Jackson State running back Irv Mulligan accomplished a lot in his two seasons as an HBCU player — but now he’s looking to show NFL scouts even more.
Mulligan showed up to the HBCU combine in New Orleans on Monday and made his presence felt in a number of ways.
The reigning SWAC player of the year ran a solid 4.58 40 yard dash, showcasing the speed that saw him run through and past defenders at Jackson State, breaking the single-season record of one Walter Payton.
“It’s not just the big schools like the Alabamas, Clemson… HBCU guys can ball as well,” Mulligan told Steve Wyche of the NFL Network at the combine. “ I came out here not to just perform for myself, and put on for all the HBCU guys. And perform for them and give them confidence as well. It’s a lot of guys that wish they cold be here today and they wasn’t so I had to put on for them and show out.”
Mulligan’s running ability has never been in question. He ran for a total of 3,244 yards in his career, which began at Wofford. But showing that he can catch the ball was a big objective for the 5’10, 205 pound back.
“I showed that — for one — I’m a dominant guy in the run game,” Mulligan said. “I showed similar traits as some of the guys in the league now like Alvin Kamara, Dalvin Cook, things of that nature. I showed them that I could be an all-around back — especially today. They didn’t see me get in the passing game a lot during the season but today I really showcased that.”
Irv Mulligan said he saw his pass catching was questioned coming into the NFL draft period after catching just 13 passes in his career.
“I’ll be honest — that was one of my weaknesses on my scouting report,” Mulligan said. “I wanted to come out here and show that I can really catch the ball, I can catch just as good as a wide receiver. If they wanted to put me in the slot — I can play slot wide receiver. I’m a versatile guy and I wanted to show that I’m an all-around back.”
Moving forward as he progresses to practices for the HBCU Legacy Bowl, Mulligan says he’s intent on showing other skills besides running. Namely — blocking.
“The main thing for me is I want to show that I can also protect the quarterback. When the linebackers come, when we do one-on-one blocking, I’m going to show them that just like I caught every ball today, I’m going to block every linebacker in practice. “
It’s hard to bet against the man that broke Walter Payton’s record.