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NFL Draft Countdown
Senior Bowl - Wednesday North Practice
January 24, 2007
Scott Wright
Despite some ominous skies the rain held off for the entire practice this morning. This was in fact the North's best day yet, with a number of nice performances on both sides of the ball and a couple of new additions to the roster who really stood out.
At quarterback Troy Smith of Ohio St. was solid once again but Drew Stanton of Michigan St. had his best performance of the week, showcasing a strong and accurate arm while connecting on some nice pass plays. Tyler Palko of Pitt displayed good mobility and can get out of the pocket and make something happen when his protection breaks down. At running back the big story was Kansas State's Thomas Clayton replacing the injured Garrett Wolfe on the roster and overall he looked pretty good, with three nice runs in a row and showed some shiftiness when he juked out Prescott Burgess. Even though he fumbled and had a little trouble catching the ball it's not a stretch to say that Clayton may already be the best pure running back on the North team. Perhaps his top competition, Kolby Smith of Louisville, saw a lot of action at fullback once again today. Tony Hunt of Penn St. is tough and showed a good first move but you can't expect more than that so he's definitely an inside runner. At wide receiver Rhema McKnight of Notre Dame continues to excel on short routes and slants but doesn't show much deep and pushes off a lot while David Clowney of Virginia Tech had his best day of the week so far. Paul Williams of Fresno St. faked Leon Hall out of his jock on a double move for a touchdown while Brandon Myles of West Virginia continues to make a strong impression. East Carolina's Aundrae Allison had a beautiful one-handed catch for a touchdown over Leon Hall but really struggles to get separation while Jason Hill of Washington St. looked real good and displayed excellent ball skills. In his first practice since replacing the injured Clark Harris Delaware tight end Ben Patrick made a very strong impression and had no problem assimilating himself. In fact, after being one of the stars of the East / West Shrine week he was one of the biggest stories of the day right off the bat in Mobile. Patrick has good size, is quick, gets downfield fast and made a terrific diving catch in 11-on-11's. Scouts were literally buzzing about this guy and I can't wait to see more of him the rest of the week! Along the offensive line Levi Brown of Penn St. is working hard, even coming out before practice started for some one-on-one coaching, and it's paying off because he's gotten better each day. Marshal Yanda of Iowa did a nice job against Quinn Pitcock and for the most part Ryan Harris was solid and may have had his best day of the week. The guy I'm still waiting to see something from is Samson Satele of Hawaii, who just doesn't jump out at you. There was also a botched snap between Dan Mozes of West Virginia and Troy Smith, although I'm not sure whos fault it was.
At defensive end the guy who really jumped out at me was Victor Abiamiri of Notre Dame, who looked smooth, fluid and very powerful in drills. Adam Carriker of Nebraska showed good strength as well and even showcased a nice spin move against Ryan Harris. Anthony Spencer of Purdue also looked very agile and garnered positive notice from the coaching staff. Inside at tackle, despite my reservations about his size, Amobi Okoye of Louisville continues to make big plays and he just flies by blockers (Beekman & Yanda) into the backfield at times. Okoye also seems to be very coachable and was once again seen vocally encouraging his teammates as they went through drills, showing leadership beyond his years. Meanwhile Brandon Mebane of Cal and David Patterson of Ohio St. looked slow and choppy in drills and were the least impressive guys in the group today in that regard. Head coach Jon Gruden even wandered over and spent some time watching the defensive linemen today. At linebacker Paul Posluszny of Penn St. really reacts quickly to the action and showed tremendous instincts. Also, Kevin "Boo" McLee of West Virginia looked very quick and Prescott Burgess of Michigan strikes hard and delivers a blow on impact. In the secondary the guy who really had an outstanding day of practice was Aaron Rouse of Virginia, who is big, fast, looked great in coverage and made a lot plays including two interceptions with one coming in 7-on-7's. Rouse is a loud and animated guy on the field but he had plenty to crow about today. As good as Rouse was Josh Wilson of Maryland was equally as bad, getting burnt on too many occasions to even count. He really just couldn't do anything right today. Josh Gattis of Wake Forest also had more than his fair share of troubles and just couldn't keep up with the receivers in man coverage. Leon Hall of Michigan was extremely solid and had nice coverage all day, although a scout for Cleveland was heard calling him "just another guy". One of my favorite players in the draft, Eric Weddle of Utah, had another nice day and came through with a big interception in 11-on-11's near the end of practice that really got the coaches fired up. Marcus McCauley of Fresno St. probably had his best day of the week, showing excellent recovery speed, sticking to his man like glue and making a couple of nice pass breakups in 7-on-7's. Tanard Jackson of Syracuse also had a solid day, showing a good break on the ball. As you can probably tell there were a lot of high's and low's for the defensive backs. And finally, on special teams kicker Mason Crosby of Colorado has yet to miss a kick that I've seen and was easily knocking them through the uprights from as deep as 48 yards today while Maryland punter Adam Podlesh gets very good hangtime on his boots.
A number of prospects had by far their best days of the week today which was a welcome sight after this squads struggles on Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully they keep it up for the next couple of days because this was a fun practice to cover.
