Senior Bowl 2012: North practice, day 1

NFL Network offered only very sparse coverage of Monday's on-field activities. Just a few plays of 11-on-11, just a few pass rush/pass pro drills, hardly any 1-on-1 receiving drills at all. If their coverage of on-field events isn't going to be FAR more comprehensive than this, they, and therefore RamView, are going to be an all-but-useless source this year.

Quit focusing on undersized QBs, quit focusing on interviews nobody cares about with coaches nobody cares about, and get the camera on the action. Hell, Mike Mayock had to BEG the director a couple of times to get the shot on the meaningful drills instead of on handoff practice.

(Also, NFL Network, Heath Evans in for Stacey Dales? Terrible trade.)

Sparse coverage = sparse notes, but here we go:

* DT Kendall Reyes (6,4", 300, UConn) was one of the best players I saw; Charles Davis', too. Strong, quick off the ball, quick hands.

* Marshall DE Vinny Curry (6'3" 265) got good reviews. Gave Ohio State tackle Mike Adams (6'7" 323) all he could handle. Curry gets off quick and stays low. I'm not saying he's that good, but his form's reminiscent of Demarcus Ware's. Worth keeping an eye on. As for Adams, Mayock likes him a lot more as a pass-blocker than a run-blocker.

* I liked Ohio State center Mike Brewster (6'4", 310) but would like to see more consistency from him. He and Michigan DT Mike Martin had the best battles that made it onto TV. Brewster dominated when it came to power, but Martin got him with quickness half the time. Brewster practices with a nasty streak, I liked to see that. May not have the foot quickness to deal with quick moves. Would like to see more.

* A lot of the North linemen showed nasty practice streaks. A little too much, actually. Mayock talked about what a good job Cal OT Mitchell Schwartz (6'5" 317) did on a rep where he clearly held and went to his opponent's head with his hands. He also liked Wisconsin OG Kevin Zeitler (6'4" 315) even though Reyes whipped him on one rep and Zeitler clearly held, and went to his opponent's head, another time.

* Iowa State OT Kelechi Osemele (6 5.5" 333) did not appear to fare well. Slow off the ball and has major trouble with speed. Also about the only guy I saw get beat in 11-on-11.

* Virginia LB Cam Johnson (6'4" 267) had a couple of pass pressures in the little bit of 11-on-11 we got to see, working on Osemele.

* I thought Penn State OG Johnnie Troutman (6'4" 325) handled Boise State DT Billy Winn (6'3.5" 296) well and showed a good, strong initial punch. Mayock thought Winn beat Troutman up. YMMV, indeed.

* Bad day, no, bad broadcast, to find out much about what's going on at the skill positions. Russell Wilson looked like an accurate thrower. At his height, he'd better be Drew Brees. Kirk Cousins definitely has a fast ball. He was throwing quick slants about 90 mph. Naturally, in a year the Rams badly need to pick up receivers, we got to see a bunch of receivers dropping passes. The one WR who stood out in a good way was Cal's Marvin Jones (6'2" 198), who burned Iowa State corner Leonard Johnson (5'10" 198), this year's Ahmad Black, the DB who's undersized and can't cover but Mayock loves him anyway. For his part, Jones later got hit in the chest with a short pass but caught it on the rebound. Gerell Robinson (ASU, 6'3" 223) had a nice grab and had a drop. Guess we'll have to wait for the receivers to settle in. Cincinnati RB Isaiah Pead showed nasty elusiveness and some quickness in 9-on-7.

* Boise State has a DB there, George Iloka, who played some corner for them, at 6'3.5", 222. Let me guess... Seattle's looking at him?

Crossing my fingers for much more comprehensive and much better directed coverage of Tuesday's on-field action.

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