Senior Bowl Day One - Scouts Notebook

More Senior Bowl coverage:
Blog, Day 1, Day 2 South, Day 2 North, Day 3 South, Day 3 North

Guest columnists Sigmund Bloom and Cecil Lammey from footballguys.com give us an unedited look at their scouting notebook while they attend the Senior Bowl.

The weather damp and cold, making it tough to get a good handle on the QBs, who were having trouble taking snaps and throwing spirals. The WRs were also falling down a lot, although this was a good measure of who could run their routes under control.

Quarterback

Tyler Palko, Pitt - nice throw on the run, poor mechanics, throwing off back foot, throwing while falling back and throwing on off foot while scrambling, weird 3/4 release, puts ball in right spot

Troy Smith, OSU - two fumbles likely due to weather, showed a lot of confidence in leadership in huddle, on sidelines, good barking cadence, knew where he wanted to put the ball and had several good throws

Drew Stanton, Mich St - started off slow, got going and has a great delivery, perfect mechanics, over the top throwing motion, proper zip, proper touch, good ball placement, very athletic for his size

Chris Leak, Florida - Considerably shorter than Kolb or Palmer, live arm, good zip on short throws, consistently overthrew deep balls, checked down almost exclusively in drill with 4-5 receivers.

Kevin Kolb, Houston - good mobility and mechanics, did not throw many spirals, seemed to struggle

Jordan Palmer, UTEP - looks the part, almost a spitting image of his brother, good mechanics, but very inconsistent results, ball tended to float

Runningback

Kolby Smith, Louisville - good pad level, runs behind his pads, using all his forward momentum to gain maximum yardage, good short area quickness, no long speed, willing inside runner, instinctive, good day catching the ball, nice arms extended catch and great catch on fade route

Garrett Wolfe, NIU - really small, even tiny compared to other RBs, smaller than the kicker (Mason Crosby), swallowed by defense, not quick, not fast, dropped passes

Tony Hunt, PSU - runs way too upright, not in a rhythm, didn’t have a sense of urgency about him, lethargic, good hands, didn’t look ball into hands once, one run, so indecisive behind the line, Gruden says "that was indecisive as hell"

Brian Leonard, Rutgers - exceptional hands, running out every play in practice, good inside running, forward lean, kept feet moving, can run through trash at line of scrimmage, not overly fast or powerful, but willing and determined runner

Kenny Irons, Auburn - seems totally over ankle injuries, great burst and lateral movement, very live legs, very elusive

Ken Darby, Alabama - uncreative straight ahead runner on the few carries I saw

Lorenzo Booker, Florida St - Exceptional quickness and speed, very electric and sudden compared to Darby and Irons

Wide Receiver

Paul Williams, Fresno St - Blends in athletically as opposed to standing out at Shrine Game, didn't seem serious, joked around on sidelines, maybe not paying attention

David Clowney, Virginia Tech - Drop after drop after drop, very fast, not elusive, but slippery, See also: Todd Pinkston

Rhema McKnight, Notre Dame - Consistent, good concentration, looked ball into hands, good routes, opens his body to QB to create as big a target as he can. not overwhelming athletic, but very consistent

Jason Hill, Washington St - good hands

Brandon Myles, West Virginia - lots of drops

Dallas Baker, Florida - L-O-N-G arms, does better when he has to reach full extension for a ball much like Plaxico Burress, not physical in route running, easily redirected, but responded well to coaching when this was pointed out. Let the passes thrown straight at him get to his body. Hangs in air, great leaper

Dwayne Bowe, LSU - very impressive physique, but quick, fast, and athletic for a solidly built guy, very under control and crisp in his routes and showed good hands. Drew a lot of praise from the coaches

Chris Davis, Florida St - Looks like a slot receiver type, good running crossing routes, showed good hands, some toughness/physicality for a smaller WR

Courtney Taylor, Auburn - body caught, sometimes lazy in routes, didn’t seem to have good quickness or hands. Flashed some speed and some toughness on a few plays, but was one of the poorest performing South WRs.

Chansi Stuckey, Clemson - Quick and fast, but was not as impressive as Higgins, who is a similar type of WR. Got pushed around early in routes

Johnnie Lee Higgins, UTEP - Very fast, very quick, very athletic, and strong for a smaller WR. stood out. speed to separate on deep routes

Other

Adam Carriker, DE, Nebraska - Nasty, fiery, mean, lots of pop

Rufus Alexander, LB, Oklahoma - stuck to RB in coverage

Aaron Ross, CB, Texas, Michael Griffin, S, Texas - both had ints by reading plays well

Brandon Meriweather, S, Miami - Had scintillating INT by cutting in front of Joe Newton, who looked open when the ball was thrown, didn’t respond to coaching well

Martrez Milner, TE, Georgia - terrific adjustment on poorly thrown ball, took hit from Griffin and held on

Kevin Payne, DB, Louisiana-Monroe - terrible day, got yelled at to finish out plays and seemed to be slow and out of it

Fred Bennett, CB, South Carolina - big, strong, physical, aggressive, and showed speed to boot