CHARLOTTE — It was Carolina week for pro days as the NFL inches closer and closer to this year's draft. While ample attention was on LSU and Miami as they hosted their workouts earlier this week, several schools across North Carolina also drew crowds thanks to defensive talent on display.

We traveled around the state to find some of the most interesting tidbits at five of those pro days: UNC, Duke, N.C. State, Wake Forest, and Appalachian State. Here are five takeaways from some of the top prospects at those schools.

Thad Dixon limits workouts, but still makes impression

The Tar Heels kicked off the week of workouts Monday morning, with corners Thaddeus Dixon and Marcus Allen the biggest names on the field. Dixon elected to do only a couple of drills and run one 40-yard dash, leaning instead on his combine numbers for the vertical (39.5) and broad jump (10-5).

Pro day was a chance for Dixon to have more face time with scouts, though. His best season was in 2024, when he had 43 tackles, 10 passes defensed, a forced fumble, and an interception. Injuries sidelined him for seven games in 2025. With the draft less than a month away now, Dixon wanted to remind teams of what he can bring to a roster.

"I had a lot of good conversations, got to talk to a lot of scouts," Dixon said Monday after pro day. "Same scouts I've been seeing since the Senior Bowl and down there in Indy (Indianapolis) at the combine. So, a lot of familiar faces."

The LA native followed Steve Belichick from Washington to North Carolina when the latter took over as the Tar Heels' defensive coordinator last season. He has primarily played outside in both defenses, but saw his share of snaps as a slot corner go up significantly in 2025 (15 percent).

The 6-1, 185-pound defensive back has spoken with teams about both positions, but most see him in one spot.

"A lot of teams like me as an outside press corner," Dixon explained. "Some teams like me playing in a nickel in their scheme. So it really just depends on the team, depends on the scheme, things like that."

Between the Senior Bowl, the combine, and now pro day, he's spoken with countless scouts from every team. The consensus, according to Dixon, is he'll likely be a mid-round pick. Now comes the waiting game.

"Obviously, it's a lot of pressure, but at the end of the day, it's just football," said Dixon. "It's the same game we've been playing since we were five years old, so you know, you really don't make too much of it, you know, obviously, a lot on the line, so you treat it accordingly, but at the end of the day it's just football, man."

Chandler Rivers draws crowds and praise at pro day

Of all the prospects working out in the state this week, none are ranked higher on Pro Football Focus than Chandler Rivers.

The Duke corner is PFF's 73rd-ranked prospect for April's draft, thanks to back-to-back seasons that saw him smother opponents. In Rivers' 2024 season, the Beaumont, Tex. native posted 54 tackles, eight passes defensed, 1.0 sack, two forced fumbles, and three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. He finished that year with a 90.7 grade on PFF after holding quarterbacks to a 64.3 passer rating.

Teams tested Rivers a bit more in 2025, and he finished with 59 tackles, eight passes defensed again, one forced fumble, and two interceptions.

The DB told reporters at the combine that Jaycee Horn was one of his favorite corners to watch and mimic.

"I like watching his off-man tape because he's a technician and I pride myself on being a technician, like being detailed, and that's just what I get when I watch him play," Rivers said.

The two might look like drastically different players at first glance—Rivers is 5-10, 185 pounds, compared to Horn's 6-1, 200 pounds—but the Duke product has a knack for drawing the same sort of awe as his Pro Bowl inspiration.

In front of a crowd that included representatives from over 25 teams Monday afternoon, Rivers put on a show. He ran defensive back drills up one sideline, down another, across the middle of the field, and did everything asked of him and more.

Anyone who watched the Blue Devils play the last four years had an idea of what Rivers could bring. But watching him jump high to make acrobatic catches and pass break-ups over and over, drawing reactions each time, was a reminder of just how much bigger than his frame and tenacious Rivers plays.

"I just love playing the game of football, and I feel like you play it the right way, good things happen," he said in Indianapolis.

Rivers was just one of several prospects who garnered attention at the ACC champions' pro day, though. With the entire team on hand to support the large group of seniors, including Rivers, who stayed for all four years, defensive linemen Vincent Anthony Jr. and Wesley Williams, and offensive lineman Brian Parker, all worked out and ran drills for their positions.

Anthony participated in the pass-rusher drills as expected, then also ran linebacker drills, expanding his draftability in front of the assembled scouts.

Pro day a good chance to reconnect for Joly

NC State tight end Justin Joly has enjoyed most parts of the draft process. From the Senior Bowl to the combine, from 30 visits to his pro day on Tuesday in Raleigh, each opportunity was a chance to meet another person who could change his future.

"Honestly, just getting to meet new people, getting people to know my name, and just the opportunity," Joly said Tuesday of the best part. "There's not a lot of people who are in my position. There's a lot of people who want it, but having it is something else and being appreciative of it as well."

But the months-long, life-changing job interview has some parts he'll be happy to see done, too.

"The medicals aren't fun," he admitted, before saying with a laugh, "and then the Zoom calls."

