Rams not hiring Rob Ryan

USAToday

The Rob Ryan Era at Rams Park has come to an abrupt end almost as puzzling as the idea of hiring him as defensive coordinator here in the first place. After Ryan interviewed a second time with the Rams on Monday, the team decided today they would not hire him as DC after all, with Jeff Fisher’s explanation, “It wasn’t a scheme fit.”

Well, duh. But it didn’t take two interviews to figure out Ryan, a career 3-4 coach, wasn’t a fit for the Rams’ 4-3 defensive scheme; something else must have been up. Adam Schefter has reported that the Rams had a contract agreement with Ryan, (which justifies media reports that the team was on its way to hiring him) but that Ryan never signed it.

That makes me think Ryan either found a situation he likes better, or ultimately decided the Rams job was a no-win proposition for him. Could be the pay wasn’t quite right, could be he found a 3-4 team he’s better-suited to, could be, assuming he’s staying a DC, he found a team where he’ll have more freedom to run the defense than he might have had under Fisher. 

That last thought is my guess as to where things actually broke down between Ryan and Fisher. I don’t know how Fisher used to run things in Tennessee, but he had a firm hand in the defense here this past season, and if he was pulling it out any time soon, it wouldn’t have been by much. The Rams don’t need two strong-willed coaches fighting over how to call the defense.

Rob Ryan didn’t get hired because he wasn’t a scheme fit, he didn’t get hired because he wasn’t an ego fit. Ego is not necessarily a bad quality for a coach to have, but clashing egos are bad for a coaching staff. The Rams will ultimately be better off for not having made this move, and if Ryan’s landing somewhere else like I’m guessing, he may be better off for it, too.

The Rams have, however, officially hired Frank Bush as their new linebackers coach.

Postscript: my initial thoughts have been essentially confirmed by Pro Football Talk and by Bernie Miklasz. Sounds like Ryan was going to push for the Rams to switch to 3-4, and that's not happening.

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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 4^th-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 1^st 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 1^st-early 2^nd, 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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Senior Bowl 2013: North practice, day 3

One of the cool things about Wednesday's North practice was the number of players who raised their level of play. DT Brandon Williams (Missouri Southern) hadn't really been on RamView radar all week, but may have been the dominant player of Wednesday's practice. It looks like he picked up, or remembered, a move or two. In 1-on-1 drills, he beat Brian Winters once with a fake to the left, and another time faking to the right, showing nice quickness off the ball and nice handwork. Williams also blew up a draw play and a screen pass in 11-on-11. He blew up the screen after smoking Winters with a pull-through and beat Justin Pugh on the draw despite getting a late start.

The North quarterbacks looked better than they have all week, especially Ryan Nassib. In 11-on-11, he threw a nice quick out to Marquise Goodwin and, with Datone Jones bearing down on him, a perfect pass up the seam to Markus Wheaton, between two defenders. Haven't seen a lot of QBs getting nice passes off under pressure so far. Everything was good about that throw. Mike Glennon threw one of the best long balls of the week in 11-on-11, a deep strike to Aaron Mellette.

North RBs did a fairly good job at blitz protection, especially Johnathan Franklin (UCLA), who absolutely blew up Travis Johnson (San Jose State) once at the point of attack, and more than held his own against Jonathan Cyprien (Fla. International) and Kevin Reddick, who have been tough nuts all week. A positive surprise was Robbie Rouse, who fought off Khaseem Greene well. Kept leverage and stayed in front of all his moves. Nice rebound for Rouse, who had struggled at blitz pickup till now. He also burned Greene later in receiving drills. A negative surprise was Kyle Juszczyk, who got beaten twice by late arrival Sio Moore (UConn), one of the Shrine Game's standouts. Moore knocked Juszczyk back on his pins on one rush. The Harvard FB has looked off ever landing that big hit Tuesday. Nick Kasa (Colorado) consistently struggled with hard inside moves.

