Monday, January 28, 2013

Senior Bowl 2013: South practices, days 3-4

There is OBVIOUSLY a big difference between being at a practice live and attempting to recap that practice from home as it’s televised. NFL Network’s coverage of this week’s Senior Bowl practices has been excellent for my intents and purposes. But at home, we can only get 5-10% of what’s going on in Mobile. Shoot, I go to several Rams practices a summer and am probably lucky to get 10% of what’s going on when I’m there in person. So when it comes to any year’s draft prospects, many players are going to slip through the cracks at RamView, because I simply haven’t seen as much of them.

A prime example of that issue this year is South CB Robert Alford (Southeast La.), who’s frequently touted as one of the week’s top performers. I cannot say that from what I’ve had to review. My notes from Wednesday’s coverage keep asking if Alford was awake today. He looked way slow to close from zone coverage, interfered with receivers, and got himself in such poor position after a comeback to Tavarres King, he never would have made the tackle and would have given up a big gain after the catch. He did make a nice play in run support in 11-on-11, but I still haven’t seen what makes Alford fussworthy. YMMV. 

A DB who did stand out on the broadcast was safety Bacarri Rambo (Georgia), who covered TEs well, breaking up a hitch to Michael Williams (Alabama) and blanketing the best TE there, Vance McDonald, on a deep post. He did NOT look good against WRs, which opens up a Craig Dahl-sized question about him, but he looked so good against the TEs that he’ll be worth a good, long look at Rams Park. Plus, the Rams are almost obliged to get a player named “Rambo” in their uniform, aren’t they?

Despite King’s earlier exploits, and his absolute torment of Alabama safety Robert Lester in red zone 1-on-1 Thursday, Terrance Williams emerged as the best receiver on either roster by the end of the week. He beat B.W. Webb pretty easily just on deep speed. He drew a brutal DPI from Marc Anthony thanks to a well-run stop-and-go route, and still fought through contact for a deep catch. Shawn Williams (Georgia) defended red zone slant routes to him very well, yielding no ground, but Terrance came back and beat Alford for a TD in red zone 11-on-11. Get Williams coached up as a red zone receiver and he looks like a solid receiving weapon who can break big plays and make plays all over the field. TE Mychal Rivera flashed as a red zone weapon, winning a couple of TD balls 1-on-1, and he wasn’t going up against midgets. The strangest red zone performance was by Duke WR Conner Vernon, who attempted to catch everything one-handed.

E.J. Manuel (Florida State) threw one of the prettiest balls of the week Wednesday, dropping a 40-yard bomb right in the bucket to Quinton Patton (La. Tech), who was covered just about perfectly by Lester, who failed only to look for the ball. Manuel also threw a ball so poor in 11-on-11 that Ziggy Ansah didn’t really need to jump to block it, but when he did, he blocked it with his shoulder pad. I believe that pass was deflected to Zaviar Gooden of Mizzou for a pick-six. NFL-N’s Senior Bowl promos have been thick with mentions of former participants Colin Kaepernick, Joe Flacco and Russell Wilson, so I guess I should keep an open mind about this year’s QBs, but I haven’t been thoroughly impressed. Landry Jones can probably make the first round with a big Combine or pro day, so there’s your potential Flacco. Manuel took off one time 11-on-11, and he is pretty much Kaepernick’s size, but I haven’t seen that kind of speed or the arm strength from him. Tyler Wilson (Arkansas) will need more mustard on some of the sideline throws I saw or he’ll be a pick-six machine. If anybody’s going to pull a Russell Wilson, I’d put my money on Ryan Nassib from the North team.

The South o-line continued to stay well in front of the d-line. That o-line is thick with pro prospects. Lane Johnson continued to just stuff people. He doesn’t quite have Eric Fisher’s strength or foot quickness, but still has those qualities in spades. He can outflank a rusher or meet him right up in the hole and keep him there. He’s got the patience as a pass-protector to let his man make his move and hasn’t been eaten up by spin moves or quick inside moves. Larry Warford and Brian Schwenke continue to be more difficult to move than trees. Despite his 350-pound girth, Johnathan Jenkins (Georgia) failed to move Warford much in several tries, and was gassed and barely moving by the end of 1-on-1. Schwenke didn’t get in trouble 1-on-1 until lining up at guard and having to deal more with lateral speed. At the same time, though, he was the best red zone blocker Thursday, opening up great running holes several times, both at LG and RG.

