http://www.gbnreport.com/seniorbowlreport.htm WEDNESDAY AFTERNOOON: SOUTH PRACTICE The South continues to lose players left and right. The latest South player to go down is Virginia DE/DT BRENT URBAN, the big Canadian who has create a little buzz for himself as a potential 3-4 DE, is out with an ankle injury. Replacements have been airlifted in to the MASH disaster area as we speak. The team has now lost 5 players since Monday to injury. The JAGUARS coaching staff continues their self-professed mission to mold a team in 6 days. This group’s enthusiasm and energy is contagious, which is probably a very good thing given the potential for mental fatigue as teammates head for the hospital daily. Although South/JAX HC GUS BRADLEY refuses to divulge a name the consensus amongst the media is that DEREK CARR has seized the lead as the top QB on he roster. Mark him down as your starter, and put a big shock face beside it if he’s not starting Saturday. No offense to anyone else, but the arrival of CROCKETT GILMORE as a TE replacement has upgraded that position on the South roster. GILMORE had a solid week in St Pete last week and should be counted as the best all-around TE in this game. The 6’5 ½’, 253 pounder can block inline and catch and ramble for YAC. He had several nice catches in today’s practice. I find MORGAN MOSES/OT/Virginia to be an intriguing prospect. The CAVS were a poor football team in 2013 so he disappeared from view for many folks. But he is a massive man, who is a good athlete. He needs some technique Improvement, but you can’t coach being 6’6, 325 lbs., with 34 ¾” arms and a wingspan of over 83”. He relies a bit too much on those arms to push people when they start to get past him. To some degree it has been an effective move, but some of those pushes will draw penalty flags in the NFL. He needs to work on moving his feet more quickly in his back pedal. He was a strong run blocker at UVA, but he running game is almost an after thought at All-Star Games. Just as a side note his shaved head and big beard remind me greatly of Isaac Hayes, the soul singer and actor. Also referred to as the Black Moses. For you younger folks, that would be CHEF on South Park. Florida State LB CHRISTIAN JONES is having a solid week at MLB. But I still feel his athleticism will play best in then NFL at OLB in a 4-3 scheme. He played both inside and out while in college with solid results either way. He is thought to have a chance to sneak into Round One of the DRAFT. He’s solid against the run and is dropping into coverage nicely. KEVIN NORWOOD/WR/Alabama is a smooth athlete and is also showing well this week. He’s not great at any one thing, but can be counted on to do his job and make plays. He was the same kind of player at ‘Bama. On an aborted throwback/WR pass, early in practice, he sailed a nice tight spiral 25 yards down the field. He has nice size at 6’2, 197, and his hands measure just over 10”. Watch for him to make a play or two Saturday in the game. JAYLEN WATKINS/DB/Florida kept rotating between S and CB for the Gators over his college career, depending on where they needed help or had the best depth. He looks to be fast and flexible enough to play CB in the NFL. He is a “smooth” athlete if you watch him work around the practice field. His flexibility to play S as needed can only help him, and the JAX coaching staff are letting him split time here between the positions. I like the overall athleticism and look of small school CB/WALT AKENS from Liberty. He has nice size and appears fast. But he did look a bit slower than the big school CB in his back pedal during agility drills for the corners this morning. I also made a quick note while watching he OL blocking drills that BRYAN MATT STORK OC/Florida State comports himself like one tough hombre. He does not give an inch to bigger and/or stronger DL he is asked to block. He is also an experienced college OL. I also like the SEC safety combo of CRAIG LOSTON/LSU and KENNY LADLER/Vanderbilt, who appear to be the potential starters in the game Saturday. Both have decent size, at over 6’ tall and 200+ lbs. They both have good range to cover deep and are willing and able to come up in run support. LOSTON played in 45 career games, and had 7 career INT. I don’t think LOSTON is very far behind ERIC REID, who patrolled the LSU secondary last year, in overall talent. LADLER has more starting experience at Vandy with 50 career starts and a career high 5 INT in 2013.
