MOBILE, Alabama -- No matter the drill the South Team's defensive line dominated during Senior Bowl practice Wednesday. And Louisville defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, Clemson defensive tackle D.J. Reader and Eastern Kentucky defensive end Noah Spence were the main disruptors.
Rankins (6-foot-2, 305 pounds) was nearly unblockable during one-on-one drills due to his quickness off the whistle and powerful arms to drive blockers backward. He used a variety of hand moves to swat jabs and swim past the blocker's shoulder. Rankins also impressed during 11-on-11 reps due to his ball awareness, and his ability to read, detach himself from the block and make plays in the backfield. He entered this week with first-round grades and he is only helping himself here.
An impressive mover for his size, Reader (6-3, 340) looked balanced and carried his weight well during drills. He showed the lower-body flexibility to play low and win the leverage battle as he shot upfield and Kansas State guard Cody Whitehair (6-4, 300), who is the top offensive line prospect in Mobile, was the only South lineman who had much success against Reader. Reader missed the first half of the season due to some “personal issues” and NFL teams will be doing a lot of homework on the reasons he felt like he needed to be away from Clemson.
And the player who had arguably the best day overall was Spence (6-3, 254). None of the offensive tackles had an answer for his edge quickness. He was sudden off the snap with the get-off speed to breeze past blockers, winning the corner and flattening to the pocket. Even Le'Raven Clark, who boasts massive arms (36 1/4 inches) and wingspan (86) and has done a nice job this week, couldn't hang with Spence's quickness around the edge. The former Ohio State and Eastern Kentucky pass rusher entered the week as the top prospect overall on my
top-50 draft board and he has lived up to that high-billing.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/...nsive-line-dominates-south-wednesday-practice
