Insider: Monday's buzz: Adeyanju, Norwood surprise scouts

Maikeru-sama

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MOBILE, Ala. -- Here's the buzz from Monday's Senior Bowl practices:


Weights and measures
Senior Bowl 2006 kicked off Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET with the annual weigh-in session. It was announced that Louisville DE Elvis Dumervil, N.C. State DB Marcus Hudson, Auburn WR Ben Obomanu, Stanford LB Jon Alston, Oklahoma LB Clint Ingram, Northwestern State DB David Pittman and Oregon RB Terrence Whitehead were all late additions to the Senior Bowl rosters. Arizona State WR Derek Hagan was moved from the South to the North roster in order to even out the numbers, giving each team 50 players.

Of those 100 players, Boston College OT Jeremy Trueblood was the tallest (6-foot-7 7/8), and Miami WR Sinorice Moss was the shortest (5-7 7/8). Georgia OG Max Jean-Gilles was the heaviest (358 pounds), while Miami CB Kelly Jennings was the lightest (171 pounds). Oklahoma OG Davin Joseph had the biggest hand-span (11 1/4) and Virginia OT D'Brickashaw Ferguson had the longest arms (36 1/4).

Players' heights and weights always have a tendency to be either exaggerated in one direction or the other, which is what makes the weigh-in process a necessary evil.

Ferguson looks in great shape and his long arms are important for the offensive tackle position, but his lack of bulk at 297 pounds really stood out. Maryland ILB D'Qwell Jackson, who weighed in at 228 pounds, will also be hurt on draft day by his lack of size. Finally, there are several tall prospects in this year's group of Senior Bowl wide receivers, including Notre Dame's Maurice Stovall (6-4 1/8), Miami of Ohio's Martin Nance (6-3 7/8), New Mexico's Hank Baskett (6-2 1/2) and the Auburn duo of Anthony Mix (6-4) and Devin Aromashodu (6-2 1/8).


Around the North practice
Of the three quarterbacks on this roster (Clemson's Charlie Whitehurst, Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler and Penn State's Michael Robinson), Cutler has the strongest arm and Whitehurst has the quickest delivery. Cutler was a bit erratic, but he showed the ability to fit the ball into tight spots and has impressive mobility. Whitehurst is not nearly as mobile and had trouble with his consistency on the deep ball, but he does have very good touch and timing as a passer. It is only one week, but the experience of working with quarterback guru Norm Chow (Titans' offensive coordinator) certainly can't hurt either of these future NFL quarterbacks.

Two separate NFL scouts said they would draft Cutler ahead of USC's Matt Leinart and Texas' Vince Young.

Robinson is clearly the most mobile of the three, but his overall passing skills are nowhere near on par with the other two North quarterbacks in this game. Robinson did do some prepractice work catching balls as a return specialist, but he did not get any reps at running back or wide receiver. Game officials obviously want Robinson to spend most of his time at quarterback for repetition purposes in practice, but he would be much better served spending the rest of the week trying to showcase his talents as an offensive skill player in front of NFL scouts.

• Oregon RB Charlie Whitehead seemed to be pushing too hard today as a late addition to the roster. His fumble during unit drills will not help his cause.

• Washington State RB Jerome Harrison checked in even smaller than expected (5-9 1/8, 196), which will hurt his chances of sneaking into the latter stages of the draft's first day. However, he did show impressive quickness and receiving skills. On a couple of occasions, Harrison has showed he is capable of catching the ball over his shoulder on vertical routes.

• Colorado's Lawrence Vickers is a tweener running back/fullback type who will need to improve his size, strength and blocking technique in order to make it in the NFL. He did, however, run very good routes and caught everything in site during today's pass-filled unit drills.

• Ferguson stood out as clearly the most agile offensive lineman the North roster today. However, Ohio State OC Nick Mangold turned in the most impressive overall performance. Mangold has adequate size and feet to go along with his outstanding technique and explosive power. He is polished and should be ready to start as a rookie in the NFL.

• Michigan NT Gabe Watson was the most dominating of the North defensive linemen this afternoon. He shows outstanding initial quickness and power for such a massive player (6-3 1/4, 341). Watson is giving a great effort so far in front of the NFL scouts, but his erratic motor on film will not be forgotten.

• Perhaps the most impressive individual play of either practice was turned in by Indiana DE Victor Adeyanju during one-on-one sessions versus offensive linemen. Instead of tyring to beat mammoth OT Ryan O'Callaghan around the edge with speed, Adeyanju absolutely blew O'Callaghan up with a bull-rush move that displayed his explosive power.

• Virginia Tech DE Darryl Tapp twisted his ankle relatively early in practice and wound up sitting out most of the remaining drills. He was taped up but continued to walk with a limp.

