* South player of the day: Coastal Carolina (the Chanticleers!) RB Lorenzo Taliaferro. Since the only really good action we got to see of the South team drills was blitz pickup, Taliaferro's their star of the day for absolutely dominating at it. This is a drill where the RBs usually get whipped at the start of practice week, but Taliaferro made some of the best blitz pickups I’ve seen watching these practices, dominating Telvin Smith (Florida State) and Kenny Ladler (Vanderbilt). He has excellent technique, keeps his hands in the middle of his chest, uses his arm length like a good OT. He gave up no ground and was too powerful to bull rush this day. I’d like to see a big LB go at him, but this kid can really pick up a blitzer.
* North player of the day: West Virginia RB Charles Sims. On running plays, he looked quick to the hole and quick upfield with a lot of wiggle. He's not afraid to take on, and run through, LBs, and he looked all right in blitz pickup drills. NFL-N reported he had 200 catches in college, and he would have had a big play on a screen pass in 11-on-11, with the whole field open in front of him. I know a team that could use an elusive and confident pass-catcher out of the backfield on 3rd down, too.
* Louisville LB Marcus Smith did not look like one of the better players in either blitz or 1-on-1 line drills. He didn't look very explosive and really struggled to get off blocks. His spin move not only didn't work, it gave Kadeem Edwards (Tennessee State) leverage to put him on the ground on one rep. Smith rebounded in 11-on-11 by blowing up a sweep.
* Edwards, a 6'3 315 guard, did well against Smith and Louisiana Tech DT Justin Ellis 1-on-1 but had a false start early on. He showed good handwork off the snap on Smith and reacted very well to his spin move.
* Seantrel Henderson, perhaps confused why players from Miami would ever be on a North team, had his struggles in the North’s practices. Trent Murphy (Stanford) beat him pretty convincingly in 1-on-1 as he struggled with Murphy’s quickness. He also blew a couple of assignments in 11-on-11 situations that let defenders go unblocked into the backfield. Henderson also got bull-rushed by Will Clarke (West Virginia) to get a screen blown up, though the top-heavy Clarke had been put down earlier in 1-on-1 by Clemson’s Brandon Thomas, who’s 40 pounds lighter than Henderson and benefits noticeably from better agility. Henderson and Zack Martin did some good pass protection in 11-on-11, and Henderson got out front well to block a screen to Sims that would have been a big play, but he’s still got some flaws to address. That play was really made by guard Brandon Linder, also out of Miami, picking off La.-Lafayette LB Justin Anderson, who reacted well late to what was happening. At center, Weston Richburg (Colorado State) looked tough to move and showed pretty good feet.
* Taliaferro wasn’t the only standout of the South’s blitz pickup drills. Antonio Andrews (Western Kentucky RB) had little trouble with Montana LB Jordan Tripp’s spin move (neither did anyone else) and beat Alabama LB Adrian Hubbard clean a couple of times, letting him get himself off-balance on one rep and putting him on the ground. Nice! Christian Jones (Florida State LB) rocked Georgia TE Arthur Lynch off balance to win one rep and destroyed him with a spin move on another. Lynch ended up trying to save face by holding Jeremiah Attaochu (Georgia Tech LB). Lynch looks far too slow afoot for the job. Jerick McKinnon (Georgia Southern RB) struggled with everything. He got run right over by a bull rush, got whipped with a club move and got driven down to a knee by various blitzers. Auburn fullback Jay Prosch got humbled and run over by a couple of people. He has the footwork and quick balance reset to do the job well, which showed when he handled spin moves (not just Tripp’s) with no problem. He’s letting rushers get much too far into him and losing the leverage battle badly. I think that’s fixable and he’ll be OK back there.
* The North team’s 1-on-1 passing drills weren’t very revealing; the DBs were mostly in Tim Walton zones. The best looking DB was Michigan State safety Isaiah Lewis, who cut off a slant to Monday’s star Robert Herron very nicely and got away with a CRAPLOAD of holding on another rep while Charles Davis applauded, “Good coverage!” Most of the DBs did not show the anticipation and closing speed needed to close down quick routes from a deep position, with the possible exception of Pierre Desir of Lindenwood (!).
* CB Aaron Colvin (Oklahoma) blew an ACL right at the outset of the South’s passing drills, which looked very dialed back. Alabama’s Kevin Norwood went up over Auburn instant legend Chris Davis to pull down a deep jump ball even though Davis pressed him well and stayed with him well downfield. Mike Davis (Texas) turned Keith McGill (Utah) all but inside-out on a sluggo route. Jordan Matthews (Vanderbilt) made McGill look bad with a nice after-the-catch sideline move but also had one of the few drops I saw. The NFL-N analysts later said Matthews had not practiced well so far.
