Tin Bits - Tuesday, February 2nd - Senior Bowl Edition

Before I jump into some notes on what I saw in the Senior Bowl, I want to thank everyone who wished me well in the past couple of days - for the record I do not have any medical issues - although I just jinxed it by saying that.  I just had too much on my plate to do an update and found out at 5am that Parcells was going to do a live chat - which turned out to be the biggest waste of time ever.  Then today's update was delayed by someone not paying the internet bill.  Seriously, haven't these people ever heard of automatic payments? 

• One thing I did read into Parcells' 'chat' was that Chad Pennington will not be brought back.  Add this to comments made by Tony Sparano about Pat White, and all indications are that we'll continue into 2010's season with the same 3 QBs we ended 2009 with.  I don't know how I feel about the fact that Sparano wouldn't name Chad Henne the starter, but would put his full endorsement behind Pat White playing QB in the future, despite the results of 2009.  I'm pretty sure I'll know how to feel if we start the season with White as the 2nd string QB again...

• The Senior Bowl was both surprising and disappointing at the same time.  On the one hand, several of the players I was expecting to do well, did, but there were few standout performances.  For one, the North's defensive line looked to be unstoppable.  The reality is, while they did play well, it was the South's offensive line's play that made it look easy.  They were AWFUL.  The North's O-line was not much better.  Even Mike Iupati  played terribly.  I think he got called for 3 penalties, and there were loads of holding calls not being made on both lines through out the game.

• With that said, Brandon Graham did look very good, but not for easily running by the left tackle, but for his run defense.  Looking at him I can't help but see someone who could play inside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, though he will likely go as a 3-4 OLB in the draft.

• Sean Weatherspoon is going to be a player in the NFL.  While his game was average, his energy level was off the charts.  Now, I don't know why anyone play-caller would send Dexter McCluster on a deep fade in the end-zone, but did you see Weatherspoon in coverage?  Even a 6'5" receiver wouldn't have stood a chance there.  Weatherspoon was practically running inside of McCluster's shoes there and had enough time to turn around and wait for the ball.

• Dan Williams.  In the first half, there was no better player on the field than Williams.  He took on double team after double team, occupying space and pushing people around.  Terrence Cody was absolutely invisible even in one-on-one situations.  Williams was clearly the best DT in the game.  The North squad had it too easy against a pathetic South O-line to be able to compare Williams with Jared Odrick and Mike Neal, though both played with a very high motor.  Personally, I'm more interested in Williams now than I was before.

• None of the wide receivers really moved up or down the boards in my opinion.  In fact, I didn't even see some of them on the field at all.  I was quite upset with the commentators bashing on Dorin Dickerson at least twice during the game, despite the fact he was playing well.  He had a bruising block down on the goal line to open up the go-ahead TD by Blount in the 2nd quarter.  He caught a quick drop-screen and absolutely ran over Patrick Robinson for an extra 4 yards.  He created good separation on a deep slant and Tony Pike overthrew the ball.  If anything, Dickerson proved he can play outside as a WR, but he probably needed to rack up some yards to shut up the Mayock's of the world.  Had he been playing with a QB he had chemistry and time with, I think he could've had a stand out performance.  Mardy Gilyard had the biggest afternoon, but also showed off his immaturity for the cameras whenever he could.  Note to Gilyard, when you're auditioning for a job, don't act like an idiot on the sidelines whenever the camera is on you.

• Tulane's Jeremy Williams had an amazingly inconsistent game.  I have not seen the stats for the game yet, but I would bet he had close to Gilyard's yardage if not better and definitely caught more balls, but he dropped at leat 3 if not 4 that were right in his hands, and he seemed to show no real energy - he was very sluggish between snaps.

• South Florida's George Selvie had a mixed game.  He got several QB hurries, but no sacks.  He made a special teams tackle and was around the ball a lot, but the North always seemed to run the play away from him.  The South coaches never played him standing up, which was a huge disappointment and probably hurt his stock.  The other USF Bulls in the game, Safety Nate Allen, and Corner Jerome Murphy, both had bad games.