• Boston College WR/DC/RS Will Blackmon played exclusively at the cornerback position this afternoon. He has added some bulk and looks to be in excellent shape. Blackmon also stood out as one of the most fluid athletes on the field. He did not play much cornerback for the Eagles this season, though, so his coverage skills were understandably rusty. More than anything, it seemed he was playing conservatively and was getting late jumps so to protect himself from giving up the deep pass. Blackmon did not have a jersey number on today and there has been no word as to whether or when he will get some reps at the wide receiver position this week.

• It was only one day of practice, but Nebraska's Daniel Bullocks already stands out as an underrated prospect. He showed good versatility in drills, displaying the ability to hold up in deep-zone coverage as well as matching up as an in-the-box fourth-linebacker type. With his good size and impressive fluidity, Bullocks could become a versatile starter at the safety position in the NFL. If he continues to play as well as he did today, Bullocks stands to increase his draft stock significantly during Senior Bowl week.


Around the South practice
Alabama QB Brodie Croyle is an obvious fan favorite here in Mobile, but he did not have his best performance today. The quarterback position is the toughest to play in these all-star games because there is so much being thrown at these young men while they all are still trying to get a grasp of the system, adjust to a different center exchange and develop timing with receivers. With that in mind, Croyle's timing seemed off as a passer. He missed a few open receivers and was tentative with several of his throws. He does show good arm strength and a quick release as a passer, though.

• The player that arguably struggled the most was Georgia QB D.J. Shockley. The dual-threat quarterback shows outstanding mobility, but his mechanics as a passer are poor and he was entirely too erratic in Monday's drills.

• Memphis RB DeAngelo Williams is one of the top prospects playing in this year's Senior Bowl, but it was Mississippi State RB Jerious Norwood who had scouts buzzing during practice today. Norwood checked in at just under 6-0 and at 205 pounds. He appears to be in excellent shape and has the frame to pack on another 10 pounds in the future, which will likely be needed in order to hold up physically in the NFL. What stood out most, however, was Norwood's explosive burst and top-end speed during drills today. He hit the hole faster than any of the other South running backs today, including Williams, and he also showed impressive hands as a receiver in passing drills.

• Ben Obomanu is the smallest of the three Auburn receivers playing in this game, but he impressed scouts with a couple of acrobatic, leaping catches during practice. Obomanu's teammate, OT Marcus McNeill, was absent from the weigh-in session, but he shined as the most physically dominating offensive lineman on the field at the South practice this afternoon.

• Georgia DS Greg Blue has great size and is a powerful hitter in run support, but his lack of ideal coverage skills stood out during defensive back drills today. At 6-1 7/8, 220, Blue might be better off as a weak-side linebacker in the NFL, especially for teams like the Colts and Buccaneers that emphasize speed over size on their defensive units.

Scouts Inc. provided today's Senior Bowl buzz.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft06/insider/news/story?id=2303828
 

Maikeru-sama

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Ben Obomanu is the smallest of the three Auburn receivers playing in this game, but he impressed scouts with a couple of acrobatic, leaping catches during practice. Obomanu's teammate, OT Marcus McNeill, was absent from the weigh-in session, but he shined as the most physically dominating offensive lineman on the field at the South practice this afternoon.

Liking this kid more and more...

- Mike G.
 

BrAinPaiNt

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mickgreen58 said:
Liking this kid more and more...

- Mike G.

Agreed.

I also took notice of this...

• Ferguson stood out as clearly the most agile offensive lineman the North roster today. However, Ohio State OC Nick Mangold turned in the most impressive overall performance. Mangold has adequate size and feet to go along with his outstanding technique and explosive power. He is polished and should be ready to start as a rookie in the NFL.

Although I still like the idea of possibly getting Bentley.
 

WoodysGirl

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Senior Bowl


Off to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., for the next couple of days to get an early - very early - feel on who Dallas might like to draft.

• Bumped into former running back Richie Anderson getting onto my flight. It seems he wants to coach - and everybody knows the Senior Bowl is the place to find a job. That's the reason coach Bill Parcells won't let his assistants attend the Senior Bowl.

• This is my 8th or 9th trip to Mobile. I've never had a trip start this poorly.
First the woman at the Avis counter takes 20 minutes because she can't find my reservation. I find out at the 17-minute mark it's because she's pronouncing my name Ga-Kwees, even though I spelled and pronounced Jacques for her.

When I turned on the car, the rap music was thumping so loud, I thought I was at a Young Jeezy concert.

Then after I had driven about 5 miles I hear this beeping noise. I'm wearing my seat belt, so I can't figure it out. Finally, I look at the gas gauge. The car is below empty.

• I stop at Wendy's and the classic single and fries are cold. There's even an uncooked fry in the box, and I don't know how the sandwich is cold since it was allegedly made to order. I couldn't possibly make this stuff up.