"When I was down at my Airbnb in Fort Lauderdale, I had a colorful background with paintings on the wall. They're like,'Where are you at?' I'm like 'Hands up in the air. I promise you, this is not my crib.' There are frogs on the wall, elephants, giraffes."

But each explanation was worth it because of who was on the other end.

"I could be having like three Zoom calls a day," he said. "But, honestly, that just means people want you."

Still, having scouts from almost 30 teams in the room on Tuesday and getting to speak in person again without an 80's pastel beach print hanging in the background as a distraction meant Joly could remind clubs once again the kind of prospect they'd be drafting.

"I just showed that I can block and I can catch, you get, you know, two things you need in a player for one person," he said of his field work, putting a cherry on top of the 2025 season of 49 receptions, 489 yards, and seven touchdowns. He also had nine contested receptions, according to PFF, the third most in the FBS.

This is the time of year when teams are getting to know the player beyond the tape, though, and that was the impression he wanted to make more than anything else.

"If they do a background check, nothing ever comes up," promised Joly. "I don't drink. I don't smoke, never been a problem. I love my mom. I know how to treat women correctly.

"I think teams know that they're going to get a guy that's going to come in there and compete. I love competing. I love being out there and just showing off and just being the best player I could be."

Wake running back ready to take his passion to the NFL

For about 10 minutes Wednesday afternoon, every eye in the Wake Forest football indoor complex—over 100 Demon Deacon teammates, scouts and coaches from the NFL, family members, agents, and media members — was on Demond Claiborne.

The running back made cuts, ducked under barriers, and put on a show as coaches from the Vikings and Cowboys put him through his paces. Save one misstep late into the drill, the running back glided, cut, and jumped through every part of the drill the NFL coaches tasked him with.

Claiborne, who over the last two years has had 407 carries for 1,956 yards and 21 touchdowns, put up impressive testing numbers at the combine as well. Between the tape, the testing, and the pro day performance, it's now just about proving to teams the person he can be in the locker room.

"I really just want them to know that, beyond football, that I care a lot and I'm passionate about the game. Sometimes I think I play football so passionate and physical that some teams might not necessarily understand why I might play with a chip on my shoulder.

"But really just letting these teams know that I'm coming to work every day. I'm trying to put my best foot forward every day to help the club win. And so really just show them that, other than being a physical, outstanding football player, but just a great man. Somebody that wants to get around his future teammates and get around their families. And just learn from some of the greats."

Claiborne grew up in Aylett, Va., a small, country town outside of Richmond, and attended high school in the even smaller community of King William, Va. He spent four years at Wake Forest, never wavering or transferring, because he knew he was on a path to providing for his mom and four brothers by doing what he loves most.

"Just having the opportunity, man, this is unreal," he admitted Wednesday. "I come from the country, the middle of nowhere. And so being able to go to the NFL combine, do pro day, the first person ever in my community to even go to the combine or to even do a pro day, and so just being able to put my foot forward and doing that is definitely all things I'm super happy for and that I want teams to know about."

Rockingham native looking to make his impact

Dalton Stroman landed his first broad jump to a chorus of oohs and ahhs from the assembled crowd. The App State wide receiver was one of the last Mountaineers players to line up for the drill during ASU's pro day on Wednesday afternoon, and he was determined not only to stand out but also to reach his testing goals.

After a scout read off his first jump, 10feet, 5 inches, Stroman circled back to the starting point and asked, "where is 11?" After a moment to catch his breath, he jumped again. He didn't get quite as far as he hoped, but still walked away with the best mark of the day, at 10-6, kick starting an impressive pro day showing for the Rockingham native.

But the wide receiver, who finished his final season pulling in 35 receptions for 666 yards and four touchdowns, is never going to be satisfied with good enough.

"I know I can get 11," he assured after the afternoon of drills was complete. "I could have done better on the 5-10-5 (shuttle) and the three-cone drill, but I just got it in my head.

"That's how hard I am on myself. I know I can do it. I can keep pushing forward, keep pushing forward. I know I can do better than that."

Stroman was at App State for five years, soaking up every opportunity to learn more and more about the game he fell in love with late in life. He was in his sophomore year of high school when his parents, Dalton Sr. and Janet, saw a talent and potential that needed to be nourished. So they encouraged Stroman to join the football team.

"My mom and my dad saw my talent, and I pursued it, went to college, and now I'm here," Stroman recalled.

"I fell in love with the game and then pursued it. I started loving it more and more and more…really, my mom pushed me every day to be the best man I can be and the best athlete I can be, really."

Now it's just about proving to the NFL that mom is always right. He has been training in recent months to address areas of his game that need improvement before joining the NFL. Wednesday was a chance to show the scouts on hand that he'sready.

"My route running, my hands," he said of some of his focus. "I've been trying to work on my route running a lot, and I feel like that's going to be a big factor for me in the NFL."

And whatever comes next, he'll always push for more.