http://walterfootball.com/seniorbowl2014practice5.php Wednesday's 2014 Senior Bowl Practice Report: North By Charlie Campbell - @draftcampbell The North team took the field Wednesday in Ladd-Peebles Stadium for their third practice of the Senior Bowl. The Atlanta Falcons' coaching staff had the players practicing in full pads. Atlanta's staff kept the North squad going at a good pace and at a reasonably physical level. The players started the session with some installation and work in individual position groups. After that, the North did a few one-on-one sessions, a few periods of special teams work and a team scrimmage. Here is a rundown of the noteworthy players. Pitt defensive tackle Aaron Donald completed his phenomenal week of practice with another dominant session. Donald couldn't be stopped in the pass rushing one-on-ones. He got started by burning Baylor guard Cyril Richardson with a speed rush. He used some power and then speed to get by Utah State's Tyler Larsen. Donald showed great hand usage to shed a block from Tennessee State's Kadeem Edwards with speed to burst away. Edwards and Clemson's Brandon Thomas were able to get some draws against Donald by stuffing bull rushes. Donald got penetration, but not enough to get to the quarterback marker. During the team scrimmage, Donald blew by Edwards to get a tackle for a loss on a run play. Donald has been one of the best players in Mobile and has made himself a lot of money this week. His pass-rushing skills as a three technique are very rare and he could be a potential double-digit sacker in the NFL. Stanford defensive end/outside linebacker Trent Murphy had a good day on Wednesday. He burned Kadeem Edwards around the left side to get a blind side sack of Logan Thomas during the team scrimmage. Long after Murphy would have had the sack, Thomas forced a throw into a crowd of defenders around a receiver and Wisconsin linebacker Chris Borland was able to pick the ball off. In the 9-on-9 run scrimmage, Murphy had a nice play to beat Miami tackle Seantrel Henderson around the edge to get to the back for no gain. Murphy then had a speed rush in the one-on-ones initially blocked by Notre Dame's Zack Martin, but on a second effort, Murphy was able to get free to get to the quarterback marker. Murphy also had a pressure but was eventually stopped short of the marker by Clemson's Brandon Thomas. North Carolina defensive end Kareem Martin had an impressive play in the 11-on-11 scrimmage when he blew up a run in the backfield and hugged James White a few yards short of the line of scrimmage. Martin had some losses in the one-on-ones, including one to Miami tackle Seantrel Henderson. Michigan right tackle Michael Schofield had an ugly day on Tuesday, but showed improvement on Wednesday. He hung with a fast spin move from Missouri's Michael Sam to win a one-on-one rep. Schofield rode Virginia Tech's James Gayle around the pocket and planted him into the turf. However, Louisville's Marcus Smith was able to use speed and dip underneath Schofield to win a rep off the edge and Minnesota's Ra'Shede Hageman pushed him into the marker on a bull rush. Minnesota's Ra'Shede Hageman had another nice practice, and he had a good win against Colorado State center Weston Richburg with a speed rush. Utah State center Tyler Larsen has also shown improvement this week. He had some good moments on Wednesday including stuffing a rush from Hageman. Notre Dame left tackle Zack Martin had a win against Penn State's DaQuan Jones when he anchored on a bull rush. Martin also had an impressive win when he pushed North Carolina defensive end Kareem Martin outside of the pocket and into the turf. Zack Martin has had a strong week of practice to answer some doubts. UCLA wide receiver Shaq Evans had a pretty one-handed catch in the back of the end zone during the receiving one-on-ones. He beat Utah State's Nevin Lawson on the play for a step of separation, but Lawson came back to blanket Evans on another throw and slap the ball away. Oregon's Josh Huff had a nice touchdown reception, but he used a push-off on North Carolina State's Dontae Johnson to get open. Huff and Wisconsin's Jared Abbrederis have played well this week. Abbrederis showed his superb route-running by getting open in the front of the end zone on curl route for a reception. He beat Northern Illinois' Jimmie Ward on the play. Wisconsin running back James White had another impressive practice in blitz protection. White rode around Illinois linebacker Jonathan Brown for his first win. In the rematch, White held up and pushed Brown away from the pocket. White was rocked back a bit by Iowa's Christian Kirksey on a bull rush, but held his ground to get a draw. On their rematch, White stuffed a spin move from Kirksey. White beat Kirksey on his final rep. White also showed some nice receiving ability out of the backfield. White has really helped himself this week. West Virginia's Charles Sims and Toledo's David Fluellen had some wins and some losses, but neither back is close to being as good at White in pass blocking. Stanford fullback Ryan Hewitt struggled in pass protection. Louisville's Marcus Smith used some power to shed a block before bolting by Hewitt. Kirksey flew by Hewitt on a spin move while UCLA's Jordan Zumwalt used a swim move to beat Hewitt. Hewitt finally got a win going against Wisconsin's Chris Borland and Hewitt also had a win blocking Baylor safety Ahmad Dixon when Dixon tried to run around him. Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd had his best practice of the week. Boyd got started by throwing a fastball through a tight window to Jared Abbrederis in zone coverage. He then threw a beautiful deep ball that dropped in over Lindenwood cornerback Pierre Desir to Northwestern wide receiver Kain Colter in the team scrimmage. Desir had tight coverage but was beaten by a nice catch and a great throw. Boyd had a good play from the 20-yard line where he saw nothing open, scrambled forward and threw a short pass on the run to Stanford fullback Ryan Hewitt. Hewitt had an open field and coasted into the end zone. Boyd needed a good practice and came through with one. Miami quarterback Stephen Morris hasn't had a big week either. In the team scrimmage he hit a slant to Wyoming's Robert Herron who cut back to dodge Wyoming's Marqeston Huff and dart down the field for a nice gain. Morris and Herron hooked up again when he beat Huff on an out route.
My Winners: Aaron Donald, DT .. dominated practice this week. Had the best week of any player. Jared Abberderis, WR .... was real solid and probably solidified himself as a Rd 2 pick. Derek Carr, QB.....strong arm and proved he's more than a dump off passer. Zac Martin, OT.....surprised me this week, looked incredible.
CJ Fiedorowicz (TE) is going to be a red zone nightmare at the next level, and he's the best blocking TE available. I really wouldn't mind double dipping at TE - considering the impact of the position today. Saw Morgan Moses also today. Physical FREAK, and he's nimble. I think you have to put him in as a winner as well.
Derek Carr got a bad rap because he threw so many screens, but people forget that he threw like 550 passes this year. the screen pass was Fresno state's running game, not their passing game. the td throw that Carr put on Chandler Jones on the seam route vs san Jose st was amazing. 35 yards on a rope.
Dee Ford, Mike Davis, Jimmie Ward and Josh Huff help themselves too IMO. Cyril Richardson, Aaron Colvin (really unfortunate) and Will Sutton really hurt themselves.
Abberderis will miss the Senior Bowl with a hammy. That's going to hurt him in the draft because there were so many question marks in regards to injury concerns as is, he doesn't have a good frame for a WR. I like the kid a lot, if he could put some weight on and maintain his speed, to go along with his football iq and amazing route running, he would be a steal. I just don't know that he has the body that can handle the NFL right now. Teams are going to be scared of that.
The problem I have with Carr is that I think he's similar developmentally to where Geno is and I don't want two of those guys competing. Much better to bring in a pro set candidate, particularly one who is grounded in the WCO and won't require all the basic training that Geno has been going through.
He should be one of the top 3 running backs to go in the draft. If he's there in round 3 we absolutely should. Late round will not be possible
Carr ran a pro offense his first 2 years in college. Carr while he hasn't been part of a great team in a great conference against good competition, outshines Geno Smith in multiple ways. - Footwork (100x better then Geno Smith out of college) - Release (Much quicker - you could argue, both Geno and Carr have very strong arms) - Football IQ (Was given more responsibility reading defenses, making calls at the LOS) I think what you meant to say was their college careers in a way are more similar, going from a pro-offense to a spread offense. That doesn't mean they were developed the same. Carr's main flaw I believe is accuracy and when he's under pressure he kind of folds, that in a way reminds me of Geno Smith so maybe you got a point - and I do not know if he would be a perfect fit for the WCO, but Nick Foles wasn't a perfect fit for Chip Kelly's modified "WCO" neither.
Boyd looking bad to start. One pass batted down at the line and an interception on a poorly thrown ball.
Lol at Carr. Even in the all star game, every pass is at or behind the line of scrimmage. 3-3, 30 yards, Td
I never followed the Senior Bowl before. How do they assign the teams? Is it all random as to which school goes where, or do they for the most part do it based on geography with a few exceptions? Players from Baylor and Miami on the North team.
