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Breaking down the NFL prospects in the Holiday Bowl
Posted by Bob Condotta
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ht...013775927_breaking_down_the_nfl_prospect.html
For my main story for Monday's paper, I wrote about Jake Locker and what this game and bowl experience means for him.
I also touched on what the game could mean for his NFL Draft prospects. And the word from NFLDraftScout.com expert Rob Rang is that the game could help Locker a lot if he plays well but it won't necessarily hurt him much if he doesn't. Rang, as quoted in the story, says the general view from scouts is that UW has a pretty significant gap in talent compared to Nebraska, so it's understood that Locker could struggle in this game through no real fault of his own. But because of that, if Locker can play well it could help his stock.
"Realistically, talking to NFL teams, he can only go up in this game because of the lack of support around him,'' Rang said. "The big headliner for Nebraska is (defensive tackle) Jared Crick and his ability to collapse the pocket. That's going to make Jake want to run and he's going to have to go outside, but Nebraska knows that so they will probably defend from the outside-in. The one thing Jake has done a really good job in the past is when things break down he can run up the middle. But that's going to be tough against Nebraska. But if he's able to do that he can boost his stock. Unless he has a game every bit as horrific ast the first time, however, I don't see that his stock will drop because of this game.''
Rang currently does not have Locker in the first round of his mock draft but says he could still see Locker landing in the first one depending on how he does at the Senior Bowl and in workouts.
I also asked Rang his thoughts on a few other players in the game:
On Mason Foster: "They say third round, close to what Donald Butler was last year. Butler wasn't as high (at this point last year) as Foster is right now. For one, Butler snuck up on people because he just wasn't a standout player throughout his career whereas Foster has been. Butler is a better athlete and a more physical player, and that's one of the signs (the NFL scouts will be looking at) so it will be interesting to see if Foster is as impressive as Butler was in the Senior Bowl. That's where Butler really started to build his momentum. I don't expect Foster to be as dominant at the Senior Bowl as Butler was, but he's a good, solid football player, probably in that third-round range.
"What helps him is this year the linebacker class is not quite as good, so that is going to help him out. He could sneak up ahead of where Butler is drafted, but that's more an indication of the lack of talent at the position than Foster's talent so I would say late second to mid-third round about where he is being slotted right now.''
I also asked Rang about a few of Nebraska's players:
On cornerback Prince Amukamara: "He's the headliner. He's our No. 1-rated senior prospect at any position, so he's quite possibly a top 10 pick. The only reason he may not get that is it all depends on speed. He's kind of a tall, crash corner. He looks more like a 4.5 guy (in the 40-yard dash) than a 4.4. But how he plays the game makes him a better prospect than whatever he night run on the stop watch.''
On cornerback Alfonzo Dennard: "He's a junior, but he's very good as well, and that's one reason why I think this is such a tough matchup for Washington because they are so good at corner. He'll slide right over to Prince's side next year and be a first-round pick himself assuming he returns.'' (And Dennard said over the weekend he plans to come back).
On WR Niles Paul: "On the offensive side, I believe that Niles Paul is a legitimate NFL pick, as well. He's a receiver, return man. He's a lot like Jermaine Kearse in that he's really prone to some ugly drops because he's consistently trying to make the defense miss before he secures the ball. But he's the best player on the outside.(Running back Roy) Helu (Jr.) and (quarterback Taylor) Martinez are potential NFL prospects, but they are not as high as Crick or Prince or Niles Paul. Paul is a mid-round guy but he'll help himself when he works out.''
I also asked Rang what it was some teams did later in the year to have a little bit of success throwing on Nebraska.
Rang said Amukara got beat on some double teams by Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon, generally regarded as the best receiver in the country this year. "Other than that, he's been pretty much lights out,'' Rang said. Blackmon caught 157 of OSU's 283 passing yards in that game, Rang also said he's not sure UW can take much from what Oklahoma did in throwing for 342 yards against the Huskers.
"They run that spread offense with four, five receivers out there and they also have a running back that might be a better receiver out of the backfield than a runner, so they are a pretty unique offense,'' he said. "It would be pretty difficult for Washington or anyone else to mimic what Oklahoma was able to do.''
