COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Terps safety Darnell Savage Jr. didn’t do much March 27 at Maryland’s Pro Day.

He didn’t need to.

The pro prospect from Newark, Del., took care of business at the NFL Scouting Combine back in February and posted numbers that have helped skyrocket him up draft boards. After standing out at the Senior Bowl in January, Savage went to the combine in Indianapolis and ran a blazing 4.36 seconds 40-yard dash, which was third-fastest among defensive backs. The 5-foot-11, 200-pounder also achieved an impressive 39.5-inch vertical jump (tied for seventh among defensive backs).

“I wasn’t surprised,” said Savage, who claims his fastest unofficial 40 time is 4.27 seconds. “I knew I was capable of it. I don’t think other people knew. I was just doing what I’ve been doing, just working hard and just letting everything handle itself.”

Being discussed as one of the top safeties in the draft and a potential early round pick, Savage didn’t stand to gain much from overdoing it at Pro Day. That is why he contained himself to just field drills on Wednesday, no testing.

He has been training in New Jersey to prepare for the next level and returned to College Park to finish up his pre-draft workouts and support his teammates that are also looking to impress NFL scouts.

“I felt as though I tested well enough at the combine,” Savage said. “I just wanted to come here and be with my team again. This is the first time we’ve all been together in the same place in a long time so just being here is a great experience.”

Savage said he is done with publicized pre-draft workouts after Pro Day and will now move on to the phase of the process where he begins to meet with NFL teams individually. When it comes to which teams already have or will be meeting with Savage, the list of organizations that haven’t or won’t is likely much shorter.

“I’ve met with a lot of teams, pretty much all of them honestly,” Savage said. “I’m going to pretty much be all over the place. I’m excited to kind of just see all of the places I can and spend a lot of time with the great minds in the NFL.”

But Savage has already been going straight to the source and tapping into some NFL minds. His best friend, former teammate, and Carolina Panthers wide receiver DJ Moore is someone Savage likes to turn to for advice, as well as several other former Terps in the NFL such as JC Jackson, Sean Davis, and AJ Hendy.

“I’ve got a lot of friends who are in the NFL so I’m always in their ear trying to get all of the knowledge I can so I can try to be a sponge and try to learn as much as I can,” Savage said. “There’s a lot of guys I can go to to ask for advice and ask how they adjusted to everything.”

Another Maryland alum with NFL experience who has had the chance to speak with Savage about the draft is former Terps defensive back Dennard Wilson, who is now the passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach for the New York Jets and was putting Savage through drills at Pro Day.

“[Wilson] talks and jokes with me a little bit and stuff like that,” Savage said. “He’s a good guy, good guy to learn from. You just always try to soak up as much knowledge as you can from guys like that. They’ve been around a lot of football and you can always learn a lot.”

Savage is a versatile defensive back who will likely play safety at the next level but could be moved around the secondary and remain effective. Savage, who finished Second Team All-Big Ten and second in the conference in interceptions (4) last season, said he sees some of himself in former Alabama Crimson Tide and current NFL safety Eddie Jackson, who has had loads of success early on in his career with the Chicago Bears.

“I really like watching [Jackson] play,” Savage said. “He’s fast, physical. I think I kind of play the same.”

Anyone who has seen Savage play would say that description--fast and physical--is accurate. A true ball hawk in his time in College Park, Savage will focus on making his mark in the NFL once he hears his name get announced as a draft selection.

Until then, he’s drowning out the noise and trusting that his hard work will pay off.

“I’m not really listening to [pre-draft talk] right now,” Savage said. “I’m just kind of enjoying the process. I know I’m doing everything I can to put myself in the best position, but I’m not in control of what happens at the end of the day. So as long as I continue to work hard and just do the right things on and off the field I feel like it’s going to work out.”