by Paul Guillemette, editor
of Paul's Pigskin Place and
GBN Special Scout with contributions
from Colin Lindsay, GBN Editor and Publisher
Wednesday afternoon practice (South) ...
Mike Shanahan wasn’t kidding last night when he promised that
we would see more one-on-one match-ups between DE Quentin Coples and
G/T Cordy Glenn, the two best players on the South team. True to his
word, the two ended up facing each other on the first four snaps of the
11-on-11 session, while they also went head-to-head on a number of
occasions in the one-on-one pass blocking drills. And while each had
their moments, the overall decision goes to Glenn who was probably the
best player on the field today. Glenn, who lined up primarily at OG the
first couple of days at practice, played almost exclusively at LT today
and stoned just about every DE he faced including Mel Ingram and
Courtney Upshaw on more than one snap. And Glenn put the coup de grace
on his performance late in the 11-on-11 session when the offense ran a
sweep around his side. Glenn pulled around the TE, raced down field -
guys that big are only supposed to lumber in space - and delivered a
crunching block on a poor overmatched safety.
In fact, the South offensive line generally had a better day today
against the defense than earlier in the week. One guy who has quietly
started to generate some buzz is Illinois’ Jeff Allen, a late add to
the game, who moved inside to OG today where he showed an excellent
base, decent strength and feet, as well as a pretty good motor.
Like their counterparts on the North team, the South QBs struggled at
times today, but they still appear to be far ahead of their Northern
counterparts. The play was very uneven overall with nice throws being
followed by picks, or badly overthrown balls. Right now, it looks like
based on their ability to go to an NFL team and compete for a starting
job, the pecking order for the three South QBs would be: 1) Brandon
Weeden; 2) Nick Foles and 3) Ryan Lindley. And when one takes into
account the fact that Weeden is already an older prospect at age 27,
one can see that personnel people around the league are not all that
excited about getting much help from the senior class in the immediate
future at the league's most important position.
Weeden generally can make all the plays, reads the field well and has a
reasonably compact delivery, but really doesn’t get a lot of mustard on
his passes. Meanwhile, Lindley really struggled today. Indeed, he
wasn’t even all that accurate throwing the ball with no DBs in play,
badly overthrew a couple of passes in the 11-on-11 session and fumbled
a snap.
One of the most impressive players on the South squad has been Georgia
CB Brandon Boykin, who like his former teammate Cordy Glenn has
probably earned himself some money this week. Boykin is a tad smallish
at 5-9, 183, but otherwise can do it all. He is quick and fast,
bordering on explosive when moving to the ball. He's also not afraid to
be physical with receivers who are bigger than him. He may also
contribute with some explosive return work come game day. And at UGA he
even played some WR and ran some reverses.
No player in Mobile has drawn such a wide diversity of grades as Texas
A&M WR Jeff Fuller. And while some people are down on Fuller,
because he is not a blazer and has to be used in certain receiving
situations to be successful, I like his 6-4, 217 pound frame which
gives him a noticeable advantage over most of the CB s here in certain
situations. If he can run sideline patterns he locates he ball pretty
well and does a nice job elevating for the ball in the red zone. Plus,
I think he can do even more if an NFL WR coach can teach him how to use
his hands a bit to gain separation. From what I saw today he never
pushes off the defender, they push him. When he learns to hand fight
back without drawing interference calls his reception totals could
really rise. I still think he could make a nice weapon for the right
team in the latter part of the second day.
Another player who has drawn a range of comments is LSU TE DeAngelo
Peterson. He showed up in Mobile at an un-TE 6-3 and 230 pounds after
being listed at 245 at LSU. Peterson has shown some receiving skills as
has run well, gets open and catches everything thrown at him. Indeed,
Peterson has probably displayed the best hands on the South. The
question, though, is where does that package fit in the NFL where he is
neither a prototype TE or slot receiver. In fact, he reminds me
of former Pittsburgh TE Dorin Dickerson, a similar sized player
who had a great Senior Bowl week several years ago but never amounted
to much once he got to the NFL.