• Patrick Robinson and Devin McCourty however, stood out as the two best corners in the game.  Both of them were stuck like glue to their receivers all game.  I was actually really impressed by Robinson, but since he got trucked by Dickerson, and McCourty was spectacular on special teams, I'm going to give the trophy to McCourty (who I actually had in my top 5 corners last year but he decided to stay in school).

• My 4th ranked Outside Linebacker, Austen Lane of Murray State, lined up at DE in the game and showed tremendous speed as he recovered a fumble then returned it for a touchdown.  Now, I don't know why after showing the replay four times, not a single commentator or referee noticed that he was downed by contact by the QB (he slid into him as he recovered the ball), but it was one of the few moments of the game where someone on the field seemed to understand the rules, as he recovered on the ground, then got up and ran it in.  There were at least 10 moments in the game where guys were standing around not covering up fumbles, or lining up after a 1st down.  

• Let's talk inside-linebackers. My 9th and 10th ranked LBs, Darryl Sharpton of Miami, and Jamar Chaney of Mississippi State were unimpressive.  My 8th ranked Daryl Washington of TCU looked good early on but his name did not get called much throughout the game.  Weatherspoon was the clear winner here, and the fact that he played both inside and outside during the game really upped his value.

• RB Joique Bell did what I expected he would do, run-down hill with force and get his name mentioned a few times.  He didn't get a ton of reps, but he was powerful at times.

• And finally, I don't know who the illiterate guy that NFL Network had patrolling the sidelines was, but he sounded terrible with his crackly yet ultra-nasal voice and his questions were ridiculous.  Anyone watching would be blind to have missed Jim Schwartz' body language towards the guy that said it all.  He thought the guy was a complete idiot, and so did I.   The fact that we missed a good handful of plays, including the Austen Lane fumble recovery because he was trying to make himself look good on the sidelines, really pissed me off.  Come on, NFLN, class it up a little, not all football fans want to pay to listen to some one less understandable than the players themselves.  That said, did anyone see the Myron Rolle interview?  It would be interesting to compare his speech now to how it will sound after 10 years of banging heads in the NFL.

So, in review, there were a lot of things I wish I had seen more of in the Senior Bowl, most of all, more competition - I thought at times some of the players were goofing off too much.  I didn't mind the in between plays celebrations, I actually miss some of the spectacle that the refs have taken away, but there was a lack of energy at times and a definite lack of focus.  Even Coach Sparano looked like he was tripping on mushrooms for half the game.  I didn't see a lot of efforts of the kind you'd expect from the players who are trying to get drafted.  The East-West Shrine Game was much more competitive than this one.  And one of the players from that game, WR Freddie Barnes, remains the top WR from these all-star games.  And Mike Kafka still had the best QB performance of the two games.

Basically, only Brandon Graham clearly moved up his stock this week, with standout performances both in practices and in the game.

Those are my thoughts.  What about you guys?

Senior Bowl - are you ready for some fundamentals?

There have been so many conflicting accounts of who is doing well and who isn't  at this week's Senior Bowl practices it's impossible to know exactly how many players stock has been affected.

For example, I have read about 50 reports praising Mardy Gilyard, and about 50 reports saying how lousy he's been performing.  A similiar treatment has been given to George Selvie, Perrish Cox, Ciron Black, Danario Alexander, Dorin Dickerson, Austen Lane and Cam Thomas just to name a few.  The truth is, what one scout sees as a strength, another can see as a weakness.  And it's all in the wording as well.  One guy can say a player has a dominating bull-rush and puts blockers on their backs, and the next guy could say he's one-dimensional and can't do much other than bull-rush.