Wheaton had probably his best day of practice, beating everyone he faced. He won on hitches, won on comebacks, burned Jamar Taylor deep and turned Desmond Trufant inside out on a beautifully-run corner route. Goodwin likewise won on slants and comebacks, and burned Duke Williams (Nevada) deep, double-catching a TD bomb. Denard Robinson looked better having been cleared for full practice participation. He turned Blidi Wreh-Wilson inside-out on a double-move route and won a couple of slant routes, getting off a solid jam by Jordan Poyer on one. Mellette struggled to separate on shorter routes, and probably should have been matched up on Wreh-Wilson more often, who never closed decently on one. Mellette did beat Dwayne Gratz deep. He really leaves his feet at times on his breaks; it looks like he's jumping on a bicycle. That seems likely to get him knocked into next week, but I guess we'll see. Chris Harper similarly couldn't separate on short routes, but unlike Mellette, won a lot of physical battles to make catches anyway. Made a couple of catches despite being blatantly interfered with, and also beat a great jam by Phillip Thomas (Fresno State) to beat him late on a deep route. For better or worse, if the Rams draft Harper, his RamView draft profile will contain the line “Compares to: Brandon Gibson”. Trufant and Aaron Dobson had some good duels. Trufant jammed well and can stay with just about anybody downfield. Dobson continues to show excellent moves to free himself at the line.

Another good duel was Alex Okafor vs. Eric Fisher. Okafor actually won the first contest, getting Fisher high and off-balance with a strong punch and bull-rush, and bothered him with it the second time. Ricky Wagner (Wisconsin) took care of Okafor's bull-rush on the undercard, but Okafor smoked him right off the snap another time. Fisher warmed up for the main event by swatting Datone Jones aside with little problem. Finally, it was the Big Deal in Mobile. Okafor-Fisher III. Okafor tried to bull-rush Fisher again, and Fisher destroyed him. Okafor barely even got off the LOS, and Fisher put him into the ground right behind the line with an exclamation point. Silly big-fight imagery aside, you have to love matchups like those – they make both players better. (Even though Margus Hunt pulled a Buster Douglas during 11-on-11 and beat Fisher to blow up a screen.) Fisher's still the North's best player, and Okafor has lifted his stock.

Brian Winters continues to look great when he gets his hands on his guy, but continues to have BIG trouble with any initial quickness. Like Winters, Wagner has the strength but the question is his quickness. Justin Pugh shows better ability to adjust to speed rushers. Joe Madsen won his matchups against Jordan Hill. Braxston Cave does a LOT of holding. Michael Buchanan just looked lost during 1-on-1 drills, looked like he was thinking way too much. He did bounce back to make one of the best plays of 11-on-11, beating a double-team, spinning off a chip from Franklin and stepping up right into Glennon's face for a sack. On another play, Datone Jones came in unblocked and chased Glennon BEHIND the rest of the players, who line up 10 yards or so behind the LOS. He continues to show good edge speed and a good swim move. Dan Quessenberry had an inconsistent day. Buchanan did not challenge him in 1-on-1 but burned him with a spin move in 11-on-11. Sylvester Williams also beat him with that, so there's something to work on. He had good run- and pass-blocking plays 11-on-11, but also got beaten by a club move from Datone Jones. Just wasn't all quite there Wednesday, though Quessenberry has continued to look more comfortable at guard than at tackle.

Takeaway: with apologies for repeating myself, Fisher is the best player on the North team and has made himself a top-ten pick. The Rams could take almost any of the guards off this team and have themselves a good player, though. Okafor and Datone Jones were the most consistent d-linemen. The North LBs showed well, but the best ones don't have the size to be high draft picks. I'll begrudge Trufant the title of best CB, at least for the North, but T.J. McDonald has looked a pretty complete package at safety. Not sure I saw any first-round skill players. The QBs aren't. Barner should be able to slip in there with a good Combine. He has a good all-around game. Franklin could surprise a little. Goodwin looks the best WR, but I don't know about a first-round grade at 5'9”. Wheaton is bigger and looked almost as good, and I still like the Marshall receiver Dobson, who gets off the line well, runs good routes and competes well. Buchanan and Kyle Long, among others, will need to rally a little between now and the Combine.

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Rams hire Rob Ryan; Bush to coach LBs

ESPN.com

Oh joy, the Rams have produced another hiring from the Jeff Fisher Friends and Family Plan and have officially hired Rob Ryan to bring his completely underwhelming professional record to Rams Park as the team's new defensive coordinator.