Posted by Bob Condotta
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ht...013775927_breaking_down_the_nfl_prospect.html
For my main story for Monday's paper, I wrote about Jake Locker and what this game and bowl experience means for him.
I also touched on what the game could mean for his NFL Draft prospects. And the word from NFLDraftScout.com expert Rob Rang is that the game could help Locker a lot if he plays well but it won't necessarily hurt him much if he doesn't. Rang, as quoted in the story, says the general view from scouts is that UW has a pretty significant gap in talent compared to Nebraska, so it's understood that Locker could struggle in this game through no real fault of his own. But because of that, if Locker can play well it could help his stock.
"Realistically, talking to NFL teams, he can only go up in this game because of the lack of support around him,'' Rang said. "The big headliner for Nebraska is (defensive tackle) Jared Crick and his ability to collapse the pocket. That's going to make Jake want to run and he's going to have to go outside, but Nebraska knows that so they will probably defend from the outside-in. The one thing Jake has done a really good job in the past is when things break down he can run up the middle. But that's going to be tough against Nebraska. But if he's able to do that he can boost his stock. Unless he has a game every bit as horrific ast the first time, however, I don't see that his stock will drop because of this game.''
Rang currently does not have Locker in the first round of his mock draft but says he could still see Locker landing in the first one depending on how he does at the Senior Bowl and in workouts.
I also asked Rang his thoughts on a few other players in the game:
On Mason Foster: "They say third round, close to what Donald Butler was last year. Butler wasn't as high (at this point last year) as Foster is right now. For one, Butler snuck up on people because he just wasn't a standout player throughout his career whereas Foster has been. Butler is a better athlete and a more physical player, and that's one of the signs (the NFL scouts will be looking at) so it will be interesting to see if Foster is as impressive as Butler was in the Senior Bowl. That's where Butler really started to build his momentum. I don't expect Foster to be as dominant at the Senior Bowl as Butler was, but he's a good, solid football player, probably in that third-round range.
"What helps him is this year the linebacker class is not quite as good, so that is going to help him out. He could sneak up ahead of where Butler is drafted, but that's more an indication of the lack of talent at the position than Foster's talent so I would say late second to mid-third round about where he is being slotted right now.''
I also asked Rang about a few of Nebraska's players:
On cornerback Prince Amukamara: "He's the headliner. He's our No. 1-rated senior prospect at any position, so he's quite possibly a top 10 pick. The only reason he may not get that is it all depends on speed. He's kind of a tall, crash corner. He looks more like a 4.5 guy (in the 40-yard dash) than a 4.4. But how he plays the game makes him a better prospect than whatever he night run on the stop watch.''
On cornerback Alfonzo Dennard: "He's a junior, but he's very good as well, and that's one reason why I think this is such a tough matchup for Washington because they are so good at corner. He'll slide right over to Prince's side next year and be a first-round pick himself assuming he returns.'' (And Dennard said over the weekend he plans to come back).
On WR Niles Paul: "On the offensive side, I believe that Niles Paul is a legitimate NFL pick, as well. He's a receiver, return man. He's a lot like Jermaine Kearse in that he's really prone to some ugly drops because he's consistently trying to make the defense miss before he secures the ball. But he's the best player on the outside.(Running back Roy) Helu (Jr.) and (quarterback Taylor) Martinez are potential NFL prospects, but they are not as high as Crick or Prince or Niles Paul. Paul is a mid-round guy but he'll help himself when he works out.''
I also asked Rang what it was some teams did later in the year to have a little bit of success throwing on Nebraska.
Rang said Amukara got beat on some double teams by Oklahoma State receiver Justin Blackmon, generally regarded as the best receiver in the country this year. "Other than that, he's been pretty much lights out,'' Rang said. Blackmon caught 157 of OSU's 283 passing yards in that game, Rang also said he's not sure UW can take much from what Oklahoma did in throwing for 342 yards against the Huskers.
"They run that spread offense with four, five receivers out there and they also have a running back that might be a better receiver out of the backfield than a runner, so they are a pretty unique offense,'' he said. "It would be pretty difficult for Washington or anyone else to mimic what Oklahoma was able to do.''
DAL @ GB