• Fifty feet from Wendy's is Diamonds exclusive Mens Club. It has a marquee welcoming Senior Bowl coaches and players. I may check it out tonight to see who's there that shouldn't be there. Strictly business, of course, for you cynics.


Posted by Jean-Jacques Taylor http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/icons/email.gif at 12:06 PM (E-mail this entry)
 

TheHustler

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mickgreen58 said:
It was announced that Louisville DE Elvis Dumervil, N.C. State DB Marcus Hudson, Auburn WR Ben Obomanu, Stanford LB Jon Alston, Oklahoma LB Clint Ingram, Northwestern State DB David Pittman and Oregon RB Terrence Whitehead were all late additions to the Senior Bowl rosters.

This is the kid Marcus Vick tried to injure. Guess he's okay.

Good to know.
 

Maikeru-sama

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TheHustler said:
This is the kid Marcus Vick tried to injure. Guess he's okay.

Good to know.


The first time or the second time he hit someone late?

- Mike G.
 

Bob Sacamano

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mickgreen58 said:
• It was only one day of practice, but Nebraska's Daniel Bullocks already stands out as an underrated prospect. He showed good versatility in drills, displaying the ability to hold up in deep-zone coverage as well as matching up as an in-the-box fourth-linebacker type. With his good size and impressive fluidity, Bullocks could become a versatile starter at the safety position in the NFL. If he continues to play as well as he did today, Bullocks stands to increase his draft stock significantly during Senior Bowl week.

I'm telling you, Bullocks is a sleeper we may want to check out
 

StanleySpadowski

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It's scary how one site can say someone like McNeil is dominating while another claims he's the worst lineman there.

I wouldn't believe this site simply because Blackmun looked embarrassingly bad.
 

TheHustler

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mickgreen58 said:
The first time or the second time he hit someone late?

- Mike G.

I didn't know about the first time, but this was his last. He got kicked off the team shortly after.
 

Dayton Cowboy

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BrAinPaiNt said:
Agreed.

I also took notice of this...

• Ferguson stood out as clearly the most agile offensive lineman the North roster today. However, Ohio State OC Nick Mangold turned in the most impressive overall performance. Mangold has adequate size and feet to go along with his outstanding technique and explosive power. He is polished and should be ready to start as a rookie in the NFL.

Although I still like the idea of possibly getting Bentley.

ESPN's coverage was just showing Mangold against Dvorcek.. He took Devorcek to the ground.. I didn't see him lined up against Watson, though that would have been a good matchup in those settings.. I dont recall Watson having much impact this year in the osu vs mich game.
 

Maikeru-sama

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TheHustler said:
I didn't know about the first time, but this was his last. He got kicked off the team shortly after.

Yeah, I could have sworn I heard that he had hit someone late prior to this incident.

Not sure though. ESPN the Magazine had a really good feature story on Marcus Vick a couple of issues ago.

His brother said he thinks that he really spoiled the hell out of him too much and he became complacent and felt he was entitled to things.

I know one thing, Clarett and Vick are going to find out how true the old saying is, "You never really know what you have until it is taken away from you".

I think Terrell Owens found this out too..

- Mike G.
 

Bob Sacamano

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AdamJT13 said:
He looks more like a strong safety to me.

he's versatile, he could make the switch to FS

plus remember when we had Darren Woodson here, our S positions were interchangeable
 

junk

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WoodysGirl said:
Senior Bowl


Off to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., for the next couple of days to get an early - very early - feel on who Dallas might like to draft.

• Bumped into former running back Richie Anderson getting onto my flight. It seems he wants to coach - and everybody knows the Senior Bowl is the place to find a job. That's the reason coach Bill Parcells won't let his assistants attend the Senior Bowl.

• This is my 8th or 9th trip to Mobile. I've never had a trip start this poorly.
First the woman at the Avis counter takes 20 minutes because she can't find my reservation. I find out at the 17-minute mark it's because she's pronouncing my name Ga-Kwees, even though I spelled and pronounced Jacques for her.

When I turned on the car, the rap music was thumping so loud, I thought I was at a Young Jeezy concert.

Then after I had driven about 5 miles I hear this beeping noise. I'm wearing my seat belt, so I can't figure it out. Finally, I look at the gas gauge. The car is below empty.

• I stop at Wendy's and the classic single and fries are cold. There's even an uncooked fry in the box, and I don't know how the sandwich is cold since it was allegedly made to order. I couldn't possibly make this stuff up.

• Fifty feet from Wendy's is Diamonds exclusive Mens Club. It has a marquee welcoming Senior Bowl coaches and players. I may check it out tonight to see who's there that shouldn't be there. Strictly business, of course, for you cynics.


Posted by Jean-Jacques Taylor http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sharedcontent/dws/img/standing/icons/email.gif at 12:06 PM (E-mail this entry)

Holy cow, JJT. Why don't you hook up with Peter King and you two can commiserate about how bad it is for you? Nice job wasting a national forum with some whining.