RamView has already recounted the many reasons that make Ryan a less than ideal hire. The reasons to like the hiring: it ends the limbo and committee approach at DC Fisher went with after Gregg Williams' suspension, and Fisher knows more then me. That's about it. Grade for this hiring: D

Tennesseean.com

The Rams have also hired Frank Bush away from the Titans to be the linebackers coach here. Bush was formerly a linebacker for the Houston Oilers but was forced out of the game early in his second season in 1986 due to a narrow spinal canal. He became the Oilers' LB coach in 1992. He won two Super Bowl rings as the Broncos' LB coach from 1995-2003 and coached Big Dead LBs from 2004-06. After a failed two-year run as the Texans' defensive coordinator, he's coached the Titans' LBs the last two seasons. Looks like he's always been a 4-3 coach. Bush developed Karlos Dansby at Arizona. With Denver he developed three-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker Al Wilson at Denver and one-time AP All-Pro John Mobley. Detestable pill-popper Bill Romanowski went to two Pro Bowls as a Bush LB. Al Smith made the Pro Bowl for the Oilers in Bush's first year coaching there.

RamView likes the Frank Bush hiring much more than the Rob Ryan hiring. His good past work with veteran LBs gives James Laurinaitis and Jo-Lonn Dunbar opportunities to continue to improve, and his good record developing young LBs will come in handy with the Rams figuring to draft an OLB or two this year. That's a grade A hiring.

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Senior Bowl 2013: North practice, day 2

* The Fisher and Quessenberry trains kept rolling Tuesday for the North team, though they both hit a little bump in the tracks. Eric Fisher looked amazing picking Alex Okafor apart early in 1-on-1s. Perfect handwork and footwork, mirrored him perfectly to squash Okafor’s preferred speed rush. The second rep, Okafor tried to run past him, couldn’t. Tried to put a power move on him, couldn’t. Then Fisher blew him backwards ten yards. The most impressive work I have ever seen at these Senior Bowl workouts. A hiccup at the end, though, as Datone Jones pulled off the major upset and became the first man to beat Fisher this week. Fisher got a little bit overextended anticipating a speed move, and Jones took advantage of that to whip by him inside with a swim move. I’m already looking forward to seeing Fisher look for revenge Wednesday against the speed rushers.

* David Quessenberry, to my surprise, because he has looked very good here at right tackle, is actually a guard. At either position, he mostly toyed with people, especially the well-overmatched Margus Hunt (SMU) and Jordan Hill. Quessenberry pancaked Hunt the first time they squared off and stonewalled him the rest of the way. He put Hill on the ground one time, and another time, Hill put himself on the ground just trying to generate any push on the Great Wall of Quessenberry. He’s just too strong and quick off the ball for these guys. (NFL Network sure talks Hill and Hunt up, too, even though neither one of them has beaten anybody in two days.) In 11-on-11, though, finally, a crack in the Wall, as Okafor beat Quessenberry at RT to knock down a screen pass. At 295 pounds, I figure teams are going to want another 20-25 pounds on Quessenberry and move him inside. But I’d like to be his agent if he comes to the Combine bigger and maintains his quickness.

* Syracuse o-lineman Justin Pugh has been running with the front of the o-line pack all week, too; my apologies for letting him slip by me Monday. Pugh pretty much owned Michael Buchanan, who struggled all day and didn’t really show any moves. Pugh consistently locked him up and kept him safely outside. Similarly strong outing for Joe Madsen (West Virginia). This whole North o-line is going to be a bear for the South. Even the early strugglers are getting better. After getting whipped off the line by Jones on one rep before he could even break his stance, Hugh Thornton (Illinois) got off the ball much better the rest of the way, which allowed him to wait on his opponent to make a move and then lock him down.

* Other than Kawann Short (Purdue), it was a bad day in the middle of the d-line. Besides Hunt’s and Hill’s flailings, Sylvester Williams failed to get any headway against Thornton or Braxston Cave, who have not been standouts themselves so far, and got pancaked, with syrup, by Brian Winters (Kent State). Short, though, showed quickness to whip Cave right off the snap, and solid handwork to defeat Winters another rep. Avoid Winters’ exceptionally heavy punch and you’re good. And Short was one of the defensive stars 11-on-11, beating Thornton with a swim move to get a pass pressure and whipping past him later to blow up a screen pass. No screen passes off Kyle Long’s head today because he was down with the flu, which easily could be throwing off his performance this week.

* Robbie Rouse (Fresno State) was terrible in blitz pickup, and there’s little secret why: dude is 5-foot-6. He got whipped badly twice, and then when he finally got in the right position the 3^rd time, Khaseem Greene just ran over him. I don’t see how any team in the league can afford to have Rouse on the field. And how did a 5’6” dude get this high up the chain anyway? Shouldn’t he have been in the NFLPA game? We don’t see special teams drills on NFL-N, so I hope Rouse is a heck of a good kick returner. That is his only chance to play in the NFL.

