Syracuse Football: Amba Etta-Tawo shines at Pro Day

Former Syracuse Orange wide receiver Amba Etta-Tawo continued his meteoric rise up NFL draft boards with a positive showing at Syracuse’s Pro Day on Monday.

Etta-Tawo, who wasn’t even remotely on NFL teams radar prior to his recent breakout season, ran a hand-timed 4.35-seconds 40-yard dash. That time would have ranked third among all wide receivers at the NFL Scouting Combine.

He previously ran a laser-timed 40-yard dash at the combine earlier this month in 4.49 seconds, which ranked 17th among participating wide receivers.

Etta-Tawo also caught passes from former Syracuse quarterback Terrell Hunt, primarily running pro-style routes, according to Syracuse.com’s Chris Carlson.

Etta-Taws told Carlson that running routes typically used in the NFL was important for him because it allowed the former Orange wide receiver to show scouts he has the ability to do so, since he was rarely asked to run these types of routes while at Syracuse.

“There are a lot of routes that we ran in our offense that are not really considered pro routes,” Etta-Tawo said. “But today was a good chance to show them I'm versatile and able to run those routes that they need.”

Etta-Tawo is rated the No. 26 wide receiver in the 2017 NFL Draft and projected to be taken in rounds 5-6, per CBSSSports.com.

Etta-Tawo had the most successful season for a wide receiver in Syracuse history, setting the school record for receptions, 94, and receiving yards, 1,482. He also hauled in 14 touchdowns, including a single-game record five scores against Pittsburgh.

Etta-Tawo continued his successful season with a productive showing in Senior Bowl practices before being held out due to injury. The Syracuse receiver, however, bounced back with a solid performance at the NFL Scouting Combine where his numbers kept him relatively in the middle of the pack among wide receivers.