Wednesday morning practice (North) update ...
Part Deux: While the defensive lines have
grabbed most of the headlines this week, several offensive linemen have
played well including Ohio State OT Mike Adams who is showing just how
dominant a big, athletic guy can be. Unlike Georgia’s Cordy Glenn,
Adams actually looks tall even though he packs 320 pounds on his almost
6-8 frame. Add on the 33 ¼ inch arm length and there is a long
way around for any defensive lineman. Heck most of them can't even see
around him. Adams is not an overpowering force, but rather reminds me
of former Ravens OT Jonathan Ogden. And I suspect an NFL team will be
able to put another 15 pounds or so on him without affecting his fine
mobility.
I know North head coach Leslie Frazier is getting concerned about the
snap and hand-off issues. In an All-Star game it is essential that
teams be able to execute the fundamentals of the game. The kinds of
errors being committed by C/QB/RB combos on the North are going to
result in turnovers come Saturday if not corrected - and fast.
A very nice surprise for the North has been the play of UConn DT
Kendall Reyes. He measured in at just under 6-4 and 300 pounds on
Monday and I felt he would at least hold his own, but he has done much
more than that. Reyes has shown a knack for penetrating gaps and
getting into the backfield very quickly. He has a nice combination of
size and quickness.
Would also be remiss in not mentioning big Iowa State G/T kelechi
Osemele. He is the North’s version of Cordy Glenn. Indeed, Osemele
measured in at Monday’s weigh in at over 6-5 and 333 pounds with a 35
¼ inch arms that gives him a wingspan of 85 ½ inches,
tops for any player in the game. And he has been using those tree trunk
arms to good advantage playing RT in practice. He has looked pretty
light on his feet as well. I was among those he felt he might be better
served by moving inside to OG based on a perceived lack of footwork,
but from what he has shown in three days in Mobile has a very good
chance to compete for a RT job in the NFL.
At least in practice the North squad looks to have an edge in the
return game. T. J. Graham, DeVier Posey and Doug Martin have all look
to be very explosive options returning kicks. Graham, in particular, is
by the far the fastest and most explosive option, but any of the three
can bust a kick-off back a long way.
Part A: We hit
the zenith of practice week this morning with
everyone around and the pads popping. Even though I had hoped to watch
the skill guys more today I opened the session with drills by the
defensive line and followed up focusing on a running game session.
I am having serious doubts about the potential of Marshall DE Vinny
Curry. He bulked himself up to 265 pounds and certainly looks the part
of a potential stud edge rusher, but it still doesn't look like it he
has significantly improved his strength in handling blockers in the
running game. On most running drills to his side he was pretty much
engulfed and pushed away from the ball. He still uses his hands well
and that helps him get past the offensive line when he does pass rush,
however, he is just not very explosive. A year ago it looked like his
best pro option might be as a stand up OLB in a 3-4 scheme, but at his
current weight it does not appear as if he has enough quickness and
speed to drop and move laterally from that slot.
On the other side of the line, it appears that Washington G/T Senio
Kelemete is struggling to find a comfort zone in Mobile. For now, he's
splitting his snaps in Mobile between OT and OG. He has decent strength
for his current size (6-3.5, 300), but just hasn’t shown the light feet
to stay with quicker edge rushers on the North side so it appears he
may be destined to move inside for a zone blocking team. Kelemete also
seems to be using his hands to grab the defensive lineman he’s trying
to block much like Mike Iupati did here here a couple of years ago.
He's not holding every play, but enough that once the refs see that in
his game the flags will start to fly even when it's questionable.
