The 2025 NFL draft is less than a month away with players moving on to the Pro Day portion of their pre-draft preparation process in anticipation of putting on a show for NFL scouts.
Penn State University held its Pro Day on the same day as Maryland, Mississippi and Jacksonville State, one of the final Pro Days on the schedule before the end of the circuit.
On Friday, surprising video footage surfaced of a former five-star receiver from the Nittany Lions who was ranked as the top player at his position according to some scouting services coming out of high school, but finished his career without much fanfare and a relatively slow time in the 40-yard dash.
Julian Fleming, a former five-star recruit of the Ohio State Buckeyes out of Catawissa, Pennsylvania, transferred to rival Penn State prior to his fifth and final college season.
Fleming ran a 4.72 40 time at Saturday's Pro Day, prompting a wide range of responses on X.
They painted a picture of the harsh reality of big expectations among college football players turned NFL prospects.
"His downfall and career needs to be studied," one fan wrote of Fleming. "Can't think of someone who's underwhelmed as much as he has being so highly recruited."
Fleming went through hamstring and shoulder injuries in college that seemed to slow his progress.
"Injury and he was super raw out of high school imo," an Ohio State fan said of the team's former player.
"Honestly, I feel bad for the guy," a Buckeyes fan said. "The recruiting services should've never ranked him that high. They did him no favors comparing him to Julio Jones, which in retrospect, was an insane bar for him (or anyone for that matter) to live up to.
"Now, people view him as a bust when he was most likely incorrectly evaluated in the first place. Injuries in college didn't help either."
Fleming's best season was with Ohio State in 2022, when he had 34 catches for 533 yards and six touchdowns, including a 79-yard touchdown reception.
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This story was originally published March 29, 2025 at 8:58 AM.