Senior Bowl - Wednesday North Practice
January 24, 2007
Scott Wright
Despite some ominous skies the rain held off for the entire practice this morning. This was in fact the North's best day yet, with a number of nice performances on both sides of the ball and a couple of new additions to the roster who really stood out.
At quarterback Troy Smith of Ohio St. was solid once again but Drew Stanton of Michigan St. had his best performance of the week, showcasing a strong and accurate arm while connecting on some nice pass plays. Tyler Palko of Pitt displayed good mobility and can get out of the pocket and make something happen when his protection breaks down. At running back the big story was Kansas State's Thomas Clayton replacing the injured Garrett Wolfe on the roster and overall he looked pretty good, with three nice runs in a row and showed some shiftiness when he juked out Prescott Burgess. Even though he fumbled and had a little trouble catching the ball it's not a stretch to say that Clayton may already be the best pure running back on the North team. Perhaps his top competition, Kolby Smith of Louisville, saw a lot of action at fullback once again today. Tony Hunt of Penn St. is tough and showed a good first move but you can't expect more than that so he's definitely an inside runner. At wide receiver Rhema McKnight of Notre Dame continues to excel on short routes and slants but doesn't show much deep and pushes off a lot while David Clowney of Virginia Tech had his best day of the week so far. Paul Williams of Fresno St. faked Leon Hall out of his jock on a double move for a touchdown while Brandon Myles of West Virginia continues to make a strong impression. East Carolina's Aundrae Allison had a beautiful one-handed catch for a touchdown over Leon Hall but really struggles to get separation while Jason Hill of Washington St. looked real good and displayed excellent ball skills. In his first practice since replacing the injured Clark Harris Delaware tight end Ben Patrick made a very strong impression and had no problem assimilating himself. In fact, after being one of the stars of the East / West Shrine week he was one of the biggest stories of the day right off the bat in Mobile. Patrick has good size, is quick, gets downfield fast and made a terrific diving catch in 11-on-11's. Scouts were literally buzzing about this guy and I can't wait to see more of him the rest of the week! Along the offensive line Levi Brown of Penn St. is working hard, even coming out before practice started for some one-on-one coaching, and it's paying off because he's gotten better each day. Marshal Yanda of Iowa did a nice job against Quinn Pitcock and for the most part Ryan Harris was solid and may have had his best day of the week. The guy I'm still waiting to see something from is Samson Satele of Hawaii, who just doesn't jump out at you. There was also a botched snap between Dan Mozes of West Virginia and Troy Smith, although I'm not sure whos fault it was.
At defensive end the guy who really jumped out at me was Victor Abiamiri of Notre Dame, who looked smooth, fluid and very powerful in drills. Adam Carriker of Nebraska showed good strength as well and even showcased a nice spin move against Ryan Harris. Anthony Spencer of Purdue also looked very agile and garnered positive notice from the coaching staff. Inside at tackle, despite my reservations about his size, Amobi Okoye of Louisville continues to make big plays and he just flies by blockers (Beekman & Yanda) into the backfield at times. Okoye also seems to be very coachable and was once again seen vocally encouraging his teammates as they went through drills, showing leadership beyond his years. Meanwhile Brandon Mebane of Cal and David Patterson of Ohio St. looked slow and choppy in drills and were the least impressive guys in the group today in that regard. Head coach Jon Gruden even wandered over and spent some time watching the defensive linemen today. At linebacker Paul Posluszny of Penn St. really reacts quickly to the action and showed tremendous instincts. Also, Kevin "Boo" McLee of West Virginia looked very quick and Prescott Burgess of Michigan strikes hard and delivers a blow on impact. In the secondary the guy who really had an outstanding day of practice was Aaron Rouse of Virginia, who is big, fast, looked great in coverage and made a lot plays including two interceptions with one coming in 7-on-7's. Rouse is a loud and animated guy on the field but he had plenty to crow about today. As good as Rouse was Josh Wilson of Maryland was equally as bad, getting burnt on too many occasions to even count. He really just couldn't do anything right today. Josh Gattis of Wake Forest also had more than his fair share of troubles and just couldn't keep up with the receivers in man coverage. Leon Hall of Michigan was extremely solid and had nice coverage all day, although a scout for Cleveland was heard calling him "just another guy". One of my favorite players in the draft, Eric Weddle of Utah, had another nice day and came through with a big interception in 11-on-11's near the end of practice that really got the coaches fired up. Marcus McCauley of Fresno St. probably had his best day of the week, showing excellent recovery speed, sticking to his man like glue and making a couple of nice pass breakups in 7-on-7's. Tanard Jackson of Syracuse also had a solid day, showing a good break on the ball. As you can probably tell there were a lot of high's and low's for the defensive backs. And finally, on special teams kicker Mason Crosby of Colorado has yet to miss a kick that I've seen and was easily knocking them through the uprights from as deep as 48 yards today while Maryland punter Adam Podlesh gets very good hangtime on his boots.
A number of prospects had by far their best days of the week today which was a welcome sight after this squads struggles on Monday and Tuesday. Hopefully they keep it up for the next couple of days because this was a fun practice to cover.
