2009 Senior Bowl: Monday Recap

Monday featured the start of the Senior Bowl, an event that fans, scouts, coaches, and front offices really love to watch and attend. In the morning, players were brought into a ballroom with representatives of every team. Here they were measured and weighed and their bodies evaluated. In the afternoon, the two sides began their first practice of the week and while the North team was featured on NFL Network inside Ladd-Peebles Stadium, the South team traveled to Fairhope Stadium to get their week underway. As I watched the North team practice, several big names jumped out, while a couple other smaller names began their climb.

Of the three quarterbacks at practice, neither really looked too great. However, this was expected as two came from smaller schools and one came from a shotgun spread offense. Today, Graham Harrell was the most impressive of the bunch. While he never displayed an outstanding arm or a quick release, he rarely missed receivers. His accuracy looked great and his arm strength a little better than average. For Harrell, working under the center for the first time in years, it was a good day. Coming in a close second was Rhett Bomar, the transfer from Oklahoma. He showed the best combination of mechanics, release, and arm strength, but his accuracy wavered. Nathan Brown placed a distant third and looked like he was overwhelmed the entire day. His arm strength looked questionable and some of his balls floated to their target.

The running backs didn’t receive the spotlight on the first day of practices and only one really stood out. The first was Kory Sheets, a sleeper out of Purdue. He was pretty quick getting up and down the field. He also caught the ball well out of the backfield. Cedric Peerman also had a couple nice runs, but measured in with very small hands. It could be no problem, but if he drops a couple balls this week, look for that measurement to be heavily scrutinized.

Of the receiving group, Brooks Foster from North Carolina looked very impressive. It seemed like he always had the ball in his hand when he was on the field. He found a way to separate from defensive backs in the one-on-one and the team drills, but also showed nice hands catching the ball away from his body. Brandon Gibson was the other name finding the ball. He found a way to beat Mike Mickens deep for six, but looked somewhat sluggish in and out of cuts. The best outside matchup on the field belonged to Derrick Williams and Darius Butler. Both are great athletes that move sharply and fluidly. Williams was quick in and out of cuts and managed to get just enough separation from Butler. Ramses Barden was the hot name of the group coming into the Senior Bowl. He began the day measuring in at 6’6, 227 pounds, carrying nice body, with the largest arms and hands of the group. He intimidated corners who bumped him down the field in what would have been penalties. Barden isn’t the quickest in and out of cuts, but he’s a big athlete and can get down the field to make plays.

It was interesting to see the tight ends today that featured a first round selection, a sleeper, and a defensive sleeper. Connor Barwin was invited as a tight end because there wasn’t enough room on defense. Playing at a position he hadn’t played in a while, he looked surprisingly good. The key note to make here is that Barwin’s future will be on the defensive side of the ball and scouts realize that. Brandon Pettigrew really has an impressive frame. He moves and catches well. More importantly, he’s a very good blocker that can really extend his arms and lock onto a defender.

As the focus turned away from the outside to the big uglies, the real fun began. Alex Mack had a difficult day, but faced the best competition. He was beaten on several occasions by Ziggy Hood out of Missouri, but also held his own several times. The other center on the team, Max Unger was really humiliated several times. As many mentioned prior to the event, he’s needs add some weight to handle the larger tackles. He was bull rushed and abused by several players. He has the versatility to play on the outside so maybe he should be moved back there. Tackle Xavier Fulton and guard Ryan Shuman looked as if they didn’t belong. Fulton struggled with the speed rush, while Shuman was left helpless on the highlight of the day by Ziggy Hood. That will be explained a little later. William Beatty, the athletic tackle from Connecticut flashed some potential and proved why he’s considered to be a first/second round prospect. He slid well and handled the speed rushes, but struggled a little with the power moves. The two biggest winners on the day were Kraig Urbik and Phil Loadholt. Urbik showed good technique and knee bend standing up the best of bull rushes and moving his feet to neutralized double moves. Loadholt looked quick out of his stance and demonstrated once again that defenders don’t stand a chance once he locks onto the defender. He was moved to the right side and didn’t face a great speed rush all day.

The biggest winner on the day was Missouri’s Ziggy Hood who may no longer fly under the radar after this week is done. Facing Ryan Shuman, he brilliantly set up the guard to execute a perfect and lightning-quick spin move. He went to that same spin move twice more with great success and also showed a variety of rips to be victorious on many occasions. Aside from Hood, BC’s defensive tackles also had good days. B.J. Raji measured in at 6’1 5/8, 334 pounds with only 31 ¼” arms, the second worst on the defensive line. However, he used his large body and moved impressively quickly. His counterpart, Ron Brace, looked like the better fit at nose tackle, pushing interior linemen backwards. At the same time, he was much slower than Raji. Mitch King also stood out for the entirety of practice. He was consistently around the ball, in the backfield, and beating offensive linemen. The only problem came earlier in the day when he measured in at 275 pounds with 31” arms. He’s an outstanding player and competitor with no true position. DE/OLB Tim Jamison displayed a good body, flashed good moves and impressed overall. He wasn’t especially quick off the snap, but he knew how to beat offensive tackles on the right side.

The linebackers worked a lot on their pass coverage today. For the converted safety, Nic Harris, it was a good day. He was very smooth and didn’t panic. On the other hand, Clint Sintim and Scott McKillop didn’t look so great. On the very little I saw of the linebackers, they both looked a little stiff in coverage unable to hang with their assignments.

For the most part, the defensive backs took a backseat to the wide receivers today, though nothing spectacular came from either side. The best of the bunch was Connecticut’s Darius Butler. He might have been beaten a couple times, but he broke quickly on the ball and his transition from back pedal to sprint was smooth. Oregon’s Patrick Chung was probably the best safety out there today. On the outside, he managed to keep it competitive with wide receivers, which for a safety is impressive. Mike Mickens, on the other hand, didn’t look 100% and was beaten deep once by Brandon Gibson. I like to see Mickens competing on the field, but if he’s still not at full health, the game could hurt his stock. Notre Dame’s David Bruton really looked bad in the one-on-one matchup taking too many extra steps and showing a slow drive to the football. He appeared to be getting on himself after each of those catches he allowed which shows some passion and competitiveness.

Overall, for the North team, it wasn’t an eye-opening practice for any prospect. The players just got their feet wet today with nothing impressive or shattering from anyone. It was still a solid practice with some tough match-ups. As coach Marvin Lewis concluded, look for the team to continue learning their responsibilities. Expect the fireworks to heat up as both the North and South teams hit Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Tuesday. The NFL Network will cover practices of the North team from 10:30AM-12:00PM (ET) and the South team from 5:00PM-7:00PM (ET).