* If you’re going to have a rookie protecting your QB’s back this season, you’ll be better off with Johnathan Franklin (UCLA), TE Jack Doyle (Western Kentucky), or especially, Harvard fullback Kyle Juszczyk. Kenjon Barner was also effective enough in blitz pickup to make you feel really good about him as a third-down back. Franklin showed the strength to absorb an initial blow and lock on to his man, and good footwork to mirror his movements. Juszczyk showed he can hit like a truck, stoning Greene with one of the hits of the day. (Teams practiced in full pads Tuesday.) He got jumpy and whiffed on a blitz later trying to duplicate that hit, though. Don’t lose your technique going for the kill shot. 

* Kevin Reddick flashed as a good blitzer, which is little surprise since he’s been good at everything in Mobile. My pick for least impressive blitzer was Steve Beauharnais (Rutgers), who kept trying to put spin moves on people. By the time you get done with a spin move on a blitz, they’re going to be lining up for the next snap. Reddick “popped” for the second straight day in 11-on-11. He has excellent speed and shows up in the right place all the time, blowing up a pitch to Rouse and getting Barner for a loss.

* One-on-one receiver drills were frustrating today. We got to see very little of yesterday’s star, Aaron Dobson, but a lot of the meh Michigan QB Dennard Robinson, who’s trying to convert to WR. Marquise Goodwin had to fight through some jams today, and did once against Jordan Poyer for an excellent back-shoulder catch, but couldn’t solve Jamar Taylor, who showed a strong jam and also good positioning to cut off slants. Chris Harper (Kansas State) made some good catches in tight coverage, which he’s going to have to be able to do in the NFL, because I didn’t see any separation ability. Robinson’s going to be a major project at WR. Needs work on everything. Aaron Mellette ran better routes Tuesday and sold them better than he did Monday, so don’t count him out just yet.

* The Oakland staff continues to make no effort to coach DBs to cover without committing blatant penalties, and the guy NFL-N’s making out to be the star there, Desmond Trufant, is so full of himself he’s about to explode, and yaps way too much for a guy who has to commit a penalty almost every rep. Shut up and cover. Trufant shows nice break to the ball in zone coverage and good feet and speed to stay with receivers, but by the end of things his priorities were hacking, grabbing and talking smack. Jordan Poyer’s another DB who gets gushing praise from NFL-N despite committing a penalty practically every rep. Poyer ended the day on a strong note, reading a comeback route to Goodwin perfectly, jumping the route and undercutting it. Did everything right except make the pick. He had another near-pick in 11-on-11, so he’s definitely a ball hawk. T.J. McDonald (USC) starred in 11-on-11. He won a train-wreck collision with Winters on a run play, which is saying something, because Winters is not only a tough SOB, he was pulling on the play and had a head of steam. McDonald also blanketed TE Ryan Otten (San Jose State) on an attempted bootleg pass.

* The UConn backs continued to struggle, along with Will Davis (Utah State), who got beat by every move anybody tried. Dwayne Gratz jams and gets physical effectively but is lost in space. He looked better in 11-on-11, where he made a good play to shut down an end run and would have had an opportunity to light up Alec Lemon (Syracuse) on an ill-advised throw from Ryan Nassib. Robinson and Mellette are at the bottom of the North’s receiver pack, but had little trouble beating Blidi Wreh-Wilson. 

* Nassib looked nice throwing on the run in 11-on-11, but I’m still far from convinced in his ability to throw the deep ball. The other QBs were inconsistent at best. Mike Glennon rifled a beauty to Harper down the seam, but had a weak, wobbly bomb for Dobson broken up with ease later. Zac Dysert (Miami, Ohio) threw some bullets and threw some floaters.

The North team’s going to be able to protect their QB like Fort Knox, but who knows if they’re going to take advantage of that to throw very well? Wouldn’t surprise me at all if Barner shines Saturday as an all-purpose weapon.

Lastly, to the good folks at seniorbowl.com: could you PLEASE update your online rosters? They do not include late-arriving players, and I much prefer to refer to players by name and not number. If I have to, I will tomorrow, because a couple of them have looked good.

