Wednesday afternoon South
practice:
GBN Staff report
One of the unfortunate side effects of the Senior Bowl is that
it’s football and players get injured playing football and a number of
players have been dinged in Mobile this week. The most serious may have
been to Tennessee T/G Ramon Foster who was carted off the field with a
suspected knee injury. Meanwhile, Cincinnati CB Mike Mickens lasted
only one day in Mobile after his previously injured knee became
inflamed. North Carolina WR Brooks Foster also returned home early with
an undisclosed injury, while both Washington State WR Brandon Gibson
and Tnnessee RB Arian Foster left Wednesday’s practice sessions with
what appeared to be a hamstring injuries, while Georgia WR Mohamed
Massaquoi missed Wednesday’s practice with an ankle injury. To fill in
the ranks, players added to the roster this week include Florida State
WR Greg Carr, Oklahoma WR Manuel Johnson and Michigan CB Morgan Trent.
The best part of the watching the Senior Bowl are the one-on-one pass
rush duals between the offensive and defensive linemen. Because there
is more space to operate than in a real game, the defense has a bit of
an advantage in these drills, however, the offensive linemen should
still win the bulk of the time. That hasn’t been the case in Mobile
this week as the defensive linemen have dominated their offensive
counterparts. And that was the case again yesterday afternoon at the
South practice where the issue wasn’t whether the pass rushers would
actually get to the QB, but who got there the fastest. Meanwhile, for
the offensive linemen the question wasn’t whether anyone could stop
their man on a consistent but could anyone stop anyone at all.
As such, it was tough to get a consistent read on the individual
performances. Among the defensive linemen, it wasn’t hard to notice
that Ole Miss DT Peria Jerry was again pretty much unblockable in the
one-on-one drills. Georgia DT Corey Irvin also had another solid day,
while fellow DTs Fili Moala of USC and Vance Walker of Georgia Tech had
their moments but weren’t quite as dominant. Meanwhile, unheralded DEs
David Veikune of Hawaii and Richmond’s Lawrence Sidbury were
consistently able to get to the edge in the one-on-one drills. Sidbury,
though, had bigger problems holding the point of attack in the 11-on-11
scrimmage.
And while the defensive linemen generally dominated a couple of
interior G/Cs held up reasonably well. Alabama C Antoine Caldwell, in
particular, showed good quickness and functional strength as he stood
up Walker at the line of scrimmage on a couple of snaps. Meanwhile,
Green played with a solid wide base and really battled to the whistle.
On the other hand, it was another perplexing day for Ole Miss T Michael
Oher. On some plays Oher looked like the top 10 prospect he is supposed
to be as he got in a devastating punch as slid easily about the pocket
mirroring the DE. On others, though, Oher appeared stiff and
flat-footed and was beaten cleanly on a couple of outside-inside moves.
He also was knocked right off his pins by USC LB Clay Matthews who took
a few reps at DE in the one-on-one drill. Florida OT Jason Watkins also
struggled as he appeared to play too high and struggled to change
direction.
It was also hard not to miss 382-pound LSU OG Herman Johnson who
literally blocks out the sun. Unfortunately, it was about the only
thing Johnson blocked. He got completely turned around on one rush by
Jerry, and then was driven back into the QBs, again by Jerry. Again,
the problem for Johnson, especially in this particular drill, was that
he just doesn’t move all that well.
This hasn’t been a great week for the QBs in Mobile. Indeed, a case can
be that the best arm and throwing motion at the Senior Bowl belongs to
Pat White of West Virginia, who is expected to play another position in
the pros. White, though, has surprised with his velocity and accuracy,
although he is still awfully slight in the pocket such that if he is to
play QB in the pros it still would seem to be more likely in Canada
than in the NFL. Meanwhile, Cullen Harper of Clemson also showed a live
arm, but wasn’t real accurate. Alabama’s John Parker Wilson has also
been throwing the ball harder than most people expected, but looks slow
setting up in the pocket and delivering the ball.
We have noted in the past that all-star games are lousy venues for RBs
to show their stuff as they just don’t get enough carries, plus there
isn’t any real tackling in the practice sessions. That said, both
224-pound Andre Brown of North Carolina State and 232-pound Arian
Foster of Tennessee have both shown good vision and made some precise
cuts into the hole in limited carries this week. Unfortunately, though,
as noted above, Foster appeared to hurt a hammy after a botched
hand-off in Wednesday’s workout.