Have fun watching football while the rest of us work for a living.
 

Ashwynn

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mickgreen58 said:
Two separate NFL scouts said they would draft Cutler ahead of USC's Matt Leinart and Texas' Vince Young.


• Ferguson stood out as clearly the most agile offensive lineman the North roster today. However, Ohio State OC Nick Mangold turned in the most impressive overall performance. Mangold has adequate size and feet to go along with his outstanding technique and explosive power. He is polished and should be ready to start as a rookie in the NFL.

• Michigan NT Gabe Watson was the most dominating of the North defensive linemen this afternoon. He shows outstanding initial quickness and power for such a massive player (6-3 1/4, 341). Watson is giving a great effort so far in front of the NFL scouts, but his erratic motor on film will not be forgotten.

• Perhaps the most impressive individual play of either practice was turned in by Indiana DE Victor Adeyanju during one-on-one sessions versus offensive linemen. Instead of tyring to beat mammoth OT Ryan O'Callaghan around the edge with speed, Adeyanju absolutely blew O'Callaghan up with a bull-rush move that displayed his explosive power.


OT Marcus McNeill, was absent from the weigh-in session, but he shined as the most physically dominating offensive lineman on the field at the South practice this afternoon.
**

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft06/insider/news/story?id=2303828



Wow on this Cutler dude, hes seriously piqueing my interest.

Lets get some info on Mangold, sounds better then Al already. Ferguson we know about and know hes gone long before 18 gets to play. But Mangold in the, I dunno, 2nd or 3rd - heck even seventh round would be cool by his discription.

Gabe Watson, erratic motor? uh oh. He sounds like a ok prospect if you can fix the motor issues. Wonder how this guy reacts to fear as a motivational tool? Think he might punch parcells in the face? Certainly worth talking to a few pple about him I think.

Victor Adeyanju - ok....cant pronounce it....yet, But this guy sounds interesting too. Imagine him and Ware coming on the same side on a blitz, or even just rushing normally. I think I could get used to watching them compete for the biggesst blow up of an offensive lineman. Check into this guy too. Dont know where hes projected, but he sounds like he has enoughpotential to warrant a deeper and closer look.

And then there was Marcus McNeil. I am starting to get on board with this guy. I read a lot of stuff lately about him, I think he could help us, what do you think?
 

Maikeru-sama

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Ashwynn said:
And then there was Marcus McNeil. I am starting to get on board with this guy. I read a lot of stuff lately about him, I think he could help us, what do you think?

He had stenosis of the spine which people say could cause long term injury, especially if you do not keep your weight down and has to watch how he works out, I am told.

Here is a snippet from Mel Kiper on Insiders.

Overall: McNeill started six games at tackle as a true freshman in 2002. He started 10 games at left tackle in 2003, missing three because of a back strain. McNeill started all 11 games at left tackle in 2004, when he was a first team All-SEC selection. He has started all but one regular-season game (bruised knee versus Ball State) as a senior in 2005. McNeill had his best overall season as a junior in 2004 and, after a slow start due to a bruised knee; he finished strong as a senior in 2005. He had some issues regarding his weight early in his collegiate career and he also has a medical condition that needs to be cleared by NFL doctors. However, McNeill has found an ideal playing weight for him (332 pounds) and he has adjusted his workout routine in order to limit the affects of his spine condition. McNeill has impressive athleticism for his rare size and he has developed into an efficient all-around blocker at the highest collegiate level. If McNeill is cleared physically, we consider him worth selecting late in the first round of the 2006 draft.

I like the kid.

But looks like we will be going defense yet again so we will probably not get this guy unless all of the hints out of VR are just Smoke Screens.

Who knows, but I would love to have the kid even though his back injury is a little concerning.
 

Ashwynn

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mickgreen58 said:
He had stenosis of the spine which people say could cause long term injury, especially if you do not keep your weight down and has to watch how he works out, I am told.

Here is a snippet from Mel Kiper on Insiders.



I like the kid.

But looks like we will be going defense yet again so we will probably not get this guy unless all of the hints out of VR are just Smoke Screens.

Who knows, but I would love to have the kid even though his back injury is a little concerning.

Are there any FS that project to mid-late first or even top 15 that may slide. If we go defense, I am wanting a real FS.
 

peplaw06

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If scouts are saying they'd take Cutler ahead of Young and Leinart, we have no shot. How about first two picks on OL... McNeil 1st, Mangold 2nd, then Bullocks if he drops to us 3rd.
 

AbeBeta

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junk said:
Holy cow, JJT. Why don't you hook up with Peter King and you two can commiserate about how bad it is for you? Nice job wasting a national forum with some whining.

Have fun watching football while the rest of us work for a living.

Of course, he has to be in Mobile, Alabama -- you ever been to Alabama?
 
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