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Senior Bowl 2013: South practice, day 2

The first televised action of the South team at this year’s Senior Bowl practices featured the biggest hit I’ve ever seen at this event and 3 QBs who are all better than any of the QBs on the North team. In receiver drills, we got to see deep balls consistently overthrown instead of underthrown for a change. I’m not sure if NFL Network has stopped airing these live or has taken complete control of the team practices, because they again covered the 1-on-1 receiving drills and 1-on-1 pass protection drills, also known as Mike Mayock porn, brilliantly, giving us tons of reps to watch and not interrupting it with stupid garbage like they’ve done in the past. For instance, in past years, they would have done the stupid interview with Jerry Jones instead of showing us drills. This year, he’s shoved back in the 9:30 recap show where he belongs. Some more stabs at who belongs in the spotlight or doesn’t:

* Best-looking wide receiver for the South was Tavarres King (Georgia). He’s 6’1” 200 and runs beautiful routes. He ran a perfect out route to beat J.J. Wilcox (Ga. Southern) after making a sweet side-to-side fake to beat the press. He ran an excellent corner route and lost college teammate Sanders Commings, and beat him again later with an excellent catch. King has nice hands, runs excellent routes, makes great fakes without losing speed, is quick, is sudden, and can create separation. The NFL-N analysts obviously have “their guys” – that’s how we heard so much about Terrance Williams (Baylor) Tuesday even though he didn’t beat anybody, not on camera, anyway. King is the receiver to watch from this group so far, though he may have gotten a wrist injury when Leon McFadden (San Diego State) ripped a ball away from him in 11-on-11.

* The eye-opener of the DBs was B.W. Webb (William & Mary). He showed he could get both physical with Terrance Williams (probably illegally) and blanket him on deep routes. Broke up at least three passes and was the only DB I saw who could stick with King. Webb had a lot of good company. Marc Anthony (Cal) showed tight cover skills in man and zone. Shawn Williams (Georgia) was pretty much a blanket on TE Mychal Rivera (Tennessee). 

* Rice has had two tight ends play in all-star games this month; apparently the NFLPA game got the backup. Vance McDonald’s getting graded as the best TE in Mobile. He beat safety Robert Lester (Alabama) deep but is showing a nasty habit so far of double-catching the ball. Lester’s about the only DB that looked like he struggled Tuesday. He’s behind in speed and quickness. The best throw of the day came early in 1-on-1. Robert Alford (SE Louisiana) had pretty good deep coverage on Quinton Patton (La. Tech) but Landry Jones hit Patton in the end zone with a perfect pass. We haven’t seen anything close to that kind of pass from the North team’s QBs. Tyler Wilson (Arkansas) made a nifty play in 11-on-11; he dropped the snap but managed to scoop it, bootleg left and hit Rivera.

* Vince Williams (Florida State) won the hit of the day award, possibly also the hit of the week award and the all-time Senior Bowl practice hit award. Coming downhill on a run play, he fired into the gap and had a massive head-on collision with pulling guard Dalton Freeman (Clemson), and Williams won, bowling the bigger lineman onto the ground. Not only did Williams win the trainwreck, he got a piece of the ballcarrier on the tackle and got interviewed by NFL-N for the play.

* 2013 looks like a good year not to need a defensive lineman in the draft. The South offensive line dominated 1-on-1 drills. Ziggy Ansah (BYU), the most hyped of the group, lost three out of four reps. His bull rush failed against Xavier Nixon (Florida), though he was able to beat Nixon with a nifty spin move. Everett Dawkins (Florida State) likely saw Larry Warford (Kentucky) in his nightmares Tuesday night. Warford stuffed him decisively three times and never let him get even a sniff of the pocket. Brian Schwenke (Cal) was impenetrable at center, combining tree trunk-like immovability with excellent handwork and footwork that can mirror anybody. Tied up everyone he faced and put Corey Grissom (South Florida) on the ground. The South d-linemen could really use some coaching from the Detroit staff, though, which I’m not sure is doing any. None of them really look like they have a second move; if their bull rush fails, they’re dead in the water. A lot more to pro pass rush than bull rushing.

* Did I say it’s a bad year to need a defensive lineman? Really, it’s a great year to get an offensive lineman. I didn’t even get to Lane Johnson (Oklahoma) yet, who’s expected to be a first-round pick who could be on the board when the Rams pick. He plays with excellent leverage, as seen when he put Malliciah Goodman (Clemson) on the ground. TWICE. He also stonewalled speed-rushing LSU DE Lavar Edwards, so he seems able to handle whatever’s thrown at him. All the South o-linemen looked like Eric Fisher Tuesday; Johnson bears keeping an eye on.