At the same time, Penn State OG Johnnie Troutman looks to be a better
football player than most gave him credit for coming into the Senior
Bowl. He's likely not going to be a star at the next level, but
will certainly carry a draftable grade if he runs a decent 40 time at
the combine next month. Troutman can be instant and doesn’t appear to
be all that athletic, but he is a battler with a solid base and quick
enough who can also get to the second level after delivering a stout
chip block. Plus, he has he size (6-4, 325) to fit in with a power
running team like the Chargers or Ravens.
Other than the fact that the defense continues to be way ahead of the
offense, the story at the North practices continues to be just how many
problems they are still having with snaps. Several dribbled back to the
QB and several others went sailing over everyone’s head. And Russell
Wilson also dropped several balls just trying to take the snap from
under center; he also experienced some hand-off issues with the backs,
while both Kellen Moore and Kirk Cousins had their own ball security
issues.
Of the three North QBs, though, Michigan State’s Kirk Cousins probably
threw the most accurately this morning, but he still had a tendency to
stare down his intended receiver. Cousins also showed the mobility to
move the pocket with moderate quickness, but has a tendency to really
lean forward into his throws when on the run which resulted in a number
of low uncatchable balls. Bottom line is that like Ricky Stanzi last
year, Cousins may be too deliberate for the speed of the NFL game. He
takes a half second long to decide where to throw and his ball seems to
hang a bit on passes over 10 yards, although he may be able to overcome
some of these shortcomings and buy himself time to improve his game,
because NFL coaches are going to love his leadership, experience and
intelligence.
North Carolina State WR T.J. Graham continues to emerge with that speed
of his. He looked absolutely explosive on a KO return and, in fact,
hardly looked like he was even in top gear as he exploded past people.
Smooth would be the key word in describing his running, whether it be
with or without the ball. Even his teammates notice his speed and
potential. Wisconsin LS Kyle Wojta, for example, specifically mentioned
Graham when asked who, other than fellow Badgers, had caught his
attention this week.
Notes:
With the injuries at the C position, California (PA) C/G Rishaw Johnson
was added to the North roster. Meanwhile, Boise State DE Shea
McClellin, who lined up at DE yesterday was working as an OLB today;
that appaers to be a better fit as McClellin only weighed in at 242
pounds this week. Same story for Cincinnati DT Derek Wolfe, who weighed
in at only 286 pounds earlier, and was lined up at DE on most snaps.
And Wolfe didn't look out of place at all on the outside where he
showed a nice combination of quickness, agility and strength as h
disrupted a number of plays and was impressive in the one-on-one
drills.
Tuesday afternoon practice (South) ... You can never have
too many pass rushers!!!
It's not a wise thing to jump to hasty conclusions in
anything, let alone football player evaluations. But I feel pretty safe
after this afternoon's practice in saying that the South has the two
most imposing players in Mobile this week in Georgia OG Cordy Glenn and
North Carolina DE Quinton Coples and it didn‘t appear that any of their
teammates really wanted to go up against them in drills. So we
suggested to South head coach Mike Shanahan that just maybe the should
have the two go against each other in Wednesday‘s drills. He said to
consider it a done deal.
Coples, in particular, was just about unstoppable in pass pro drills
today, although OTs Jeff Allen of Illinois and Florida State’s Zebrie
Sanders at least gave him a battlea couple of times. Coples is an
amazing combination of quickness and strength in a very long frame and
his power and quickness are quite surprising for a guy of his size and
build as he can run over people or swim right around them. Part of his
success is due to an uncanny ability to begin his penetration without
getting too upright which isn‘t always easy to do when one is almost
6-6. And while Coples is not the same player as fellow former Tar Heel
Julius Peppers, but he has the potential to make a similar kind of
impact, or more, on the game around him. Certainly, through two days,
Coples has given pro teams plenty to chew on after a so-so senior
season at Carolina after he entered the season considered to be a
possible #1 pick overall following a sdominating junior campaign in
2010.
