Thursday combine by the numbers … Maybe the most surprising thing about the data coming out of the scouting combine in Indianapolis this week is that there actually have been so few surprises. Same again today as the QBs, WRs and TEs were weighed and measured, while the offensive linemen did the bench press. Courtesy of Walter football… Read More »
Big uglies measure up … The scouting combine is fully underway in Indianapolis where the first group, including the offensive linemen and running backs are in the process of being weighed and measured. Unfortunately, the NFL combine people still haven’t gotten the message that these data should be widely available. Still, they do leak and Walter Football has… Read More »
The NFL’s annual scouting combine gets underway in Indianapolis later today with 330 of the top prospects for the 2017 draft set to be poked, prodded and tested. And while the importance of the combine sometimes gets overstated, no question it is one of the key elements of the entire pre-draft process. How key? Last year, for example,… Read More »
Rams get good news in 3rd round with comp pick … Thanks to correspondent Scott R for the tip as another pick got juggled by yesterday’s announcement of the awarding of this year’s compensatory picks. As part of the 2016 draft trade with Tennessee in which the Rams moved up to the #1 pick overall and selected QB… Read More »
Comp pick comings and goings … With today’s announcement by the NFL of this year’s compensatory draft picks, we have been able to update the unofficial picks by team file. New England will get the 3rd round comp pick, the 103rd pick overall this year, which awarded to Cleveland to complete the deal for LB Jamie Collins between… Read More »
To QB or not to QB … With apologies to Will Shakespeare,we are in the midst of the silly season in the NFL between the Super Bowl and scouting combine which gets underway next week in Indianapolis. In fact, there are rumors of at least a couple of pretty big deals regarding QBs old and young around the… Read More »
Peaking ahead to the 2018 draft … Needless to say, it’s a little early to be saying much of anything definitive about the 2018 draft; heck, its still almost too early to be saying much definitive about the 2017 draft which is now just over two months away. However, for anyone considering any strategic draft concerns regarding this… Read More »
Needless to say, it’s a little early to be saying much of anything definitive about the 2018 draft; heck, its still almost too early to be saying much definitive about the 2017 draft which is now just over two months away. However, for anyone considering any strategic draft concerns regarding this year’s draft, it is certainly worth taking… Read More »
The operative word for the defensive linemen at the 2017 Senior Bowl game was potential. Certainly, there was no one on the DL in Saturday’s game that came anywhere near close to the kind of dominating performances turned out by guys like Aaron Donald and Ziggy Ansah in recent years. Perhaps the most intriguing defensive line prospect, particularly… Read More »
Any NFL team hoping to find a potential along the offensive line at this year’s Senior Bowl probably came away disappointed this week. That’s especially going to be the case for teams looking to upgrade at OT. UCLA’s Conor McDermott, for example, was arguably the best OT in this weeks’ Senior Bowl game, although even he ended up… Read More »
Gold stars: Temple LB Hassan Reddick Silver stars: Eastern Washington WR Cooper Kupp; UConn FS Obi Melifonwu; Ohio DE Tarell Basham; Notre Dame DT Ike Rochell; Alabama TE OJ Howard; UCLA DT Eddie Vanderdoes; Dan Diego State CB Damontae Kazee Bronze Stars: East Carolina WR Zay Jones; Michigan DT Chris Wormley; West Virginia CB Rasul Douglas; Michigan CB… Read More »
Another crisp North practice this afternoon under what looked like delightful weather conditions. And while a lot that went on simply confirmed what we saw yesterday – Temple LB Hassan Reddick just kept on making plays – there were several new observations. The North offensive line, for example, was better against the DL, at least in individual drills.… Read More »