* About the only d-lineman who did anything was Cornelius Washington (Georgia), another speed rusher. He whipped across Oday Aboushi’s (Virginia) face at left tackle with ease, though Mayock said Aboushi should be limited to the right side. Washington could also bull-rush well because he had the o-linemen worried about his edge speed. He put a solid punch on Nixon another time to get pocket penetration. He was also pulled out of the DE rotation at one point for jumping offside, but got back in later when his replacement jumped offside.

That’s just another “benefit” of being coached by the Lions staff, I guess. The pass pro drills and 11-on-11 were plagued by offsides and false starts; it’s no surprise seeing players coached by the Detroit Lions committing poor-discipline penalties. I hope the South’s players will be able to overcome their week of exposure to that staff.

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Senior Bowl 2013: North practice, day 1

While the Senior Bowl is easily the game with the best overall talent among this year’s college all-star soirees, it’s still notable which players are missing, a list that includes Geno Smith, Montee Ball, Chance Warmack, Matt Barkley, Tavon Austin, and last and certainly least, Manti The Freaking Idiot Te’o. Also missing, naturally, are BOTH players Mel Kiper recently mock-drafted to the Rams in the first round, Texas safety Kenny Vaccaro and Alabama guard D.J. Fluker, who has a groin injury, possibly from getting his 355 pounds up on a scale. He was only present for the weigh-in, where he impressed, actually, because he’s a massive 355, not a flabby 355.

But even if the Senior Bowl doesn’t help Rams Nation figure out the team’s draft options as easily as we’d like, there is still a ton of draftable talent on display in Mobile, and on the NFL Network, which is doing a bang-up job of covering the festivities so far. Far better than RamView, which you’ll no doubt notice is already TWO days behind. What can I say, Mike Mayock’s got a hell of a lot more time to devote to this than I do. Barring technical problems, I’ll get everything recapped, just slowly. After all, there’s a lot to try to keep up with. 

Keeping with tradition, NFL-N only covered the North team’s practice the first day. Players were not in pads. Here’s who and what stood out:

* The star of the first day was Central Michigan OT Eric Fisher, who seems to protect the pocket with the skill of Bruce Lee warding off evil henchmen. In the time NFL-N’s televised Senior Bowl practices, Fisher’s the best tackle I have seen. He has the strength to move people wherever he wants. He made Michael Buchanan (Illinois) look silly, shoving him outside the pocket and not even giving him so much as a look back in. Fisher is also impressively light on his feet, mirrors beautifully and can stay with even the fastest of speed rushers like Alex Okafor (Texas). He’s tenacious, he stays on people; as a pass protector, Fisher already looks Pro Bowl-quality. Too bad there’s no way the Rams will be able to draft him. Not after today.

* The hidden performer of the first day was 6’6” 295 San Jose State tackle David Quessenberry. Strong with good footwork, stays ahead of his man well. He went up against Datone Jones (UCLA) late in 1-on-1, a mouthwatering matchup because Jones had been speeding by everyone in sight and Quessenberry had been driving people into the ground. Jones threw a wicked spin move at Quessenberry, but he stayed in front of it and held his own. Might have gotten outpushed at the end, but being able to handle the speed rusher after pushing some of the bigger rushers around made the Spartan tackle look very credible from my seat.

* Kyle Long (Oregon) has gotten a lot of attention because he’s Chris’ brother. He does not have Chris’ ability on the edge, though, and should be kicked inside to guard, where he was at least a little effective. He looked pretty bad at tackle, getting pushed around in 1-on-1 drills and 11-on-11, where he got driven back into the QB and had a screen pass thrown off his head. He does show good hand quickness, which helps him out a lot more inside than out. Similar story for Hugh Thornton (Illinois), who struggled mightily with speed – Datone Jones was around him on one rep before he was barely even out of his stance – but showed the strength as an inside blocker to put Jordan Hill (Penn State) on the ground at the end of one rep. Same deal for Brian Winters (Kent State). Struggled with speed but showed good strength against Hill, and threw Brandon Williams (Mo. Southern) to the ground.