In fact, the story of the South team has been the defensive line as
fellow DEs Mel Ingram of South Carolina and Alabama’s Courtney Upshaw -
the ‘Odd-sized Couple - were just as unblockable as Coples at times,
although neither put their hand on the ground much. This is especially
true of Upshaw. That Coples, Ingram and Upshaw have been dominant has
been a huge surprise, however, Florida DT Jaye Howard has really opened
some eyes with a a quick first step for a 300-pounder and a nice
package of swim and spin moves. Unheralded Texas A&M DT Tony
Jerrod-Eddie, a late injury replacement, also had a strong day; he
looks like he was molded to play the 5-technique in a 3-4 scheme as
he‘s a very solidly built, 6-4, 303-pounder who can move just enough
for a 3-4 set.
On the other side of the line, is UGA’s Glenn, a sometime OG, sometime
OT, who has shown an incredible blend of size and footwork. His massive
size allows him to absorb the charge of defenders without losing his
balance, while he is always leaning and bending forward, which allows
him to use his massive girth and strength to great advantage. And once
he absorbs the defenders first hit he is able to slide from side to
side with ease. Indeed, few defenders got any penetration into the
backfield when matched up against Glenn, although he did let Howard
loose on a spin move early in the one-on-one drills. And given his
footwork, it will be a surprise if any team at the next level would
even consider moving him back inside to OG.
At the same time, Glenn’s former Georgia teammate Ben Jones is a better
and tougher football player than I gave him credit for coming into this
week. At almost 6-3, 305, he's decent sized for the position in a zone
blocking scheme and is relentless in sustaining his blocks. He fights
to the whistle. I also like the fact that the veteran C took some extra
snaps at OG this afternoon. Same story for Baylor C Philip Blake, the
latest Canadian import on the Bears’ offensive front, who showed nice
balance and footwork in drills today and generally stood up his man
near the line of scrimmage.
The South DBs were very aggressive today in coverage and tackling. Best
tackle of the day goes to South Carolina safety Antonio Allen, who
really popped the pads of ULL TE Ladarius Green, a hit which drew the
first chorus of "OOHS!" of the day from those in attendance. Meanwhile,
North Alabama CB Janoris Jenkins was an absolute pest to opposing
receivers. Jenkins did get beaten a couple of times, but certainly not
from lack of aggressiveness. He also broke up his share of throws and
was fearless at jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage. He also
showed how to pin the receiver against the sideline downfield and use
it as a second defender to limit the target area for the QB to throw
into. He showed plenty of quicks and speed to stay with the receivers.
He may not always be a form tackler, but he fights to bring his man
down. Overall he had a very impressive afternoon as did unheralded
‘Bill‘ Bentley of Louisiana-Lafayette and Georgia’s Brandon Boykin.
On the other side of the line, Arizona WR Juron Criner continues to get
open and catch almost everything thrown his way; indeed, he had one
spectacular one-handed grab in one-on-one passing drills and another in
traffic that few receivers will make in the 11-on-11s. He seems very
adept at finding the ball as it comes over his shoulder or head. He
adjusts well and catches cleanly. He may not have blazing speed, but he
sure gets open on a regular basis. Arkansas WR Jo Adams also looked
very quick and fluid, however, Texas A&M’s Jeff Fuller continued to
struggle to get separation as well as catch the ball.
So far, the South’s best all around RB is clearly Mississppi State’s
Vick Ballard, a compact (5-10, 217) runner who is a lot quicker into
and through holes than people give him credit for. He also runs away
from all but the fastest DBs once he finds a hole and reminds of Thomas
Jones. He's also confirmed that he can catch the ball coming out of the
backfield and will bend and block.
Tuesday morning practice (North) ... Anyone for darts!!
