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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Quick Senior Bowl Practice Overview

Senior Bowl Practice Impressions
through practice #3

Good Surprises:

Ballard (center) "...dominated his opponents"
Christian Ballard- Displayed excellent hands and powerful rush techniques. Explosion was evident in Ballard, and at times he dominated his opponents.

Danny Watkins- Perfect guard prospect for the NFL, heavy hands, tough anchor, and bends well. Really was the only true offensive guard that jumped off the screen.

Vincent Brown- Coming into the week, I knew Brown was a special type of player, however I did not know to what degree. Brown came out against top notch corners and really looked like the most athletically gifted receiver on field. Firm hands that naturally pluck the football out of the air, and Vincent Brown got in and out of his cuts nicely.

Kendric Burney
Kendric Burney- The best cornerback in Mobile this past week, Kendric Burney showed vast improvement in man to man coverage, while making plays on the football.  Always gets his hands on the football, broke on routes quickly all week long; very aggressive football player who is physical on the line.

Bad Surprises:

Jeremy Beal- Tweener in every sense of the word, Beal doesn’t have the athleticism to truly excel at 3-4 OLB nor the size to play with his hand down. Can’t get around the edge because of a lack of burst, relies on hand usage solely for success. Great work ethic, great production, and talent doesn’t seem to matchup…

Jeremy Beal struggled versus upper level competition in Mobile, AL

Demarcus Love- Looked a little overweight, struggled mightily versus elite talent. I don’t know if he’s a better guard or right tackle prospect. Add that to the fact that all top 4 tackles (Carimi, Sherrod, Castonzo, and Solder) played excellent all week, and you have Demarcus Love sliding down draft boards



Pierre Allen- Constantly making technique errors, athleticism didn’t translate into him dominating anyone this week. Bottled up against elite offensive line talent, Pierre Allen had a very quiet week.

Late Adds:
Richard Sherman- Showed physicality in coverage. I liked his hands and hips, but really lacks the top gear necessary to play cornerback in the League. Sherman is more of a safety prospect or an instant nickel/dime cornerback; possible contributor on special teams.

Jock Sanders can contribute in KR/PR game
Jock Sanders-  Insignificant impact, but can make up with a strong Sr. Bowl game

Terrell Mcclain- Terrific East West Shrine week, obviously has got the attention of teams and scouts. The invite itself is an accomplishment.


Late drops:
Stephen Paea- Knee injury knocked him out of sr bowl week, but will not keep him out of the nfl combine.

Edmund Gates- Was beginning to leave a good impression on me until he tweaked/pulled his hamstring (unsure exactly what the injury was). Looks like a better built Johnny Knox.


Draft Risers
Future Top 10 Pick- Cam Jordan (right)
Cam Jordan-  A lock first round draft pick before the senior bowl week in my opinion, Jordan took his game to a whole new level. His sheer dominance against top notch offensive line prospects has pushed him into the Top 10 of the 2011 draft.

Titus Young-  Thanks to Mike Mayock’s gushing over Titus Young, now the cat is out of the bag. Formerly under the Boise State radar, Young is now considered to be the next coming of Desean Jackson. I was very surprised at how well his speed and versatility translated to the senior bowl week of practice; the difference in talent meant nothing to Titus Young and he showed scouts that he can excel in any circumstance.

Von Miller- One of the most explosive players in the coming NFL draft, Miller’s performance this week has been perfect from the weigh in until the last practice. He came in with bigger than expected size, long arms, and consistently beat whoever was blocking him. Very polished as a pass rusher, great hands, ability to speed rush and counter against elite blockers such as Derek Sherrod, Von Miller stood up to the top tier of o-linemen and exceeded expectations. Add him to the list of potential top 10 picks in the 2011 draft.


Keep in mind all evaluations are from the Senior Bowl Practices in the entirety of which they were aired on NFL Network

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