* Maybe Les Snead claims the Rams don’t need a #1 WR for 2014 is because there isn’t that much out there for him to add. Not from these rosters, at least. Of Jeremiah’s top 10 WRs, 9 of them are juniors and therefore not in this game. He described the South’s WRs as mostly big WRs, with no blazers. Jeremiah does project the Rams using pick #2 overall on Sammy Watkins, who he said was more explosive in college than former Clemson teammate DeAndre Hopkins. If you like fast guys who score TDs, Watkins is your guy. Yeah, I can think of a team that can use both of those factors.
* Aaron Donald (Pitt) is a killer at DT with his quickness off the ball. In 11-on-11, they ran a draw to catch him overpursuing but he still nearly made the stop. Excellent combination of quickness, change of direction and recovery speed at that position, but being 6’0 285 is going to make him a hard sell. At DE, Trent Murphy’s also winning with quickness; he was textbook against Henderson on one heads-up rep, getting behind him quickly, getting back shoulder leverage, turning him and going. Both these guys are going to have to show how well they’ll stand up when a lineman gets his hands on them. Connecticut DT Shamar Stephen flashed good initial power heads-up but didn’t seem able to sustain it.
* The South’s DTs aren’t near as inspiring as draft prospects as the North’s. Arizona State DT Will Sutton had the largest ass in Mobile, but adding over 25 pounds before his senior year cost him pop and explosiveness and he was less productive than he was as a junior. Daniel Jeremiah said he looked lethargic and heavy-legged in practice. Daniel McCullers (Tennessee) has impressive 6’7 350 size but also was not a productive senior. NFL-N also caught him in a moment where he wasn’t smart enough to not spit into the wind. I’m sorry, but that’s a red checkmark in the ol’ RamView scouting notebook.
* QBs: Tajh Boyd and Stephen Morris made some nice sideline throws in 1-on-1s. Logan Thomas had several very nice passes dropped so far this week but was the worst QB in 11-on-11 by a lot. Threw a terrible wobbler way over the head of a receiver who was double-teamed anyway, missed another receiver by a lot under pressure and threw a long ball too late and too short. The very little of Jimmy Garoppalo (Eastern Illinois) shown during the South practice looked pretty good; he can really throw a rope through traffic. He was the offensive MVP (9-14-100, TD) of the Shrine Game and threw for over 5,000 yards last season. Has a quick, compact release and throws a nice, tight spiral. Mayock shot down David Carr’s brother Derek, also of Fresno State, saying he did nothing but throw bubble screens. That criticism held up. Carr and David Fales (San Jose State) struggled to complete passes during the install period. Windy day or not, that’s 11-on-nobody. It also looked like Carr struggled getting the play called in the huddle. Fales bounced back and threw that long bomb Norwood caught over Davis, and Mayock did say during the recap show that Carr threw a tight spiral in practice and threw well on the move. Would have been nice if WE had gotten to see that.
* It’s hard to get thrilled with the level of talent here when Jeremiah says the best player on the South team is a tackle he’s not even sure can be a left tackle, Morgan Moses (Virginia). Has outstanding size at 6’6 335 and quick feet, but is not a bender. Powerful and mirrors well but isn’t that close even to Zack Martin of the North team. If the Rams don't go for an offensive lineman high in the draft, it really looks like Paul Boudreau's going to have his work cut out for him next season. Again.
* And now allow me to say this about Mayock and NFL Network’s ability to scout offensive linemen. Did any of these people even hint that Jason Smith could be a draft bust in 2009? No. In 2011, Mayock pushed Gabe Carimi hard; Carimi busted as a Bears first-round pick at tackle and couldn’t even make it at guard in Tampa, where he just got cut. Mayock gushed about Danny Watkins like he was either John Hannah or his own son. Watkins was terrible for Philadelphia, didn't even last to a third season there, and was ignored by every team when the Eagles waived him in September. Miami eventually picked him up, and even then, the only reason he made the game day roster was the Martin/Incognito mess. Mayock called Anthony Castonzo the best lineman in 2011, which Brian Baldinger ripped him for on NFL-N. Listen to Baldy in the future, maybe. Castonzo still starts for the Colts but has always looked completely overmatched. Viewers have to take anything these guys say about offensive linemen not with just a grain of salt, I’d say the whole salt lick.
* And, per usual, the NFL-N analysts came into Mobile another year expecting about 100 players to be drafted by the end of the 2nd round. Boyd will go there if he has a good week. So will Garoppalo, AND A.J. McCarron. Dee Ford, a 6’1 240 pass rusher from Auburn who’ll be lucky to even be a 3-4 OLB at that size, is going there because he’s an explosive, up-the-field edge rusher. He was reportedly unblockable in 1-on-1. Mayock’s latest 2nd-round guard is Gabe Jackson of Mississippi State, a 6’3.5 340 mauler with good feet to mirror in pass protection. A second-round guard you shouldn’t trust in a gap blocking scheme. Sigh.
After two days, Senior Bowl week 2014 was most notable for its lack of a breakout player at any position and NFL Network’s subpar coverage and analysts unable to break out of old ruts. Speaking of old ruts, SlowView’s still got three Senior Bowl practice sessions to watch; I’ll be lucky to have days 3 and 4 out in time for the Combine next weekend.
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