Good weather and a full day of contact made for a hectic and
fun day in Mobile. We got glimpses of what a lot of these players can
do. You can tell that Minnesota head coach Leslie Frazier, who is
coaching the North team this week, coached under Brad Childress for a
few years. Just like Childress’ WEST squad at last week’s Shrine Game
the North does special teams work right at the beginning of each
practice and then finishes their session with more. And just remember
that a big play in at the Shrine game was a successful West onside
kick. The South better be ready on Saturday.
It was also illustrative to watch Mike Singletary working with the
North LB group. He was demanding, but fair; critical but instructive.
And there is no way you can avoid his eyes and that glare as they look
right into the very soul of the players. Singletary’s three big keys to
all his charges during all of his drills was keep your eyes up, never
lean back on your heels and bend at the waist. And it appears his group
got the message. I was most impressed with the work of Audie Cole of NC
State and Nevada’s James-Michael Johnson, both of who have the chances
to make a key play or two come Saturday. On a side note, Cole laughed
after practice when I asked him about the Clay Matthews’ look, but said
it was a good example to follow given the Packers’ star rush LB’s play
so far in his career. He also noted that besides a victory, his number
one personal goal for Saturday’s game was to post an interception off
his old teammate Russell Wilson, who transferred to Wisconsin this year
after three years at State. Besides being very quick in pursuit, the
one really noticeable thing regarding Johnson is that he uses his hands
well and they seem to be very strong; when he grabs or pushes someone
it jolts them.
Despite some talk about Nebraska CB Alfonzo Dennard being too short,
not fast enough, and lacking in ball skills, I still like the way he
plays. He has been very aggressive with receivers without committing
penalties against them. He’s also been a physical tackler in both run
support and after a catch. Dennard started out practice on a very
positive note by stripping the ball away from NC State’s T.J. Graham on
a a punt return. Dennard, though, was one of several North corners
including who looked much more comfortable in press coverage than when
dropping off and being asked to react to the ball.
Playing on the corner, Boston College CB Donnie Fletcher also looked
more comfortable in press coverage; he’s a long corner with the size to
be physical with bigger receivers. Fletcher is even helping to lend a
little balance to the North secondary by playing some safety. Fletcher
certainly has enough size, but it's a big adjustment. On the other side
of things his ability to make this shift may show that he offers some
versatility which can do nothing but help his draft status in the eyes
of pro personnel people.
Michigan DT Mike Martin continues to be very active and strong in
practice, although he's just not making he number of tackles he did in
Ann Arbor. Could be part of the issue is the fact he has relatively
short arms as he measured in with a 31 ¾ span on Monday. That's
not stubby, but it's a bit less than ideal for a defensive lineman who
wants as much extension as possible to keep blockers at bay. That seems
like a slight difference, but the higher the level of athletics the
more game becomes a matter of inches. Martin, though, is still a
pain in the butt for blockers and disrupting running lanes. As well,
Martin and Ohio State C Mike Brewster seem to have their own little
battle going that no doubt has spilled over from their Big 10 duals.
Penn State OG Johnnie Troutman also impressed as he showed good
strength and balance and generally held his man up at the line of
scrimmage. On the other hand, Wisconsin OG Kevin Zeitler, who also took
snaps at C - with mixed results - appeared to struggle at times as he
allowed opposing DTs to get into his pads and wasn‘t able to re-anchor
or adjust when they slid off his initial contact. Meanwhile, Washington
G/T Senio Kelemete, who was playing mostly tackle, was able to get his
arms extended and maintain contact, but didn‘t move his feet all that
well.
A pretty good case can be made that the most impressive players at
today’s North practice were DTs Kendall Reyes of UConn and Washington’s
Alameda Ta’amu and California WR Marivn Jones. Reyes, in fact, has
probably been the North’s best player period so far this week; he’s a
long interior defender with a quick first step and a good swim move who
as been getting into the backfield on jus about every snap. Ta’amu, on
the other hand, is a squat one-gap DT who was getting into the gap on a
consistent basis this morning and used his size and strength to
leverage his way up field. Penn State DE Jack Crawford also had a
pretty good day as he was able to get pressure several times off a good
spin move.
