want to knock. But he found a way to come here, pay his own way and get on the field, and then become irreplaceable.”
Contact Joey Knight at jknight@tampabay.com. Follow @TBTimes_Bulls.
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