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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