* Defensive backs were hard to evaluate because they would have been flagged for clear holding or pass interference half the time had this been an officiated game. You can tell these players are being coached by the Raiders. In fact, with the Lions coaching the South, I’d bet the over for number of penalties committed in this year’s game. Expect a record. (Yes, I know the RAMS led the league in penalties.) Dwayne Gratz (UConn) jammed the receiver well but struggled with change of direction. Marquise Goodwin (Texas) turned him inside out on an arrow route, and even on simpler routes against Markus Wheaton, he was slow, late and off-balance on breaks. He even failed on a slant route even though he lined up with inside leverage. Blidi Wreh-Wilson, also of UConn, looked comfortable in zone coverage but got whipped off the line trying to man up on Goodwin. Jordan Poyer (Oregon State) showed good recovery speed to break up a slant after getting beat off the line but clearly held to break up a quick out. Desmond Trufant (Washington; Marcus’ brother) looked excellent cutting off a slant but later defended a bomb to Wheaton by choosing to mug him. Jamar Taylor (Boise State) looked strong cutting off a slant route but appeared to take a later rep completely off. Laid 10 yards off his receiver, never closed, let him run by him for a TD. Puzzling. It looks like a solid group of physical DBs for the North. As a group they’re jamming well and cutting off routes well. I’d like to see more consistency, better movement and reaction to breaks, and certainly fewer penalties, before getting enthusiastic about any one of them.

* The defensive line group doesn’t really have me sold yet, either. Buchanan bounced back from a humbling during 1-on-1 to be one of the standouts on 11-on-11. He beat Joe Madsen (West Virginia) and would have blown up a screen pass or even gotten the sack. Buchanan also made an excellent play to close the lane on a draw play and knock down the runner. When he’s not up against Eric Fisher, he shows a good bull rush and good edge speed. Brandon Williams spent too much time on the ground during drills, getting pancaked twice, but bull-rushed Long on the screen pass that doinked off Long’s head. Sylvester Williams (North Carolina) made Cave Braxston (Notre Dame) whiff on him 1-on-1 and beat him again to stuff a run in 11-on-11. Braxston’s taking a while to adjust to the improved speed out there, or maybe he’s still trying to recover from the Alabama game. Okafor and Datone Jones showed speed rush skills that looked elite at times. I’m not sure either has a second trick in their bag. Then again, Bruce Irvin got drafted in the first round last year; they may not need one.

* Goodwin obviously stood out among the receivers, and could be a player for the Rams to look at if they don’t keep Danny Amendola. At 5’8”, he’s going to be a slot guy, and he looked like Amendola running arrow routes, while also showing big-play speed up the field. The receiver who really caught my eye was Aaron Dobson (Marshall). He’s 6’2” 205, was beating guys deep, ran tight routes and beat jams with impressive moves and elusiveness at the line. He did get in trouble with coach Dennis Allen for leaving the huddle early, tipping when plays weren’t going to him. Aaron Mellett (Elon) I thought struggled. He didn’t fool anybody. His breaks were soft, lacked explosion and he didn’t sell them.

* Mike Glennon (NC State) looked the best of the North’s mediocre batch of QBs, though he had a poor overthrow picked off in 11-on-11. He did look sharp throwing timing routes. I think very little of Ryan Nassib’s (Syracuse) chances so far. He persistently underthrew deep passes in the receiving 1-on-1 drills, clanged a screen pass off Long’s helmet, and in 11-on-11, I swear he was tipping off plays by wearing his mouthpiece on run plays but not on passes.

* Kevin Reddick (North Carolina) had the best practice of any of the linebackers. He had trouble in drills trying to cover backs in space, but may have been the star of 11-on-11. He recognized an end-around on the first play and got outside to blow it up for no gain. Reddick made excellent run fills and also broke up a pass downfield. John Simon (Ohio State) showed poor movement skills and balance and had a terrible time trying to cover backs in drills, but also did a good job in 11-on-11 to recognize end-arounds and string them out. Khaseem Greene (Rutgers) was one of the few to stick tight in coverage, and he diagnosed a run perfectly in 11-on-11 and blew it up.

* Running backs rarely stand out well to me at these things. Kenjon Barner (Oregon) was impressive as a receiver, though. Showed impressive edge speed and ability to get his defender off-balance.

Tuesday’s action, which I might get reviewed by Thursday, gives us our first look at the South team, and I imagine both teams will be in pads this time around. Will be eager to see if Fisher continues his dominance, if Buchanan can continue to rally, and if sleepers Quessenberry and Dobson can continue to climb.

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