Neither Brown nor Foster showed much in the way of blocking skills when
the backs took on the LBs in a pass-blocking drill. In fact, the LBs,
led by USC’s Rey Maualuga pretty much dominated the drill. Maualuga, in
particular, had scouts raving after yesterday’s practice as he was
aggressive all over the field. The problem for Maualuga, though, just
about everything the backers were doing this week in Mobile was very in
his comfort zone coming forward and attacking the line of scrimmage.
What Maualuga wasn’t asked to do much of, in contrast, and where the
questions lie regarding his ultimate draft status are playing in
reverse. Meanwhile, Maryland OLB Moise Fokou also impressed with his
quickness, while USC LB Brian Cushing also was always around the ball.
On the other hand, LSU MLB Darry Beckwith had some trouble getting off
blocks, while USC OLB/DE Clay Matthews, primarily an edge rusher in
college, didn’t always look all that comfortable playing in space.
The play of the day for the South squad was turned in by Wake Forest CB
Alphonso Smith who made a great break on an underneath route run by
Kenny McKinley of South Carolina, then tipped the ball in the air o
himself for a highlight reel pick. Later, though, Smith was beaten on a
nice move by rangy USC WR Patrick Turner. Turner, in fact, showed some
very precise moves for a 6-5 receiver, but didn’t catch the ball all
that cleanly. Meanwhile, San Jose State CB Coye Francies again was
tough in press coverage as he really got into the face of receivers,
but wasn’t as comfortable reacting to the ball in a zone scheme.
Jackson State CB Domonique Johnson, one of the fastest players in
Mobile, also didn’t play that fast as he also tended to be very
tentative coming out of his backpeddle.
A bit of a hush came over the crowd when Southern Miss TE Shawn Nelson,
one of the biggest surprises in Mobile this week uncharacteristically
dropped a pass right in his mid-section when he inexplicably left his
feet to try and catch the ball. Nelson, though, came back a few plays
later to extend himself to snare a TD pass in the end zone. Better for
Nelson, who was thought to be an undersized H-back type coming into
Mobile, was that he continued to show terrific explosion and
aggressiveness blocking. While not very big, Nelson was consistently
getting into his man off the snap before the latter could react. Also
saw some nice blocking from North Carolina State TE Anthony Hill.
Wednesday morning North
practice:
GBN Staff report
This morning’s North practice was a sloppy affair which
included as many as four botched snaps as well as at least one fumbled
hand-off. In fact, it was another rather pedestrian day all-around for
the North QBs. Texas Tech gunslinger Graham Harrell at least showed
some nice touch and accuracy as well as a smooth delivery, but the ball
takes awhile to get there. Sam Houston State’s Rhett Bomar, on the
other hand, has a live arm and a compact delivery, but too many passes
ended up on the receiver’s back shoulder.
Wednesday’s practice also confirmed what we’d seen the first couple of
days from the North receivers. Ohio State possession WR Brian Robiskie
has excellent size, runs nice routes, and has sticky hands, but isn’t
going to run by anyone. Same for Brandon Gibson of Washington who can
find the open space and uses his body effectively to shield off
defenders from the ball, but struggles to get much separation on deep
routes. Meanwhile Derrick Williams of Penn State is super-quick but not
all that physical, while Cal Poly Ramses Barden is a huge target with
decent hands, but lacks much in the way of agility or explosion.
Oklahoma WR Juaquin Iglesias also hasn’t looked very smooth running,
but seems to get open and has good hands and concentration.
And speaking of North receivers, arguably the most interesting story of
the day involved Connor Barwin of Cincinnati. Barwin lined up at TE the
first two days of practice, the position he played earl in his career
at Cincinnati, but switched back over to DE, the position he played in
2008, at this morning’s practice. And Barwin, who has also played for
the Bearcats hoop squad in the past, didn’t look at all out of place on
the defensive side of the ball. Barwin showed some very good quickness
and explosion coming off the edge in the one-on-one pass rush drills as
he blasted past Oklahoma OT Phil Loadholt, and then blew up a running
play with some great penetration in the 11-on-11 portion of practice.
As with this week’s earlier practices, the best player on the field for
the North was Boston College DT BJ. Raji. Raji was unblockable in both
the one-on-one pass rush drills and the full scrimmage sequence; in the
latter, Raji personally stuffed two running plays in the backfield, the
second of which he ranged far down the line of scrimmage, and also
regularly collapsed the pocket rushing the passer.
Illinois DE Will Davis also had a strong practice, as did Northern
Illinois DE Larry English. Davis showed a nice swim move as well as a
solid change of direction, while English was consistently able to beat
his man to the corner. UConn DE Cody Brown also had his best day of
practice. While more of a tweener, Brown was able to get into the pads
of Illinois OT Xavier Fulton and put the bigger man on his back and
generally showed a little more quickness and creativity than earlier in
the week.
