We have a new dynasty in pro sports:
the National team at the NFLPA Collegiate All-Star Game, as coached
by the Dick Vermeil coaching tree. The Nationals have won all four
playings of the game, led by Vermeil the first three times, and this
year, by Vermeil's successor as Rams head coach, Mike Martz. The
Nationals scored a 17-0 victory, which marked the first shutout by a
Martz-led team since October 2003. There was some classic Martz in
this game, too. He caught the American team off-guard with an
end-around and a beautifully-executed 90-flip. He also criticized one
of his QBs for taking off and running instead of staying in the
pocket and getting killed, and, most classic Martz of all, used a
timeout less than four minutes into the game.
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* QBs: Pfff, mostly garbage. Nobody
even tried to go deep until garbage time. Brandon Bridge (South
Alabama) engineered the best drive, leading a TD drive with the total
package: beautiful sell of a run right on the 90 flip, a couple of
scrambles and a couple of nice throws, including a dart to TE Corey
Simmons (Northwestern State) in the seam. Nobody else did anything
for or against their stock, imho. Jamiell Showers (UTEP) did dodge
several sack attempts well, and played pretty smart.
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* RBs: Terrell Watson (Azusa Pacific)
got game MVP for 55 yards on 9 carries and a fumble recovery TD to
open the scoring. He had several nice gains, including 13 on the
90-flip. Physical runner, with speed to get outside, though not
world-class. Did a nice job when he had to help in pass pro. Ross
Scheuerman (Lafayette) would have had the play of the game, a 51-yard
TD run on a draw play, but it was called back for a holding penalty.
Scheuerman did show nice acceleration. For the second straight year,
one of Ray Agnew's sons played in this game. Malcolm Agnew (8-53) had
a couple of 13-yard runs, and showed he could both break tackles and
make defenders miss.
* Receivers: Feels like a RamView here;
little happened. No one stood out or had more than three catches. The
passing game was kept very conservative, reflecting the skill level
of the QBs. TE Devin Mahina (BYU) was key to a FG drive in the 2nd.
His seal block sprung a 9-yard Watson run and he also had a 12-yard
catch. His hold, though, killed Scheuerman's TD run.
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* Offensive line: Get out the Harvard
tape, Les Snead. RamView's MVP of the game was Harvard center Nick
Easton. The nose tackle frequently failed to even budge Easton in
pass pro, and Easton showed he could do it all in the running game,
springing several big runs with mauling blocks or solid contact in
the hole. Late in the game, he's getting off the snap in a blink,
getting to the second level and trucking LBs all over the field to
open up big runs. Easton really fueled the National running game and
I don't think he got beat all game. Easton should have made some
money out of this game, looking very much like a draftable prospect.
Other linemen of note: Marcus Reed (Fayetteville State) stood out as
a pulling guard. Micah Hatchie (Washington) got beaten constantly
around the edge.
* Defensive line: Star for the winning
team was probably DE Marcus Rush (Michigan State). I have him for at
least a couple of pressures, a sack and a tackle for loss. It's
pretty typical for DEs to spend a lot of time in the backfield in
this game. Zack Wagenmann (Montana) would have been MVP had his
offense done anything. He beat Jake Rodgers (Eastern Washington) off
the line almost every snap and spent the game in the National
backfield. He showed excellent quickness off the ball and pursuit
down the line in the running game. He had several pressures, one
setting up a sack for Dan Pettinato (Arizona). His biggest flaw was
when he guessed pass late in the game, timed the snap, and the
Nationals ran the 51-yard Scheuerman draw right at him. Andrew Hudson
(Washington) also had a big game for the Americans. I have him for
four pressures and a sack, beating Kyle Roberts (Nevada) with a
pretty ordinary spin move. Most of his damage was in the first half,
and by the end, Martz was having him double-teamed. Max Q protection!
* Linebackers: All the fuss on ESPN all
week was about Syracuse LB Cameron Lynch, who I hardly noticed do a
thing except blow coverage repeatedly on shallow crossing routes.
Those were often wide open for the Americans. I thought several LBs
outplayed Lynch. Kyle Woestmann (Vanderbilt) showed run-stopping
ability and range, getting out to the edge to defend a Rakeem Cato
bootleg in the 2nd. Zaire Anderson (Nebraska) made several
good run-stops. D.J. Welter (LSU) closed down a middle run early in
the game to force 3rd-and-long and pounced on a circle route in the
3rd to force another. Jabral Johnson (Oregon State)
stuffed a 3rd-down run in the 2nd and tipped a pass at the
end of that drive to save a TD. Michael Doctor (Oregon State) did not
outplay Lynch. His saving grace was a couple of special teams
tackles. He also had a couple of bad misses, and looked stuck in
cement trying to chase after Scheuerman on the
called-back 51-yard run. Doctor was the worst player I saw in this
game.
* Secondary: Keeston Terry (Pittsburg
State), who looks like a Mark Barron-type safety to me, opened the
2nd half by blowing up a sweep for a loss and defending a
rollout pass on 3rd down. DBs were pretty dominant in this
game; there were at least a half-dozen nice pass break-ups. Chris
Dunkley (South Florida) broke up a pass from behind and shut down a
sweep. De'Ante Saunders (Tennessee State) broke up a quick hitch in
the 4th, had a shot at a pick-six. Al-Hajj Shabazz (West
Chester) made a big hit to stop an outside run in the 3rd
and also made a good tackle to stop a kickoff return at the 15. 6'2”
185, plays special teams, showed he likes to hit; he'll be drafted.
Anthony Jefferson (UCLA) had blanket coverage on a couple of late
deep balls.
* Takeaway: The Rams won't mine any QB
nuggets from this game, or much in the way of skill position players
at all, but there were players here who should be third-day draft
picks, and players who can fill team needs. I would hope they'll
especially look at interior linemen like Easton. There are plenty of
WLB candidates who can make the main roster here. Shabazz has the
kind of attitude they love in their DBs, and since West Chester's
teams are called the Golden Rams, he'd fit right in, in several ways.
-$-
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