Shrine game observations … Just finished re-watching last night’s East-West Shrine game in Dallas which was kind of a sloppy affair with 7 turnovers, multiple sacks, and way too many penalties for an all-star game that as pretty lop-sided to boot with the East team cruising to a 25-0 shutout win. Of course, as we have noted in the past, pro personnel people put a whole lot more stock in all-star practices than in the actual game so we were kind of hoping to watch a little more closely some of the top performers that were noted in dispatches from the Shrine practices this week that included players such as WRs Ricky White of UNLV and Jimmy Horn of Colorado; Syracuse TE Orande Gadsen; 6-8, 342 pound OT Hollin Pierce of Rutgers; Middlebury C Thomas Perry; SMU DE Elijah Roberts; Maryland DT Jordan Phillips; and CBs Cobie Bryant of Kansas and North Carolina’s Alijah Huzzie. Unfortunately, though, most of those players opted not to play in the actual game. Same for Syracuse QB Kyle McCord who was pretty much universally considered to be the top QB at the Shrine practices this week. Meanwhile, none of the QBs that did suit up and play including Payton Thorne of Auburn, Cam Miller of North Dakota State, Minnesota’s Max Brosmer, Brady Cook of Missouri, and UCLA’s Ethan Garbers looked much more like late round prospects at best, although Miller, an athletic dual-threat type who led the Bison to yet another national title this fall, could ultimately find a home on a Canadian league field.
However, one reason why the QBs may have struggled in the Shrine game on Thursday evening may have been that best players on the field were the pass rushers. Indeed, a pretty good case can be made that anyone of DEs Johnny Walker of Missouri, Garmon Randolph of Baylor and Elijah Ponder of FCS Cal Poly or South Carolina DT Tonka Hemingway were the individual player of the game, while fellow DTs Nash Hutmacher of Nebraska and Mississippi’s JJ Pegues and BYU DE Tyler Batty, who impressed with his motor, had their share of moments. At the same time, SMU’s Elijah Roberts, one of the top practice performers who actually did play, showed a real burst when he got some space, but struggled to get off blocks in traffic. We also focused in to some extent on Indiana OT Trey Wedig, who has generated some pre-draft buzz, used his length and strength to great effect stuffing straight-ahead rush, but had some troubles dealing with change of direction.
The other rather impressive group in Dallas on Thursday were the RBs among whom Andrew Henry of New Mexico and Jacory Croskey-Merritt of Arizona, in particular, showed some explosive speed and make-you-miss ability in space; at the same time Tajh Brooks of Texas Tech was more than solid especially catching the ball. Meanwhile, other players that impressed, in no particular order include Eastern Washington WR Efton Chism, who broke all the school’s receiving records previously held by NFL star Cooper Kupp, and has quickly emerged as one of the more entertaining slot receiver- punt returner prospects for 2025, along with Cal QB Nohl Williams and S Shamari Simmons and Kansas State’s Marques Sigle.