The o-line’s domination extended beyond the week’s early standouts. Garrett Gilkey (Chadron State) put Everett Dawkins (Florida State) on the ground, twice. Dalton Freeman (Clemson) dominated Cory Grissom on two occasions; once, Grissom couldn’t even get out of the patch of ground he’d lined up in. Terron Armstead (Ark.-Pine Bluff) showed up fresh from the Shrine Game, got beat once by Cornelius Washington’s edge rush, but pounced on his inside move the next snap and threw him on the ground. Oday Aboushi had trouble with Lavar Edwards’ edge speed initially but figured out how to use it against him. That was at LT. Aboushi looked much more comfortable and effective at guard, handling Montori Hughes (Tenn.-Martin) convincingly. Jordan Mills (La. Tech) built on an excellent practice Tuesday by manhandling Josh Boyd (Mississippi State), who was beating Schwenke when he lined up at guard. Mills could be a real sleeper from this game; he’s a replacement but has been consistently good.

How much of this is good o-line play vs. bad d-line play is yet to be seen. Malliciah Goodman spends way too much time on the ground. He was also easily blocked inside by TE Michael Williams on a simulated 4th-and-inches in 9-on-7. I just don’t see that he brings anything to the table. I didn’t see Dawkins beat anybody all week. Ansah continues to go on athleticism alone. He made the nice leaping play 11-on-11, but failed to do much of anything 1-on-1 all week, consistently playing high and failing to make a second move on anyone. He’s even high working the tackling dummies in drills; nice coaching, Detroit. You, too, BYU. Jenkins rallied in the Thursday 11-on-11. He blew up one run by swimming past Freeman, and another by beating a double-team from Gilkey and Johnson. Jenkins finished the practice week with a flourish by flattening Warford to stuff a goal-line run. Ladies and gentlemen, Johnathan Jenkins: the 2013 draft’s poster child for conditioning.

Apologies again that I don’t get a good feel for the RBs from this week’s coverage. Mike Gillislee (Florida) and Stepfan Taylor (Stanford) look like the main men for the South. Gillislee seems quicker to the hole; Taylor uses his blocks better and does a good job finding running room. Taylor also absolutely stuffed Ansah Thursday with a chip block. I think Kenjon Barner’s the top prospect in the game and the likeliest 1st rounder, but I can see these south RBs getting off the board day 2.

Gooden and Nico Johnson (Alabama) were the linebacking stars of Wednesday’s 11-on-11. Gooden not only had the pick-six but did a nice job working through traffic to blow up a draw to Gilleslee. Getting caught in traffic sets back a lot of LBs. Johnson looked up to the task, too, actually getting off a Schwenke block to blow up one run and beating Gilleslee to the hole to stuff another.

Takeaway: Assuming I make it to recapping the game itself (which will be a RamView first if it happens), the offensive lines of both teams should be fun to watch, and should be the units where the most money is made in Mobile. If the Rams have a shot at Lane Johnson at #16, I’d have a hard time not pulling the trigger. He’s close enough to Fisher’s skill level, with upside, to make that pick pay off quickly. The South line is stacked from one end to the other. With Ansah almost completely a project, Jenkins is the most interesting d-lineman, but needs to be in better shape for the Combine and pro days. I find it hard to believe Tavarres King and Terrance Williams aren’t ahead of where Brian Quick was this time last year. Maybe even where he is right now. They have the size and ability to separate to be attractive picks in the Mayock Zone (late 1st-early 2nd, where he annually projects about 100 players to go). Add Rambo to the list of South players I hope the Rams have their eyes on, and the Senior Bowl should be a draftable feast.

-$-

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