Boise State RB Doug Martin continues to impress from the RB position
with an excellent combination of power and burst. I won't say flat out
speed until we see what he runs at the combine, but he's quick to the
hole with a bit of a burst when he gets a crease; plus he’s a real load
to bring down. On the other hand, Washington RB Chris Polk continued to
struggle with the pace of the game, especially in blocking drills.
Meanwhile, T.J. Graham recovered nicely from his early practice fumble
to make some nice catches in traffic in passing drills. However, while
we've seen his quickness, we are still waiting for Graham to get deep
as he may ultimately have the potential to be another Mike Wallace type
receiver come game time.
It was back to basic at times for the North squad this morning as the
biggest problem the offense had was simply getting the ball snapped. It
also didn’t help that the North QB, especially Kellen Moore of Boise
State, were not able to get much mustard on the ball on downfield pass
attempts. Since I was based in Wisconsin most of the time my site has
been up, I did spend some time studying Badgers‘ QB Russell Wilson
whose throwing motion reminds me of former Notre Dame star Tony Rice.
Like Russell, Rice was a good athlete, but average passer especially
early in his career. Irish head coach Lou Holtz, though, convinced Rice
to take up darts. And once he learned the wrist/arm control of that
sport Rice improved markedly as a passer. When I see Wilson flick his
throws of twenty yards or less that is the motion as I remember
Rice employing. For throws over 20-yards he goes to the follow through
of a normal motion. Watch him this week and tell me if you don't think
I'm onto to something here. I'm not saying he plays darts but he has
that wristed, flicking motion.
Monday afternoon practice (South) ... Dodging bullets!!
I made my way over to soggy Fairhope Field for the South
practice this afternoon. A late morning deluge had made the entire area
a swamp. The field was not in good shape for the size and speed of
these players. Lots of slips and falls by receivers and defenders.
Texas A&M WR Jeff Fuller, in particular, lost his footing multiple
times. Just hoping we don't hear about an injury incurred on that
practice field tomorrow morning.
Some teams/owners just have too damned much money to play with. The
Redskins brought an entire truck full of their own equipment just
in case. Indeed, the Eureka Van & Storage truck rental was parked
at the South end of the practice field track. All the way from Fairfax,
Virginia.
No question that Georgia offensive lineman Cordy Glenn is going to be a
first round choice this coming April because he is a naturally huge and
gifted football player with incredibly nimble feet for a 6-5.5, 346
pound human being. Glenn also has a very even temperament to deal with
the ups and downs of life as a LT and may not have to move inside to OG
at the next level as he looks like he has the athleticism to handle the
OT slot just fine thank you. Indeed, Glenn is going to hand out some
punishment to defenders this week with his blocking efforts and he got
off to a solid start today.
Much to my surprise Arkansas DE Jake Bequette is practicing with the
South LB group. I guess my first clue should have been when he measured
in at 6-4 ½ and only 264 pounds at the Monday morning weigh-in.
The word must have gotten to his agent that the NFL folks see him
standing up for a living a la Ryan Kerrigan, a first round pick by
Washington at the 2011 raft. Bequette may not be quite as good as
Kerrigan, but there are similarities between the two athletes,
including a non-stop motor chasing down the passer. I suspect Bequette
will try and lose another 10 pounds or so by the combine to improve his
speed and quickness. The first phase of his transition will be
interesting to watch down here this week.
I still think more highly of Arizona WR Juron Criner than many people
and he didn't do anything today to disappoint. At 6-2, 220, Criner is a
load for smaller CBs and there were several occasions today when he was
not hesitant to give his defender a little shove to gain some
separation. Unless he needs a sun dial to time him when he runs the 40
at next month’s combine, I think this man has a lot of NFL potential.
He showed good hands several times today and seems to locate the ball
in the air very well.