For the most part, it was an up-and-down day for the North offensive
line. Two guys who had more downs than ups were the afore-mentioned
Loadholt and Oregon State G/T Andy Levitre. With Loadholt, its game
over when he gets his long arms into an opposing DE, however, he
struggles to cut off the edge by quick outside rushers and has limited
ability to change direction. Same story for Levitre, who was strong
enough at the point of attack, but really struggled to move laterally.
On the other hand, UConn William Beatty, Oregon C/G Max Unger and
Virginia Tech C Ryan Shuman were solid enough on the day. The
unheralded Shuman, in particular, got big Ron Brace, the other Boston
College DT in Mobile, on the ground on several plays.
Back in the secondary, Western Michigan DB Louis Delmas continued to
provide very aggressive run support, while Uconn CB Darius Butler, also
filled nicely on one run. There were a couple of nice coverages by LBs
Nik Harris of Oklahoma and Pitt’s Scott McKillop. Meanwhile, Virginia
LB Clint Sintim, who led all NCAA backers in sacks this fall, got a few
reps with the defensive linemen in the one-on-one pass rush drill with
the offensive linemen and showed some initial quickness off the
snap, but not much in the way of lateral movement. Sintim also got
caught flat-footed reacting to a running play.
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By Jon Cozart, GBN Chief Scout
Tuesday afternoon South
practice:
Unfortunately, there
was less to be taken from this afternoon’s South practice than from the
North practices this week. The practice ended early and a significant
portion of it was dedicated to special teams which made it difficult to
evaluate the individual players at their resoective positions. Plus, a
lot of the plays run when the South went into an 11-on-11 series were
gadget type plays - screens, draws, reverses and the like - which may
have been just as well as the South defense appears to be way ahead of
the defense.
And if the South ever needs a nickname for its squad they could call
them the 'Late Bloomers' as most of the best players on the field today
were less heralded prospects who really didn't emerge as national
prospects unil their senior campaigns. Georgia DT Corey Irvin, for
example, combined with Georgia Tech DT Vance Walker for a thunderous
sack on the 11-on-11 and then later blew up a running play for a TFL.
On both plays Irvin bested Louisville C Eric Wood. Wood was also
victimized for a sack by Ole Miss DT Peria Jerry who literally ran
through an attempted double team by Wood and Arkansas C Jonathan Luigs.
On the afternoon, Jerry consistenly got great leverage as he kept his
pads low and was relentless in pursuit. Meanwhile, small school DE
Lawrence Sidbury of D-1A Richmond flashe plenty of explosion and
quickness coming off the edge, as did DEs Robert Ayers of Tennessee and
Kyle Moore of Southern Cal. Moore, though, wasn't the only USC player
to make his presence felt as DT Fili Moala showed both the ability to
spin off a block and get to the passer as well as collapse the pocket
off a bull-rush.
While he struggled in the 11-on-11 series, C Wood held up better in the
one-on-one drills when he battled to draws with Irvin. Alabama C
Antoine Caldwell also more than held his own in the one-on-one drills
involving offensive and defensive linemen as he anchored well against
both Irvin and Walker. Caldwell was able to lock on to his opponent,
set a firm base and shut them down in individual drills.
Something of a hush came over the gathering of pro scouts when Ole Miss
OT Michael Oher, arguably the highest rated player in Mobile this week,
made like a statue on his first series in the one-on-one drills.
Indeed, unheralded Hawaii DE David Veikune blew past Oher like he was
standing still - well actually he was standing still - on their first
two reps. Clearly, someone on the Jacksonville coaching staff, which is
running the South practces, got in Oher'sear hole as he dominated on
his next series; in fact, Oher pretty much shut everything done in
front of him the rest of the day. The fact that he needed to be
jumpstarted isn't going to enhance Oher's grade as he came to Mobile
with a reputation for turning it on and off at times during his Ole
Miss career.
While the South defense has generally dominated the offense so far this
week, arguably the most impressive player on the South team has been
Southern Mississippi TE Shawn Nelson. Regarded mostly as a WR in a TE's
body, Nelson has proven to be a solid all-around playerat the position
ashe has blocked well and caught everything in sight with soft hands
and great body control when the ball is in the air. Arizona WR Mike
Thomas, a late addition to the Senior Bowl lineup after an outstanding
week at the Shrine game, also looked good showing excellent quickness
out of his breaks' Thomas, though, isn't overly big and did struggle at
times to beat the jam at the line of scrimmage. Georgia WR Mohamed
Massaquoi also looked smoth coming off the line of scrimmage, although
he dropped a pass today that was a little underthrown, but he should
have come up with.
