The afternoon practice session was once again crisper, heated, and more star-studded than the one in the morning. Jack Del Rio’s coaches really know how to run an up-tempo practice getting the most reps out of players and aggressively coaching them as well. You could tell that the players were really out there to compete and audition for a job at the next level. This was the most exciting practice all week.
Quarterback Pat White once again demonstrated why he was playing the position at the Senior Bowl. In interviews, he’s told coaches, scouts, and the media that he’s a quarterback until he’s told differently. After another solid practice Wednesday, you could tell why. Of the six quarterbacks in Mobile, White has the liveliest arm and he showed it off throughout the duration of the practice. He was the best throwing downfield, connecting on the skinny post. Even more surprising is his footwork this week. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he came from a pro-style offense in college. The next step for White is demonstrating his ability to read defenses and translate his fine practice week into the game. Even so, he’ll have serious concerns about his college offense going into the draft, but at least he should be looked at as a quarterback now. Second to White, John Parker Wilson also had a pretty solid afternoon. There was some zip on the football coming out his hand today, unlike yesterday. When given the time and with the proper set-up, his arm can be pretty good. Cullen Harper on the other hand still hasn’t really proven to anyone why he’s at this game. While he’s looked okay at times, Harper just isn’t very impressive overall.
Andre Brown had the best day of the South backs, running very hard and getting upfield very fast. He has a nice burst to compliment his size. Rashad Jennings still hasn’t caught my eye as I thought he would. He could have moved into the second round range with a nice week, but he’s dropping to the mid-rounds after failing to impress. James Davis was beaten a couple times in pass protection by Rey Maualuga, but seemed to be disappointed in himself after each time. It shows me that he’s willing to improve. He did have a nice run or two to make up for it.
Mike Thomas really impressed me yet again. His physical nature despite his small frame is really entertaining to watch. He has excellent hands and made a great one-handed catch in warm-ups on an overthrown ball. Kenny McKinley has a lot of quickness and is very savvy. He has great hands and found a way to get open several times in the one-on-one drills. McKinley has gone under the radar, but has the potential be a key contributor in the NFL if he can get stronger and break jams at the line of scrimmage. Head Coach Pete Carroll attended practice and really spoke up his wide receiver, the USC player that has been most unnoticed this week. Patrick Turner has great size and very quick feet according to his coach. Running some routes it really showed, but others he tended to get lazy and throw in a couple extra steps. If Turner can get it all working consistently, he could be a nice receiver in the NFL. Ole Miss’s Mike Wallace really turned up the heat in his last four games, but I was surprised he was invited to Mobile. After a couple days of practice, he’s proving that he belongs. Wallace runs nice routes underneath and has handled some physical play from the defensive backs.
Of the skill position players on the South team, Shawn Nelson is generating the most buzz. He’s a very athletic tight end with great receiving skills. Tight ends coach Mike Tice has worked very closely with Nelson and we’ve seen some real strides. Nelson has repeatedly fired off the snap with a great initial pop as a blocker, but still needs a little more work in sustaining them. He’s very willing in that department and has reacted really well to coaching. After dropping a pass late in the team drills, he talked to Coach Tice, acknowledged his mistake and corrected it the next rep, catching a touchdown. Anthony Hill showed some abilities as a blocker, but Travis McCall looks out of place at the Senior Bowl. I wish his teammate Nick Walker had been invited instead.
The offensive line/defensive line one-on-one drills resulted in numerous fiery competitive match-ups. Michael Oher had another up and down day, but with more ups today than downs. His nastiness showed up today. After losing once on the edge, Oher returned with vengeance tackling (legally, probably) the defender the next rep. Once on the ground, he finished off the play. Despite some of his minor flaws, many general managers are going to find it difficult to pass on a player as intense and committed to the game as Oher is. On the interior, Antoine Caldwell continued to prove to be the best center in the draft. He has the strength to play in the trenches as a rookie and Coach Del Rio praised him for his footwork. Caldwell was beaten once or twice on the day, but more often than not, he got his way with the defense. The guard from Auburn, Tyronne Green continued to show strength and drive today. Jonathan Luigs has been forgettable, but dependable this entire week. The player I was really unimpressed by was Herman “House” Johnson. I’ll refrain from discussing his weight (382 pounds) repeatedly, but his footwork is really slow…REALLY slow. Unless I’m exaggerating his footwork problems, I can’t see him succeeding in the NFL, especially against some of the quicker tackles in the league. Anthony Parker left the field with an ankle injury; the severity of it is unknown.
Peria Jerry is simply unblockable this week. I can recollect only a handful of occasions where he has been totally blocked. With great quickness and strength, Jerry has been able to shoot through the gap or drive the offensive linemen into the backfield. Though no one has come close to matching his effectiveness this week in practice, Richmond’s Lawrence Sidbury looked great off the edge yet again. His explosiveness is unrivaled at the Senior Bowl this year. David Veikune from Hawaii has also been impressive as a pass rusher. Robert Ayers has combined an explosive first step with strength and quickness to make a name for himself. You can bet that scouts will be taking a look at his play during the season again after this week. Vance Walker has been hyped by many draftniks, but he’s been largely unimpressive this week. He always seems to be on the ground.
I’m not sure what had gotten into Rey Maualuga before today, but he sure came out firing. He ran, ripped, and out muscled, all running backs and tight ends in blitz drills. He was aggressive and really got to the dummy quarterback in a hurry. This once again flashed his serious potential as a blitzer with the way he dipped his shoulder and did a variety of other great moves to beat his man. In team drills, Rey looked much improved as well. Very aggressive and didn’t make many mistakes on the day. His teammate Brian Cushing has looked like the best linebacker in coverage this week, making smooth drops into his zones. Maryland linebacker Moise Fokou did a good job with form tacking in one-on-one drills. He stood out a little today overall. Darry Beckwith was absolutely buried by tight ends in blitz drills today. He was either engulfed or stonewalled or driven down the line of scrimmage out of the “play.” Ashlee Palmer caught my attention a couple times as well making plays in team drills.
I really didn’t like the way Coye Francies and Dominique Johnson started the day. They seemed a little lackadaisical in warm-ups, which are still important in showing how smoothly you can transition from the backpedal to the sprint. Johnson continued to disappoint after taking too many steps and showing hesitation to drive on routes. Francies stayed low in his backpedal in the one-on-ones and blanketed receivers. He didn’t have a tremendous day, allowing some catches, but not a bad one either. Alphonso Smith was basically flawless other than the one time he allowed Patrick Turner to fool him. He was physical, displayed great ball skills and even made a nice interception. His teammate at Wake, Chip Vaughn, proved to cover well in one-on-one drills. He’s quietly putting together a solid week. Ellis Lankster has impressed me several times this week. He plays very tight coverage creating small windows for the quarterback to fit the ball. Rashad Johnson has been complimented by his coaches for being a quick learner. When he’s out there he always seems to be playing with a chip on his shoulder and did so today making a couple nice plays on the ball.
This South team practice was head and shoulders the best of the week. It seems to draw so much more attention than the North team. Players like JaMarcus Russell and USC Head Coach Pete Carroll were in attendance today. As the team moves out of pads tomorrow to work on the details for the game, we’ll see if the players are aware of what they’re doing and have began to incorporate a couple days of coaching into their game. The NFL Network will cover the South team practice from 5:00PM-7:00PM (ET).
Continue to Wednesday's North Practice Recap -->
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