The parade of overgrown WRs masquerading as TEs continues down here.
The latest disguise artist is Louisiana-Lafayette TE Ladarius Green. At
6-6, 237 the former Ragin’ Cagun is really just a bulked up wideout;
however, he’s also a really good looking athlete who made several nice
catches today, but I don't see how he can be expected to line up and
block at the NFL level. I think we are on the verge of creating a new
positional name for the NFL. Let's call them BRs or Big Receivers and
be done with it. The FB has disappeared from many NFL rosters maybe the
true TE position will be next.
One of the fun things about attending the one practice at Fairhope is
being able to stand right along he sidelines and see the action up
close and personal. The one big disadvantage, though, is that a person
can find themselves in harms way when plays come wide and these large,
fast young men come hurtling towards the sideline spectators at full
speed. We had several mad stampedes to create space between ourselves
and the approaching action in the area I stood in for a while. What the
average person doesn't realize unless you have been down there is that
most of the time you can't move fast enough to escape the mayhem. It's
like the football version of 'running with the bulls'. Participate at
your own risk.
It sure didn't take much watching to realize that the Shanahan
contingent are going to find as many ways as possible to utilize the
speed and explosiveness of Florida RB/WR Chris Rainey, who with former
teammate Jeff Demps trying out for the US Olympic sprint team, may be
the fastest player in college football. The little mighty might
certainly was very busy today running, receiving and fielding punts. In
an attempt to create max impact, expect to see Rainey get as many as 15
touches in Saturday‘s game, which is a high number for a game like this.
We'll see how things play out, but the arm strength of the South QBs
will easily trump those on the North side. The big question will be how
accurate these big guns can be. In fact, both Nick Foles of Arizona and
San Diego State’s Ryan Lindley had some accuracy troubles at times
today. In contrast, Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden was the most
accurate of the three on the first day of practice. Of note, though,
was the fact that during passing drills there were multiple occasions
where secondary coverage was so tight that the QBs had to clearly throw
the ball away or be called for holding the ball too long and declared
sacked.
Last year one of the most surprising performances of the week was the
play of undersized LB Brian Rolle of Ohio State who went on to play
well for Philadelphia as a rookie this fall. Though not quite as short
as Rolle, 5-11, 228-pound Miami LB Sean Spence looks to have the same
kind of athleticism and mobility to be a tackling machine this week. He
was very productive at Miami when healthy and seems to be able to use
his quickness, strength and tenacity to find the ball and make plays.
He also is off to a very fast start down here.
Media Night at the Battleship Park tonight and we had a wonderful time
sitting and chatting for an hour plus with a bunch of the players. I
had time to talk with all five former Wisconsin Badgers in Mobile
including FB Brad Ewing, QB Russell Wilson, OG Kevin Zeitler, P Brad
Nortman and LS Kyle Wojta. Also had chat time with QB Kirk Cousins, WR
Marvin McNutt, FB/TE Emil Igwenagu, and OTs Jeff Allen and Mitchell
Schwartz. A special thanks to Mitch Schwatz as I think he and I have
come very close to formulating a plan to fix most of the major
issues between players, universities and the NCAA.
Monday morning weigh-in.... The Tale of the Tape
This morning was the National Combine weigh-in for players, otherwise
famously known as the 'Meat Market.' Nobody blew the house away by
being Charles Atlas (on steroids or not), however, there weren't any
whale sightings either. Here are some numbers I thought were rather
interesting.
Not counting the kicking specialists 98 position players were put
through the height/weight tape process in Mobile today. Of those:
29 players were under 6-0 tall.
24 players weighed 300 pounds. or more.
All 18 offensive linemen weighed in at 300 pounds or more.
Only 6 of the 16 defensive linemen weighed 300 pounds or more.