There has also been a bit of a buzz growing in Mobile about San Jose
State CB Coye Francies, yet another South prospect who is hardy a
household name outside his own neighborhood. Francies, a track star who
originally signed at Oregon State before transferring because of some
legal difficulties was very aggressive in press coverage, although he
won't be able to hand-check like he was doing in Mobile in the pros.
Francies also showed that he can turn and run with any receiver in town
this week. And in keping with the 'no-mame' theme, West Virginia CB
Ellis Lankster, yet another South late bloomer who may not even be a
household name in his own home, also provided consistently tight
coverage.
Tuesday morning North
practice:
The big news pehaps from this mornings North pracice was that
the offensive line, which appeared to have missed the wake-up call from
their pre-practice naps yesterday afternoon, was collecively much
sharper. C Alex Mack and Okalhoma OT Phil Loadholt have looked
good. In fact, I haven’t witnessed Loadholt getting beat in
either practice so far. Loadholt has consistently gotten great arm
extension and has displayed much more active feet than expected. Mack
hasn’t been as dominate but is taking care of business in his own
right. He gives himself a solid base and can anchor against the
big men like 340-pound Boston College DT Ron Brace. Meanwhile, Illinois
OT Xavier Fulton also had a solid workout this morning as he also
showed quick feet in transition. Oregon State T/G Andy Levitre also
showed plenty of strength, but didn't show much in the way of lateral
quickness and doesn’t appear to have the feet to play tackle. I’d like
to see him at guard where he wouldn’t have to battle the quicker
defensive ends on an island.
While the North offensive line was improved today, Boston College DT
B.J. Raji continued to dominate. The 334-pounder is living in the
backfield making interior lineman look ridiculous. The backside
of this stud defensive tackle is enormous and he looks like he was born
to demolish the squat rack. That strength transfers to the field
as he can bull rush anyone. In individual drills he threw Oregon
OL Max Unger to the ground in a move reminiscent of Reggie White in
Super Bowl XXXI. However, brute strength isn’t the only impressive
aspect of this mauler’s game. His pass rush repertoire is
special. Raji’s first step is very quick and he gets his hips
underneath him to create great leverage. He can turn the corner
and make himself small to beat the man in front of him. Honestly,
I have to make myself focus on other players because I could watch him
all day. Raji is a top five pick in my opinion and has been by
far the most impressive player on the North. Raji's BC teammate
Ron Brace is also stout along the defensive front, but seems to lack
the pass rush moves necessary to beat his man on a consistent basis.
Missouri DT Ziggy Hood has looked solid; he could use some refinement,
but the strength and talent is evident. Same for Purdue DT Alex Magee
who demonstrated a quick first step and good lateral movement.
Meanwhile, Northern Illinois DE Larry English has the quickest first
step among the North DEs and consistently turned the corner on the
offensive tackle across from him, although he also got stuffed a couple
of times when he spent too much time at the line of scrimmage
head-faking rather than exploding into the backfield. On the other
hand, UConn DE/OLB Cody Brown really struggled to disengage from
blockers and got engulfed on a couple of sequences.
Nobody was describing the North passing attack as a clinic this
morning. None of the three North QBs - Graham Harrell of Texas Tech,
Sam Houston State's Rhett Bomar and Nathan Brown of Central Arkansas -
threw the ball all that well. Bomar, the one-time big-time recruit at
Oklahoma, at least showed plenty of arm strength and a smooth release,
but needs to improve his footwork team. Meanwhile, both Harrell and
Brown needed too much wind-up to get on even intermediate routes, while
too many of Brown's passes wobbled. Scouts, though, have reportedly
been impressed by Harrell's work while tying to learn the intricacies
of working under center. It also wasn't the greatest day for the North
receivers. Brandon Gibson of Washington State did a nice job getting
open underneath, however, dropped a couple of easy passes when he let
the ball get into his body, while 6-6, 227-pound Cal Poly WR Ramses
Barden was almost impossible to cover on a couple of simple slant
routes, but didn'tlook very smooth or quick on other routes. On the
other hand, Penn State WR Derrick Williams continued to look like the
quickest guy on the North team.