Here are several observations made from today’s Senior Bowl TV coverage: The unequivocal star of the day was Temple LB Hassan Reddick. Reddick is somewhat undersized, but was simply unblockable in one-on-one pass pro drills; even more impressive, Reddick who played his entire career with a hand on the ground, was really sticky in pass coverage drills. There… Read More »
North team numbers South team numbers Small-school guys star at Senior Bowl weigh-in … Overall, the results from Tuesday morning’s measurement session at the Senior Bowl in Mobile weren’t particularly impressive. And the exclamation point on the whole business may be that the two guys who had NFL personnel people talking were players from small schools. Bucknell OT… Read More »
Not surprisingly, in a game that ended in a 10-3 score with the only TD coming in the 4th quarter, the offensive lines at the East-West Shrine game in St. Petersburg were hardly blowing people off the line of scrimmage. The OTs, in particular, really struggled at times, and while the interior blockers held up a little better… Read More »
QB BRADY GUSTAFSON – MONTANA RYAN HIGGINS – LOUISIANA TECH MITCH LEIDNER – MINNESOTA SEAN MAGUIRE – FLORIDA STATE PHILIP NELSON – EAST CAROLINA GREG WARD – HOUSTON RB TERIYON GIPSON – NEW MEXICO T.J. LOGAN – NORTH CAROLINA TAQUAN MIZZELL – VIRGINIA KHALFANI MUHAMMAD – CALIFORNIA LENARD TILLERY – SOUTHERN MARQUEZ WILLIAMS – MIAMI WR KENDRICK BOURNE… Read More »
#1 Alabama (14-0) vs #2 Clemson (13-1); CFP National Championship; Tampa; 8 PM ET; ESPN … The 2017 national championship comes down to replay of last year’s title game in which Alabama outlasted Clemson 45-40 in a thriller. The game may also be about as good as it gets when it comes to previews of the 2017 draft… Read More »
Wild card games settle 4 draft slots … With the NFL’s wild card weekend now in the books four more positions in the opening round selection order for the 2017 draft have been settled. As reported earlier, Detroit will have the 21st pick overall, Miami will chose 22nd, the Giants 23rd and Oakland 24th. In addition, because those… Read More »
Three more Huskies enter draft … Washington has confirmed that three juniors including SS Budda Baker, DT Elijah Qualls and CB Sidney Jones will be entering the 2017 draft. The three join fellow junior WR John Ross, who announced yesterday, on the list of underclassmen who are entering the upcoming draft. Like Ross, Jones is considered to be… Read More »
First 20 picks set … With the 2016 NFL regular schedule now in the books, the first 20 picks have been set for the opening round of the 2017 draft. The remaining opening round picks will be determined by the playoff results. For now here is the updated opening round selection order for this year’s first round. Note… Read More »
Monday bowl preview … Since New Year’s Day fell on an NFL Sunday, New Year’s Day Plus one will be the day for the big bowl games, or at least the big bowl games that don’t really matter. Whatever, there are 4 bowls later today including a pretty good one in the Rose Bowl between Penn State and… Read More »
LSU DT confirms draft entry … LSU junior DT Davon Godchaux announced via his Instagram account that he will be entering the 2017 draft rather than complete his college eligibility. The 6-3, 300-pound Godchaux is an interesting prospect who started all 34 of 37 games played in his career including all 12 this fall when he finished fourth on… Read More »
#1 Alabama (13-0) vs #4 Washington (12-1); Peach Bowl; Atlanta; 3 PM ET; ESPN … The first of today’s two national championship semi-finals has a kind of David and Goliath feel about with the underdog Washington Huskies playing David to the unbeaten, top-ranked defending national champion Alabama. Not that Washington isn’t a talented team; they are, but the… Read More »
South Florida (10-2) vs South Carolina (6-6); Birmingham Bowl; 2 PM ET; ESPN … Potentially interesting game in which the question can a pretty good 10-win non-5 power conference team run with a middling 6-win SEC team (that was actually 3-6 against power 5 opponents. The Birmingham Bowl could also be a coming out party sorts for a… Read More »
Senior Bowl adds another half dozen … The Senior Bowl has announced the names of 6 more players that have accepted invitations to the 2017 game including Wisconsin RB Corey Clement, Southern Cal OT Zach Banner, LSU C Ethan Pocic, Alabama DT Dalvin Tomlinson, West Virginia CB Rasul Douglas and Alabama LS Cole Mazza. The additions bring the… Read More »
