The Roanoke Times | File photos 2011

Virginia Tech receiver Danny Coale (19) celebrates a touchdown with split end Jarrett Boykin.

Virginia Tech running back David Wilson breaks away from the North Carolina defense. Wilson hopes to get a chance to surprise people at the NFL Combine this week.

Roanoke Times File 2011

Jayron Hosely is ranked the No. 10 cornerback in the upcoming draft by NFLDraftScout.com.

BLACKSBURG - The days are long for former Virginia Tech receivers Danny Coale and Jarrett Boykin, who are both working out at Competitive Edge Sports in Atlanta in advance of this week's NFL Combine.

The average day includes three separate two-hour workouts, rotating between receiver exercises, combine-specific drills and weightlifting, with a unique - and grueling - resistance workout in the pool thrown in once a week.

Still, finding motivation is not hard.

"You also have to remind yourself that you are unemployed and you are looking for work," Coale said.

It's with that in mind that four former Virginia Tech players - Coale, Boykin, running back David Wilson and cornerback Jayron Hosley - head to Indianapolis for the NFL Combine, a weeklong exercise of on-field drills, interviews and psychological tests in front of seemingly every general manager, coach and scout in pro football.

"There's going to be a lot of chances to shock people at the combine," Wilson said. "I want to be in that category."

The combine officially began Wednesday, although running backs and wide receivers travel to Indianapolis today, take measurements Friday, do psychological testing and interviews Saturday, and participate in on-field drills Sunday.

For Hosley and the defensive backs, the final group, that four-day schedule doesn't begin until Saturday.

Wilson has worked out at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando with Tom Shaw, who trained former Hokies running back Kevin Jones.

The All-American track star's goal is to turn in the fastest 40-yard dash time of the running backs at the combine or, failing that, the fastest of the top tier of backs that include Alabama's Trent Richardson, Miami's Lamar Miller, Boise State's Doug Martin and Washington's Chris Polk.

"I feel like I can definitely run in the 4.3s, but sub-4.3 is my real goal," said Wilson, who said he ran a 40 in 4.4 seconds at 70 percent recently.

"The combine I basically look at as a track meet," he said. "You jump, you run - the same stuff as a track meet, basically."

Questions remain about Wilson's ability to be a physical runner in the NFL, which might keep him out of the first round. He's up to 208 pounds, a four-pound increase from last year at Virginia Tech, but he doesn't want to add so much weight that it takes away from his trademark speed.

The combine only provides so many opportunities to show scouts what he can do.

"There's no contact, so you can't show them you're a physical runner or anything," Wilson said. "I'm going to go in and catch the football when they throw them and run my routes sharp, cut sharp, run fast, jump high, jump far - and they'll take it from there."

Hosley, who was unable to be reached for comment, will have an opportunity to improve his draft stock, which has slipped since the start of the year.

NFLDraftScout.com has Hosley as the No. 10 cornerback in the draft, projecting him to go in the second or third round. ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay questioned Hosley's size (5-10, 172) and physicality against the run, putting him as a potential third- or fourth-round pick.

"I think that he's just a few notches away from being where he needs to be from going in and compete to even be a No. 3 or No. 4," McShay said. "And I thought he could easily use another year at Virginia Tech."

Coale has spent the past month recovering from a pulled intercostal muscle near his rib that forced him to pull out of the East-West Shrine Game in January. He says he's at full strength now.

He's NFLDraftScout's No. 36 receiver (Boykin is 34th), although McShay loves Coale's sleeper potential, touting his toughness and ability to catch the ball in traffic.

"I'm not saying he's going to be a No. 2 [receiver]," McShay said. "But I am saying that he can be a very productive No. 3 in the NFL and be in the league for a long time, the type of guy who can bring versatility."

Coale spoke with a pair of former Virginia Tech players currently in the NFL - quarterback Tyrod Taylor and safety Cody Grimm - about what to expect in Indianapolis.

"They remind you that you prepared not just the last six weeks for the combine, but you've been preparing for a while," Coale said. "You have to just let your athletic ability show and just give it your best. Then whatever happens happens.

"And be prepared in the interviews to show who you really are. That's what teams really want to see is just who is Danny Coale and what is he about? ... So I'm just going to take it moment by moment and stride by stride. It'll turn out all right."