Time now to move on to the players who stood out in the Shrine Bowl, from their new home in Las Vegas for year two. This was the first year that the Shrine was given full NFL team coaching staffs. That brought the venerable, now grand old man, from the NFL coaching ranks in Bill Belichick into Vegas. Neither Belichick nor Falcons head man ARTHUR SMITH actually acted as Head Coach for the week, designating those roles to staff members. But they were clear and present leadership figures overseeing how their staffs were interacting.
Let’s be clear here when analyzing the talent from this game. Director Eric Galko is fighting and scratching to recruit top players, who historically are more likely to head for Mobile. To his credit he has done a good job finding good players to populate his roster. In fact this year he landed ZAY FLOWERS/WR/Boston College, who is ranked just about everywhere as a Top 50 prospect, perhaps even late Round One. However, in a disappointing development, FLOWERS sat out game action once practices were complete. There were plenty of good players to see in Vegas last Thursday night, but most of them will be Day 3 NFL Draftees.
So here we go with a Top 12, mostly in alphabetical order…
KAZMEIR ALLEN #19 RB/WR/RS UCLA 5’8/176 I doubt this guy gets anything but a late round look come the Draft. And I would not be shocked to see him become a Rookie FA on a 90-man roster. But be careful not to ignore him. He may be small but his quickness and speed are elite. In the Shrine game he ran the ball 5 times, returned 3 Punts and 2 Kick-Offs. He totaled 80-yards gained in a game without a single TD.
A.J. FINLEY #21 S/ST Ole Miss 6’021/202 This ‘who’s he’ guy is edging his way into a late Draft spot. He is an athletic secondary defender and even more importantly an excellent all-around Special Teams player. He was voted as the Special Teams practice player of the week.
ZAY FLOWERS #4 WR Boston College 5’092/182 I still find it disappointing that Flowers watched the game from the sidelines in street clothes. But during practices he showed the speed, quickness, hands and open field elusiveness that have on the cusp of being a First Round Pick.
SHAKA HAYWARD #42 LB Duke 6’025/239 One of the premier players on a surprisingly good DUKE football squad in 2022. He has nice size and good athleticism, which should show out at the Combine. He alertly intercepted a tipped pass and returned it about 30-yards, breaking multiple tackle attempts. But the play was overturned by a defensive penalty. He looks now like barring a collapse at the Combine he’s a Day Two draftee.
CHRISTIAN IZIEN #30 S Rutgers 5’084/197 Yes undersized, but a hard hitting, savvy defender. Reminds me a bit of a mini-me BOB SANDERS coming out of Iowa to star for the Colts. The Combine if he’s there, or a Pro Day, will be very important for his Draft chances. He’s a feisty little warrior.
NIC JONES #21 CB Ball State 5’116/191 JONES improved as a player eery season, capping his 2022 season (so to speak) in the Shrine game. He was all over the secondary covering some pretty solid EAST squad receivers like PERRY, CROPPER & GREEN. For the game JONES recorded 2 PD and 1 INT. At the very least he should get a look from NFL teams seeking to boost their Nickel CB position.
JAKE MOODY #13 PK Michigan 6’/207 I don’t think there is much doubt that MOODY will be the most highly drafted PK this year. He has a strong leg, and accuracy. His 4 Field Goals gave his WEST team in a touchdown-less victory of 12-3. In chronological order he made kicks form 51, 51, 35, 35-yards. He also boomed most of his kick-offs into, or though, the end zone. I also appreciate his “cool” demeanor. He reminds of the solid kicking in K.C. by BUTKER. He may be gone as early as Round 4/5.
DEREK PARISH #44 FB/ER/ST 6’007/241 Houston I have a strong suspicion that PARISH may be a very much sought after player on Draft Day 3 due to his versatility and his persona on the field and in the locker room. He captured the highly esteemed PAT TILLMAN Award for this year’s event. His versatility of roles and positions is also of added value because he is good at every position he plays. This guy saves a couple of roster spots for any roster.
