Phil Savage’s new condensed Senior Bowl week starts out with a back breaker and has to get easier from here on out. We started with the weigh-in at 8:30 this morning and followed up with two team practices and Media Night. Enough of my whining how about some football talk.
Colin has already posted this mornings weigh-in results but i wanted to comment on a few specifics from the event.
Biggest player here, hands down, was TRENT BROWN/OT/FLORIDA #74 OF THE NORTH. Not only was he the tallest player at 6’8.5″, the heaviest @ 376 lbs., but he also have arms like tree limbs at 35.5″. He is one huge player, but is far from sculpted.
Along those lines mouths fell open when TYLER VARGA/#30/YALE, who at 5’102/227 lbs. looked like a sculpted weight lifter from Muscle Beach, Cal. He was ripped with muscle from head to toe. GUess they do have weight rooms in the Ivy League.
DANNY SHELTON/DT #95, considered by most to be the highest ranked prospect in this game looked just the way we all anticipated with his 6’016/343 lbs. The crowd here watching and scouting seems to be torn on whether he reminds them most of VINCE WILFORK or HALOTI NGATA. Either way not a bad comparison.
NICK MARSHALL/QB/AUBURN #14 also presented a solid tale of the tape. He had a solid, muscled frame, packing 205 lbs. on a 6’014″ frame. He also had a nice sized hand spread for a QB at 9 1/2″. The big news of the day came at the start of the South practice when MARSHALL took off his QB jersey and joined the South CB group. At the request of multiple NFL Personnel people he will showcase his talents this week at the CB position and a new 3rd QB will be in town Wednesday morning. I had heard the rumors of this move for weeks now, but I have maintained my belief that he is a legit NFL QB prospect, with back-up potential. We shall see how this plays out.
Today was “install” day for the players. Lots of 11-on-11 action to start the North practice after lunch as the Coaches try to discern how much the players have absorbed from their new play books that they received Monday night in team meetings. It’s just one more part of the pro learning process.
It’s only one practice and I wanted to get an early read on the QB talent, since it appears to average at best overall. I think BRYCE PETTY/#14 AND SEAN MANNION/#4 are about even in arm strength. SHANE CARDEN trails behind, with a short armed delivery which reminds me a bit of a guy who played here a decade ago by the name of PHILLIP RIVERS. Things have worked out well for Rivers despite his unorthodox delivery, but CARDEN is smaller at only 6’016/218. As has been the case in recent years one of the big QB tests this week will be how well they are able to function working from under center instead of from a shotgun most of the time. Stay tuned.
We were treated to some heated blocking battles in pass-pro one-on-ones. I find myself rooting for the OL in most of these battles because the drill is weighted so heavily in favor of the defender. ROB HAVENSTEIN/T/WISCONSIN #78 struggled for the first few reps and got burned by NATE ORCHARD/DE/LB #99. But HAVENSTEIN seemed to regroup mentally and held his own for the remainder of the drill. He has a bit of mobility and long, functinally strong arms.
DANNY SHELTON #95 clearly won almost every rep in this drill. At times he just bull-rushed over his blocker, but on several other occasions he got a handful of OL jersey and just threw the blockers aside. I don’t see how this guy misses in the NFL, especially if used in a 3-4 scheme directly over the Center most of the time.
T.J. CLEMMINGS/OT #68 struggled in this drill today. He was beaten soundly by both speed and power rushes. His balance was not good and he seemed to lack arm strength and effective hand usage. My guess is he will show us plenty overall, but I thought he was going to own the whole week here. Not Day 1 in my opinion.
In passing drills without any defenders but DB, SEAN MANNION showed a strong and accurate throwing arm. He also throws a very catchable ball. That did not surprise me, but I am not buying any MANNION stock until he makes those throws under pocket pressure this week.
Perhaps the most consistently good looking OL in drill work was LAKEN TOMLINSON/OG #77. Talking about talented big men from Duke is a relatively new phenomenon, but TOMLINSON is the real deal. He’s a nice combination of size, strength and athleticism. He won almost all of his one-on-one battles. I expect that success to continue.
TOMLNSON’s DUKE teammate JAMISON CROWDER/WR #3 was impressive today with his quickness and burst. Not that he can’t fill multiple receiving roles, but he clearly looks like a guy who can wreak havoc on a defense running crisp patterns with quick cuts out of the slot. He’s likely to enbarass more than a few CB this week.