While the North receivers struggled at times, several DBs had very good
days. Virginia Tech CB Victor ' Macho' Harris was very physical at the
line of scrimmage jamming receivers and also was very quick running
with receivers in the open field. Oregon State CB Keenan Lewis, who has
nice
size for a cover corner, was also very smooth on the break. Meanwhile,
North safeties Patrick Chung of Oregon and Louis Delmas of Western
Michigan had excellent practices, however, Missouri FS Will Moore, one
of the highest rated players coming into Mobile continued to struggle,
Moore just hasn't looked very quick or smooth and has fallen down way
too much.
Day One Highlights…
Day one at the Senior Bowl has come to a close. It was a
beautiful day here in Mobile while much of the country has been
enduring a frigid climate lately. Hopefully we’ll have a full
week of great weather before the game on Saturday.
Monday morning started out with the weigh-in and if physical build has
anything to do with who wins the big game my money is on the
South. The South squad really passes the eyeball test and has
considerably more studs than the North. However, one guy on the
South Team that didn’t conform to the rest of his peers and showed up
at 382 pounds was the mountainous man Herman Johnson. The room
was relatively quiet for the seventy minute or so weigh-in with the
exception of the thirty seconds after Johnson’s weight was announced to
the room. Collective whispers filled the room as Johnson blew
away Phil Loadholt, who was the second heaviest, by almost 40
pounds. Loadholt tipped the scales at 343 pounds and although he
was bulky he didn’t appear to be soft. He carried the weight well
and will probably be asked to drop a few pounds once he’s drafted, but
he won’t have to lose much as the bulk fit his 6-8 frame better than
expected. He at least assuaged my concerns about his
weight. Here are a few others that seemed to stand out
either positively or negatively at the weigh-in:
Clemson QB Cullen
Harper
Just looked like a guy
Liberty RB Rashad
Jennings
Thick and muscular
USC MLB Rey Maualuga
Big legs; soft
torso
Alabama TE Travis
McCall
Short and overweight
SMU P Thomas
Morstead
Thick build for a punter
Tennessee OG Anthony
Parker
Gut hangs over his waist; looked soft
Georgia Tech DT Vance
Walker
Soft gut
West Virginia QB Pat
White
Has descent muscle tone but lean; not built like a
QB.
Alabama QB John Parker
Wilson
Very little muscle tone
Cal Poly WR Ramses Barden
At 6-6, 227 looked like he belonged;
Tall and Strong
Boston College DT Ron
Brace
Looked fat
Missouri DT Ziggy
Hood
Really stood out. Barrel chest with thick legs, but still a very lean
298
Oregon State T/G Andy
Levitre
Soft gut
Oklahoma State TE Brandon
Pettigrew Good looking
kid
Boston College DT B..J.
Raji
Soft belly, but big legs and huge backside
Virginia LB Clint
Sintim
Huge legs that look like they belong to a 325-pounder
Monday Afternoon North Practice:
Both the North and South teams practiced at the same time today and I
chose to go to the North practice. Practice only lasted 90
minutes and there were multiple drills going on so I didn’t get a look
at everyone. I’d like to get a better look at everyone before I
offer an opinion on someone, but that’s no fun for our readers so here
is what caught my eye today. Western Michigan DB Louis Delmas was agile
and confident today and more than held his own. Missouri DB William
Moore fell once during a drill for defensive backs, but looked big and
fast before that so we’ll see if he can recover from that stumble.
Oregon DB Patrick Chung dropped a ball today and didn’t show much
agility to further hurt his stock. DB Mike Mickens of Cincinnati didn’t
look as quick as his teammate DB DeAngleo Smith and was burned for a
touchdown when Washington State WR Brandon Gibson just ran past
him. As you can tell I spent most of my time watching the
defensive backs and a bit of the wide receivers. However, I was
really impressed in the short amount of time I watched Boston College
DT B.J. Raji. Tomorrow I’ll definitely spend more time watching
him as he blew up the interior linemen in front of him multiple times.
Oklahoma State TE Brandon Pettigrew made a tough catch with a defender
bumping him all over the field. Cal Poly WR Ramses Barden takes awhile
to get to top speed, but the kid is a specimen at 6-6, 227. Oklahoma WR
Juaquin Iglesias runs a little unusual and had a drop and a fumble
today. The former number one high school recruit in the nation, WR
Derrick Williams of Penn State, showed he shouldn’t be overlooked as he
seemed to stop on a dime when going full speed and beat DBs deep on
multiple occasions. He had my eye more than any other receiver
today for sure. Virginia Tech DB Macho Harris looked a step behind his
peers today and was beat deep by Ohio State WR Brian Robiskie.