HEAVIEST PLAYERS:
OG CORDY GLENN, Georgia
346
DT ALAMEDA TA'AMU, Washington 341
OG KELECHI OSEMELE, Iowa State 333
TALLEST PLAYERS:
OT MIKE ADAMS, Ohio State
6-7
DE QUINTON COPLES, North Carolina 6-5 3/4
OT TONY BERGSTROM, Utah
6-5 1/2
LIGHTEST PLAYERS:
WR PATRICK EDWARDS, Houston 168
WR JOE ADAMS, Arkansas
174
CB BILL BENTLEY, ULL
176
RB CHRIS RAINEY, Florida
178
SHORTEST PLAYERS:
WR MARQUIS MAZE, Alabama
5-7 3/4
RB CHRIS RAINEY, Florida
5-8 3/8
WR PATRICK EDWARDS, Houston 5-8
7/8
All 8 listed RB prospects were under 6-0 tall.
Of the 6 listed TE in Mobile only 1 weighed at least 250 pounds and
that was Michael Egnew of Missouri who tipped the scales at 251 pounds.
Interesting because Egnew is considered to be one of those bulked up WR
TE types.
Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson was hurt as much, or more than anyone, by
the tape measure when he came in at just 5-10 5/8 tall which is veery
short for an NFL QB. Everyone he was under 6-0, but most figured that
he was at least 5-11 is a double whammy against him. Slightly in his
favor, was the fact that Wilson's hand spread measured at 10-inches.
That is the "magic" number that NFL personnel people use when deciding
if a QB can grasp the football firmly in cold and/or wet conditions or
not. For the record, among the QBs Nick Foles, who measured in at a
robust 6-5, 244, had the largest hands at 10 3/4, followed by San Diego
State's Ryan Lindley at 10 1/8 whereas Michigan State's Kirk Cousins (9
7/8), Boise State's Kellen Moore (9 3/8) and, somewhat surprisingly,
Oklahoma State's Brandon Weeden (9 1/2) each had hand a measurement
under 10 inches.
Alabama LB Courtney Upshaw has been one of the leading OLB candidates
all season, but his weigh-in here has me thinking he's more likely to
be a 4-3 DE pass rusher, or an ILB guy in a 3-4 scheme when he measured
only 6-1 1/2, but weighed a squat 273 pounds. And no, he did not look
fat, but also regsitered relatively short (31 1/2) arms. There is a
similar thought process for the athletic South Carolina DE Melvin
Ingram who was 6-1 7/8 and 276 pounds with an arm length under 31
inches. Fact is that NFL scouts like their DEs to have longer arms to
help get separation from opposing blockers so those wingspan numbers
aren't going to help either guy.
Not exactly the tale of the tape here, but I want to editorialize just
a bit on what I see as a continuing trend. The steroid freak, pumped up
frames are all but gone these days. Most of these 300+ pounders have
some soft tissue in their upper bodies. The more sculpted guys are
often the DB, LB and RB types. I think it is a testimonial that to a
large extent drug testing and education about steroids and HGH type
substances have hit home and are no longer a big part of training
regimens. In the wast majority of the cases even the big offensive
linemen carry about 305-310 pounds, not the 325-350 we saw 4 years ago.
Speaking of big offensive linemen, though, two guys who likely at least
passed the eyeball test today were OGs Kelechi Osemele of Iowa State
and Georgia's Cordy Glenn. Osemele, in particular, had been projected
to weigh over 350 pounds, but weighed in in Mobile at a 'svelte' 333
pounds. Osemele also had registered long arms at over 35 inches as well
as big hands. Meanwhile, Glenn weighed in at 345 pounds, but didn't
look fat or out of shape, and like Osemele posted an arm length over 35
inches. As a result, both guys could get increased scrutiny as
potential NFL OTs which will likely increase their value on draft day.
At the same time, Florida State OT Zebrie Sanders arm length came in at
just under 35 inches, while his hands were huge at a full 11 inches,
while UAB OT Matt McCants also had 35 inch arms.
*********
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