Senior Bowl 2012: South practice, day 2

The first televised practice of the South team was a real eye-opener, because compared to the North, their roster looks absolutely stacked. At first glance, I'd say they should dominate the North on Saturday, based on their impressive depth at defensive line and in the secondary. But we've seen plenty of evidence here that I should never gamble on sports.

Here, though, are some players that look more than worth taking a gamble on:

* My favorite player of the session was Vanderbilt CB Casey Hayward (5'11" 188). He owned Arizona WR Juron Criner. He's a good, physical press corner who showed no problem staying with deep speed and no problem adjusting to routes that were supposed to get the receiver open by driving him deep. Reacts and closes on the ball extremely well in those instances. Again, I haven't seen a ton of Senior Bowl practices, but I haven't seen a group of DBs look anywhere near as good as the South team's did Tuesday.

* Quentin Coples gets a ton of well-earned buzz, but my favorite DE so far is Melvin Ingram (6'2" 276) of South Carolina. Watching some the position drills, you immediately get the sense he's a very smart, very coachable player. He also excelled in 1-on-1, killing Illinois' Jeff Allen with an outside move and killing Zebrie Sanders with a spin move. No contest either time, and Sanders looks like a good tackle. Ingram actually beat him twice.

* Baylor guard Philip Blake (6'2.5" 312) had an excellent session. He opened 1-on-1 with a beautiful recovery to hold up UNC DT Tydreke Powell after initially getting beat with a spin move. He won a couple more showdowns with Powell and also shut down Texas A&M DT Tony Jerod-Eddie (three first names, no last name!).

* Ladarius Green (UL-Laf, 6'6", 237) looked outstanding at tight end. Physical, with good size and soft hands. Also an excellent run-blocker. Looks as good as any TE the Rams have.

* Alabama DE Courtney Upshaw (6'1.5" 273) had one of the domination highlights of the day when he put UAB OT Matt McCants on the ground in a 1-on-1 rep. He also completely whipped the fullback for what would have been a sack in 11-on-11. Upshaw should be dominating these proceedings in little time; very legitimate top-15 talent.

* Florida's Chris Rainey (5'8.5" 174) is doing a little bit of everything. At WR, he blew by Janoris Jenkins in 1-on-1 like he was standing still. At RB, he bounced a run outside and would have broken off a big gain in 11-on-11. They say he also returns punts. The Rams have to keep their eye on players like Rainey, playmakers from multiple positions.

* Coples (6'6" 281), story of his senior season, was good but far from dominant. Won his share of 1-on-1's, but also got handled by Sanders, and even Allen. He beat Sanders in 11-on-11 to stuff a run, and also blew up a sweep, but also lost the edge on one of the big draw plays.

* Alabama C William Vlachos (6'0.5" 306) reminds me a lot of Rodney Hudson last year. Strong as a bull, locks onto guys well, keeps his man in front of him, strong drive blocker, difficult to move.



Also liked:

- How was Georgia CB Brandon Boykin not even on the South's original roster? Sure showed NFL-class speed and coverage skills today, sticking with the likes of Rainey and Arkansas speedster Joe Adams.
- LSU OG Will Blackwell (6'3.5" 314) won the majority of his matchups. Did get outmuscled once by Jerod-Eddie.
- Texas DT Kheeston Randall (6'4.5" 297) has a decent bull rush and can beat you with a spin move, too. He also helped Coples blow up a sweep in 11-on-11.
- Sanders (6'5.5" 308) more than held his own, considering he was going against Coples and Upshaw all day.
- UNC LB Zach Brown (6'1.5" 236) is rumored to have 4.4-or-better speed. Really stuck to receivers well.
- Alabama TE Brad Smelley (6'2" 233) has a terrible name but is a good route-runner with good hands. Future would seem to be at H-back/fullback.
- Adams (5'10.5" 174) looks like the South's best deep threat so far. Shows some suddenness off the line.
 
Not yet ready for RamView's endorsement:
* Jeff Allen (6'4" 306) did lock nicely onto Coples on one rep, but Coples had little trouble with him the other rep, and Allen was mostly today's designated victim. Looked way in over his head.
* Florida DT Jaye Howard (6'3", 292) is an interesting case. He has formidable quickness and had two clear wins in 1-on-1 vs. impressive competition in Blake and Blackwell. And he got an impressive win in 11-on-11 working on Vlahos, who couldn't budge him on what would have been a bull rush sack. Howard's issue is that he needs to get a LOT more interested in stopping the run. All the guy does is pass-rush every down, which resulted in the South D getting gashed by draw plays repeatedly during 11-on-11. They had four draw plays with huge holes and huge gains, and at least three of those were because Howard was way out of position looking for a sack. Gotta watch for the draw, kid!
* Arizona QB Nick Foles has a good play-fake, but looked like slop otherwise, screwing up handoffs, blowing the snap count, throwing behind receivers. Brandon Weeden has a pro arm, no question. He's also not even three months younger than... Steven Jackson.
* Texas A&M WR Jeff Fuller (6'4" 217) won the Ugly Drop of the Day Award and didn't look all that hard to cover. 
* I'll get on the Dwight Bentley (CB, UL-Laf, 5'10" 176) bandwagon with the rest of NFL Network just as soon as he quits blatantly interfering on every play.

Second full-pads practice Wednesday afternoon.

-$-