2009 Senior Bowl: Tuesday North Recap

By: Roshan Bhagat | Updated: 1/20

As the North team took the field for the second time inside Ladd-Peebles stadium, you could really see the players looking more comfortable. The temperature dipped a bit and the wind picked up, making for difficult connections between the quarterbacks and receivers. One key note to make was that Cincinnati cornerback Mike Mickens wisely withdrew from the Senior Bowl which opened up a spot for DT Alex Magee.

Again, the quarterbacks for the North roster looked very average. There really appear to be no starters in the bunch, all with average arm strength. Both Graham Harrell and Nathan Brown failed to cut the ball through the wind with enough velocity. While Harrell still has some work left to be done, surprisingly, he had the best footwork of the bunch, though all three quarterbacks come from spread offenses. He is having some issues handling the ball under center though. Rhett Bomar, along with the other two quarterbacks struggled to throw accurate balls, but unlike the other two, he’s had career-long problems with this. Brown looked terrible on the day and just hasn’t looked like an NFL quarterback. He changes his throwing motion to a sidearm for deeper passes, as witnessed by his attempted deep outs, and even struggles to get the ball to his target. His footwork was sloppy, taking extra hitches after his dropback. None of these three quarterbacks belong in the first three rounds of the draft.

The running backs were put to the test today as they were asked to take on blitzing linebackers. Of the bunch, Kory Sheets showed pure toughness and determination in taking on California’s Zack Follett head-on. He may easily be the best blocking back in the draft, which is a huge asset that will allow him to see playing time as a rookie. In that blitz pick-up drill, Navy’s fullback, Eric Kettani, made the biggest noise when he destroyed Ohio State’s Marcus Freeman, revving the coaches up. Jeremiah Johnson, though, is the best pure runner on the North team. He showed good speed in turning the corner and vision getting through the middle. He also displayed good hands out of the backfield.

On the outside, Derrick Williams and Brandon Gibson tied as the best receivers on the day. I’m truly impressed with Williams’ ability to get in and out of cuts and continually find ways to get open. He understands how to eat up cushion and possesses the elite speed to still run by defensive backs. Also when shown off-man coverage he understands how to set up the underneath route and secure the football quickly. He’s making a strong case to be considered a first round prospect here in Mobile. Equally impressive, Gibson was catching everything thrown in his direction. For the second day in a row, he made a nice effort going deep. Ramses Barden is certainly played like a day one selection as well. Not only does he appear to be a natural athlete with great size, but he also has natural hands and a feel for what he needs to do. He uses his large frame well to create good angles to the quarterback. Brian Robiskie had another up and down day making some nice plays, but also dropping a ball.

Brandon Pettigrew is the only name that needs to be heard from the North squad at tight end. It’s becoming rare to see the top tight ends in the mold of Pettigrew. He’s a great blocker that has learned the proper technique. On his best play today, he locked onto a linebacker right of the snap, extended his arms and drove him towards the sideline. He’s smooth getting into his routes and makes up for a lack of killer speed with his frame and hands. Pettigrew is a first round lock and will likely be gone by the middle of the first round.

The player that jumped out in the one-on-one drills in the trenches was Oregon’s Max Unger. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in a good way. He’s too easily overpowered by defensive tackles, which makes me wonder. Might he be a better fit at left tackle, a position he also has experience playing? In the team drills, he looked okay, but also stumbled trying to get out for a screen. Phil Loadholt is biggest unknown lineman at the Senior Bowl. He’s not unknown as in name recognition, but does he have the tools to succeed at the next level. You know he has the size and talent, but will he really be able to handle edge rushers? His footwork isn’t that bad for a man his size, but he plays too upright rather than bending his knees. William Beatty from Connecticut is nearly the opposite prospect. He has a good frame, but doesn’t have the weight to fill it out yet. He’s a great fit on the left side because of his excellent footwork. Back-to-back fights with teammate Cody Brown really captured his biggest strengths and weaknesses. On the first play, he allowed Brown to get to his body and was pushed backwards into the direction of the quarterback. The next play, he slid well and cut off the edge. He has great potential and will only improve with coaching. On the interior, Trevor Canfield, one of my favorite offensive line prospects really dominated. He’s a nasty guard that plays to the whistle, sometimes even beyond that. Today he showed the ability to anchor a bull rush and defeat everyone he faced in the one-on-ones.

On the defensive line, I was surprised at how quiet Mitch King was today and how quiet Larry English has been this week. King didn’t repeat from a year ago looking like he tried to focus a little more on power moves today. It’s interesting he tried that because of his lack of a true position, but it didn’t go as according to plan. On the other hand, I was fully expecting English to be a terror off the edge, but he’s been anything but. He’s won a couple battles in one-on-ones but hasn’t done much aside from that. No matter what they had done today, it would have still been overshadowed by B.J. Raji’s dominant performance. He’s a well-built nose tackle who moves well. He showed off his bull rush, rip, and a variety of other power moves to collapse the pocket in the one-on-one drills. He then translated his work to the team drills where he blew up several plays in the backfield. He is easily the most NFL-ready defensive linemen this year. Missouri’s Ziggy Hood also had another great day demonstrating several more perfectly-executed spin moves. Ron Brace on the other hand wasn’t quite as spectacular as a day ago. His bull rushes worked with less success and he looked very sloppy moving. He’ll only be a one-dimensional space eater until he shows something else not in his repertoire.

None of the North team linebackers really brought their A-games today. Clint Sintim showed some improvement, but switching from the 3-4 to the 4-3 defense may be impacting his play. He’ll be playing the SAM linebacker should he be drafted by a 4-3 team, but he’ll need to show improved footwork to be able to hang with backs and tight ends in coverage. Nic Harris might be having the best week of any linebackers. He hasn’t really had to shed many blocks and has struggled a bit when asked to do so. In coverage, he looks alert and does a good job clinging to his man. Linebackers Zack Follett and Marcus Freeman were both blown up today as they were blocked by backs, but had good days otherwise. Both Scott McKillop and Tyrone McKenzie struggled to get off blocks all day. McKillop didn’t read and react very well in team drills either.

The secondary showed much improvement from Monday all the way down the roster. Macho Harris had the best day showcasing his press man coverage that he learned at Virginia Tech. He stuck close to the receiver and didn’t bit on double moves. He finished plays tough by knocking the ball out of the air, or even once stripping the receiver after the catch, showing some hustle. In the box safeties Patrick Chung and Louis Delmas also had great days. Chung has flashed an ability to come down compete opposite receivers play after play. He could easily be overtaking William Moore as the top safety, who has been nothing but stiff this entire week. Delmas played incredibly physical in practice even laying a good hit on Ramses Barden as he caught a slant route. He’s the most aggressive safety here in Mobile and has looked great as a result. Keenan Lewis improved mightily from a day ago where he looked very slow to drive on routes. Today, he looked comfortable playing press coverage, blanketing receivers from the get go. Darius Butler, one of my favorite cornerbacks looked like the most natural cornerback on the field, but was a little inconsistent. He was beat deep on one play, but came back and didn’t allow the receiver to get off the line of scrimmage on the next.

The second day of practice ran much smoother than the first. The players knew their assignments better and they competed harder. Several players already improved their play with a day of coaching, while others looked a little tired from yesterday. It was a much better practice from the North side who will look to execute even better tomorrow. The NFL Network will cover the North team practice from 10:30AM-12:00PM (ET)