Draft Season

Now that the practice week has come to an end in Mobile here is the report by position. I wasn't able to attend the Senior Bowl ( I'll be there next year) so I've watched as much video as I could find and have read as many reports and articles as I could find. Here's what I've come up with.


Quarterbacks- From what i've seen out of the QB's I wasn't really impressed by any of them in Mobile. If I had to pick the best of the week I'd say Jarrett Brown, he showed good arm strenth and had good zip on the ball. His accuracy was inconsistent as was everyone elses which could be due to playing with players they've never played with before.


Tim Tebow struggled with mechanics and footwork which I expected. He was looking pretty bad at the beginning of the week but improved by Thursday. He made some good throws in the WR vs DB drills putting the deep ball right on the money.


Tony Pike was inconsistent and his accuracy was off. I expected a better week out of him, I'm from Cincinnati and have seen him play a lot and he's better than what he showed this week.


Sean Canfield I really didn't see much video on, but from what I've read he looked average and pretty much didn't hurt or help his stock. The rest of the QB's I don't have enough information on to make a report on them.


Running Backs- The best 2 RB's of the week to me are Ben Tate and LaGarrett Blount. I think Dixon was considered the best power back coming into this week, but Tate gained some ground on him and will move up in my position rankings next week. Blount has had a very good week and if he can do well in the interview process he may be able to get some team(s) to look past his punch after the Boise State game and improve his draft stock. I'm putting McCluster in with the WR's or he would have had the best RB week. Roy Upchurch is getting to show what he's capable of after being buried on the Alabama depth chart. He's been inconsistent on his pass catching. He looked good on a wheel route making a touch catch in the end zone and getting both feet in. Then other times he would have trouble tracking the ball. A small school RB Joquie Bell from Wayne State has had a pretty good week and has the scouts talking about him. He won the Harlon Hill Trophy which is the Heisman of divison 2. Last year Bernard Scott won it and ended up being a steal in the 6th round of the draft, although he had off the field issues.


Wide Receiver- I thought quite a few WR's brought their A game this week. There were a lot of drops, I think some of that is due to the pressure these kids are putting on themselves. I think if on game film a WR doesn't have a big problem with drops you'll get the same in the NFL. Catching the ball is something that carries over from college. College WR's that have good hands don't lose them once they get to the pros.


Dexter McCluster is the talk of the week and rightfully so. He has had a tremendous week, making one spectacular play after another. If you have not seen him play go look up some of his you tube videos. He is undersized, but I don't think that matters. He's gonna line up in the slot and beat 1 on 1 coverage whenever he gets it. He's gonna be used as a weapon doing multiple things in the NFL. He reminds me of a Darren Sproles that can line up at WR. I think he may have raised his draft stock to early 2nd round.


Andre Roberts is very good, he ran great routes, sold his fakes on his double moves very well, got excellent seperation, and showed good hands bringing in everything. As far as pure WR I think he played better than anyone this week. My only concern was in the blocking drills he went out to block and got knocked back just by the defender giving him a punch. Other than that I was very impressed.


Taylor Price is another player who's stock is rising. He has blazing speed, a good quick burst off the line, and is getting seperation every time. He's had some drops, but whichever team can look past that in the draft is going to get a good player.


Mardy Gilyard is probably the highest rated WR at the Senior Bowl. He also had some drops this week which is suprising because he usually has excellent hands. The worry about him was getting off the line as he is undersized, but he had no problem with that. He got open every time and was running great routes. I don't think he hurt his stock as some people are reporting, I don't think scouts, coaches, and GM's are gonna put a few drops in the Senior Bowl over a couple years of game film in which he had great hands. If anything, him showing his ability to get off the line maybe helped him.


Shay Hodge, a mid round prospect, I thought had a great week of practice. He ran good routes, had good hands, and used his body well to shield defenders. He has good size and had the best year of any WR in the SEC playing very well against quality teams like Alabama. He made some acrobatic cathes and some good catches on the sideling getting both feet in bounds. He reminds me somewhat of T.J. Houshmandzadeh, he could be some teams 3rd down go to guy.


I thought Jeremy Williams, who was highly thought of, didn't have a good week at all. He looked slow and unmotivated at times. Did not show great effort.
Andre Roberts had a pretty good week running routes, but he needs to get better in his blocking. He's undersized and in the blocking drills got knocked back several times with just a hands punch.


Offensive Line- The best tackles in the draft are not here in Mobile, but there are some good prospects here including the top Guard, Mike Iupati. He has lived up to the hype playing extremely well. Guards rarely go in the 1st round but I think he's going to be a 1st Round lock after this week. He moves excellent for weighing 330. He drives defenders off the ball and his pass blocking is very good, he holds his ground. They tried him at Tackle and he didn't do to well, but that doesn't matter to me. He dominated at Guard, whoever gets him is gonna get someone who immediately is going to make an impact on their line.


Another Guard who was hyped was Vladimir Ducasse of UMass and I thought he has disappointed. Brandon Graham made him look bad in 1 on 1 with an inside move and he didn't even get a hand on him. Given that was at Tackle but it was ugly. Ducasse has not shown good technique at all this week and his feet are slow. I think his stock took a dip here in Mobile. He is raw and is gonna take some time to develop.
Other than Iupati, the lineman having the best week is John Jerry who may have jumped his stock up into the 3rd round. He does a good job of getting low and getting good pop on his punch. He is good with his hands getting onto defenders quick and once engaged it's over. For his size he moves very well and held his own 1 on 1 against the 370 lb. Cody.


West Virginia Tackle Selvish Capers solidified his spot in my position rankings as a top 10 tackle in this years draft. He has a good kick slide and moves well in pass protection. I think he's gonna be good on the left side which makes him that much more valuable. In run blocking he does a good job getting to the 2nd level, but he needs to be better at getting physical and driving defenders off the ball.


Tight End- The most complete TE in Mobile is Anthony McCoy. He has done a good job blocking and catching the ball. Tim Tebow threw an absolute laser down the seam and he snatched the ball out of the air using his hands very well. Another play McCoy split 2 defenders down the middle and caught a pass from Zac Robinson for a TD. He's solidified his status as a 2nd round pick.


Ed Dickson is a good route runner, maybe the best of all the TE's in Mobile. He has good hands and does a good job catching the ball in traffic. His blocking leaves something to be desired he doesn't get good drive off the line.


Miami TE Jimmy Graham is still raw but he does a good job catching the ball. He is getting the Gates comparisons because of the switch from basketball. He has very good size, but he's got to work on his blocking. He may fit well with a team that likes to spread it out and throw the ball a lot.