A.T. PERRY #88 WR Wake Forest 6’033/195 The smooth striding long guy from the ACC showed well during practices. However, he never found a rhythm with his QB’s in the game. This maybe due in good part to the constant pocket pressure that disrupted a mediocre group of QB all night long. PERRY was also a bit smaller than his Wake program listing as 6’5/210. I like him for early Day 3 of the Draft.
I have a group of three to finish up this Shrine Venue summary. Let me start by reminding you that in last year’s Senior Bowl a record was set with 9 Sacks in the game. Watching this unfold, primarily in the second half, by the National Team was impressive watching action from the press box.
It was clear in Vegas as the practices were conducted leading up to the game that the absolute single, most dominant force in the game itself was likely to be a sack-fest led by a 3 East Team. Those players might dictate a decidedly Defense flavored football game Thursday night. They did not disappoint. All 3 of those Sack Masters are from relatively smaller college/non-Power Five schools. They are:
CALEB MURPHY #90 Ferris State ER/DE 6’030/254 Ferris State is a D2 powerhouse from Michigan. And MURPHY has been a sack master for several seasons now. But he really let it all hang out this past season. He led the nation in Sacks 23 solo sacks in 15 games played. He also shared a few sacks and thus his official total was 25.5 Sacks! He now weighs 254 lbs, and stands 6’3. Like his two amigos mentioned below, his every down position is yet to be determined, but he’s is gonna play somewhere and be in on all likely passing downs. His key is a quick get-off, good balance and hand usage, and of course high energy. He was only credited with 1/2 Sack in the Shrine game, but he was a constant menace in limited action.
JOSE RAMIREZ #94 Eastern Michigan ER/DE 6’017/249 The All-MAC performer also had a dominant season pressuring opposing QB. He was credited with 4 game tackles in Vegas and 1 Sack. He also recorded a QBH for his efforts. With his size I would expect an attempt to get him into some NFL team as an OLB, with if source pass-rush emphasis.
B.J. THOMPSON #96 Stephen F. Austin ER 6’053/238 This young man may be the biggest “sleeper” of the entire Shrine team. His stats from last season do not knock your socks off. He recorded 5 Sacks on the season. But scouts at the Shrine venue confirmed the length of this star to be. He looks like a string bean but that 236 lbs. is 25 more than he weighed in the 2021 season. His arm length measured at 34 3/8″, with a wingspan over 80″. He was credited with 4 tackles, 2 of them Sacks, as well as 2 QBH. And to be honest with you I felt like I saw him making more plays than that. His potential dwarfs his actual college career stats.
As a trio their excellence as Edge-Rushers is indisputable, but their ability to play set pro positions is yet to be determined. But there can be little doubt that all three have what out takes to be much coveted Edge Rushers, at the very least.
On. the opposite end of the spectrum the Shrine clearly demonstrated how thin and uninspiring the QB group for the 2023 NFL Draft truly is. The 6 Shrine venue QB combined for a completion percentage of of under 50%… 42.0% to be exact, for a total of 238 passing yards, and serving up 3 Interceptions. Only one QB completed 50% or better on his throws. That was TIM DeMORAT/Fordham who went 4-7, 57%, for a paltry 18 yards. So clearly his were dump-off throws of 5 yards or less. The projected top QB for this game was DORIAN THOMPSON-ROBINSON/UCLA for the WEST squad. But due in great part to pressure from the 3 above mentioned Edge-Rushers the harried DTR was 7/17- 41%-95 yards. Despite being an athletic QB DTR was sacked 3 times and gained only 3-yards running to escape being sacked.
My MVP choice for the game was The 3 Amigo Sacksters of MURPHY-RAMIREZ-THOMPSON.
That pretty much wraps up the All-Star game action for this year. But invite information for the Combine which starts late this month have been released and the Underwear Olympics will be underway before we are ready.
Cheers
Pigskin Paul