It’s only one day but unless I see some encouraging signs in the next few days I fear the Achilles Heel for the North defense could be their LB unit. The players currently listed there consist of quite a few DE trying to play standing up as well as hustling hard nosed players like MIKE HULL #43 & JEFF LUC #1 who are seriously undersized in the height department. And all 3 players listed at OLB, HODGES/KIKAHA/ORCHARD have all played with their hand on the ground prior to this week. It will be important for these players to develop quickly. THis could be a serious test not just for the players but also for the TITANS coaching staffs.
JUSTIN HARDY/WR #82 got off to a nice start, showing his ability to run tight and precise pass patterns. His hands look solid and even though he lacks top end speed his quickness is undeniable.
On the other side of Mobile Bay, the SOUTH squad toiled under a warm afternoon sun, and fans enjoyed a practice visit from ALABAMA Head Coach NICK SABAN. Saban always shows up to watch his participating seniors who are playing in the game. Given his reputation as a defensive guru it is interesting to me that no one from his defense is in town this year. All four ‘BAMA players are on the Offensive side of the ball.
BLAKE SIMS/QB #6 showed his athleticism on multiple occasions today, but he also showed much inconsistency in the accuracy of his throws. I think it is also notable that SIMS checked in at the morning’s weigh-in at just under the magic 6-feet tall QB number. Surprisingly, for a guy who handled a reasonable number of snaps under center in his college career, he had a streak of issues with snap fumblers. In one 6 play series he fumbled the snap 3 times.
IMO, GRADY JARRETT/DT #95 is a fascinating prospect at 6’007/288 lbs. Quickness is his game and his style of play reminds me greatly of GENO ATKINS when he played in Mobile years ago. At that time ATKINS weighed in at less than 300 lbs and made his living on his quickness into the opposing backfield. That is JARRETT’s game as well. He showed it in drills today. His NFL spot may be in an NFL 4-3 defense, with a big 300+ guy beside him inside.
GABE WRIGHT/DT #90 was his usual active self today, but also provided a surprise coming out of the weigh-in at 299 lbs. That’s at least 10 lbs over his listed college weight. Talent has never been a question with WRIGHT, but consistent play has been.
CODY PREWIIT/S/OLE MISS #25 was very active in the secondary. He grabbed an INT on a deflected ball at one point and also went high to break up a long downfield pass attempt. He was also playing at a bit lower weight of 212 lbs. I feel his improved quickness showed up today at his lower weight.
PHILLIP DORSETT/WR #4 displayed his quickness and pure speed on multiple occasions today. There has never been much question about those aspects of his game, but many, including yours truly, have wondered why MIAMI could not get the ball into his hands more often. It will be interesting to see if a pro coaching staff can find an answer to that riddle this week.
#94 LORENZO MAULDIN/DE/OLB is clearly healthy again and looking like another strong convert from DE to LB in this game. His specialty is getting into the pocket to pressure the pocket, but he’ll have to show progress in playing in space a bit the remainder of this week. He looked explosive on several occasions today. I think he’s a better athlete than former teammate MARCUS SMITH.
He’s not getting a lot of attention yet with ‘Bama favorite SIMS in town and Auburn’s Marshall making a position change, but GARRETT GRAYSON/QB/Colordao State #8 is on this roster and is displaying the quick release and strong arm I saw watching State play this past season. He bears watching and could be a major factor in the game on Saturday.
I got a chance to visit with several players tonight at Media Night dinner. I had a long conversation with the lone BADGERS player here this year in ROB HAVENSTEIN/OT whose play I had mentioned earlier in this report. He was one of the key seniors who approached UW AD BARRY ALVAREZ to coach the team in their Bowl Game after the surprise departure of their head coach/Gary ANDERSEN to Oregon State. A very articulate, intelligent conversation with this young man.
I spoke briefly with DEION BARNES/DE/PENN STATE who was in Joe Paterno’s last recruiting class. He was well pleased that the NCAA has restored the previously vacated wins to the school and Paterno’s records. We were in mutual agreement that PATERNO’s misjudgments in mishandling the SANDUSKY affair should not erase all the good he did for his players, his sport and his school during his illustrious coaching career.
I also spoke with an excited NICK BOYLE/TE/DELAWARE, a Jersey Boy, who is very jacked up to have this opportunity to continue his football career and get a shot at the NFL. Football is his passion and if/when his playing career is finally over he wants to get into college coaching.
As I was headed for the door to leave, after receiving one more high five and hug from the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup mascot, I ran into muscle-man TYLER VARGA from Yale, a native of Canada. He wants a solid shot at the NFL, but would be proud to play in the CFL if that does not work out. He was about to walk back to the hotel to avoid missing an 8PM interview he had set up with personnel folks. What could I do but offer the man a ride. After getting him safely deposited at the hotel door, only 1 minute late, I headed back to my hotel for the night.
Good night from Mobile.