Well, like with just about anything in life, these reports and opinions have to be taken with a grain of salt.  I fail to understand how one scout can say Selvie struggled in coverage as a line-backer and another say Selvie has steadily been raising his stock and has been impressive all week.  Then it dawned on me that these guys are not attending every practice.  There are separate practices for the North and South teams, held either at the same time at different locations (which would make it impossible to attend both) or at different times at the same location (which makes for a long day of watching practice).  The reporters tend to go to whichever practice contains players they are most familiar with - so the Southern reporters attend the South, and the Northern reporters attend the North.  They may check out the opposition for a while, but not with the same fervor of their own side.

And ultimately, if a player gets beat a few times in Mobile, it doesn't necessarily mean he's not the player that shows up on tape.  Anyone can have a bad day or two especially those players being asked to play in new positions.  They are already learning new plays, new terminology, new coaches, new team-mates and being inundated with media attention and attending charity and publicity events.  It's a busy week, and while it gives them a chance to showcase themselves both on and off the field, it is just part of the picture.  College career, game tape, the Combine, Pro Day, and team visits all play a significant role in a player's draft stock.  The Senior Bowl is just a part of that process, but it's singularly important because it's actual football, with Pro coaches, Pro rules, and a higher level of competition than they faced in College.

Below are the Senior Bowl rosters.  Players that are highlighted were on my Top 10 lists I published a couple of weeks ago.  The cornerbacks had the highest match rate, with 7 of my top 10 playing in the Senior Bowl and 1 playing in last week's East West Shrine game.  There were 37 matches to start the week, but two players were injured (Jon Asamoah/G, and O'Brien Schofield/OLB).

I will be keeping my eyes on Dorin Dickerson lined up at WR.  He is one of three players I want the Dolphins to draft at WR (even though he was a TE/FB in College) and want to make sure my projection was right.  I'm also interested obviously in seeing George Selvie lined up at OLB and in Dexter McCluster running the Wildcat.  And I'd love to see this Boise State cornerback everyone's talking about.  I thought his custom paint job on his 1971 prison bus/RV was hilarious.  Also, I'd like to see if Sean Weatherspoon can dispel those early-week critiques about him not being able to play inside.  

Who here will be watching and what player are you most interested in?

Senior Hangover

This is the day I wake up, and feel exhausted, dizzy, weak, sore and dying of thirst. Also, full of regret for the week-long football binge. I want no more. I've had enough. My body can't handle it. My mind can't handle it. I wasn't the only one who got drunk and I'm not the only one hurting right now because of this excess. I bet even Mayock and McShay are turning over in their own stink wondering where the last week of their lives went. And how could they possibly survive a continuation of this lifestyle?

For me, it started with the end of the Dolphin's 2008 season. The playoff loss made me feel like I needed something to dull the pain. I partook in the College Bowls, but I needed something stronger. So I discovered a gateway in the form of the East West Shrine Game. Oh it was good. But I wanted more. You'd be surprised how easily available this stuff is. Less than two days after the Shrine game, the Senior Bowl practices began. And it was on. I drank it all in. Six days of unrivaled abandon culminating in the Saturday night game. I soaked it all up. And then the week was over. And I don't feel too good.

So this is the part where I say, 'Never Again'. I will never do this to myself again. I don't need a program or anything, I can just say it and mean it. I will not do this again.

Until the next time that is.

The NFL Combine is February 20th thru the 26th. There's a good chance I might end up completely shitfaced then. I suspect I won't be the only one. And I suspect the day after it all ends, I will communicate my disdain for football and give my strongest vow of 'never again!'

At least until April.

Senior Bowl Update

The actual Senior Bowl game is more for the fans than anybody. The scouts saw what they wanted to see during the first 3 days of practice where players were matched up in one-on-one drills and working on fundamentals and getting used to NFL style work-outs. The great thing about the practices is that you could really see what each guy was made of.

But you couldn't tell how well he could play football.

And that's why the game really showed up a few unexpected things. First of all, the offensive tackles who got so much praise, really couldn't pass protect (remember this is in a game where the defense wasn't allowed to blitz and had to play a 4-3 base.

Secondly, the QBs who were starting to get comfortable by Thursday in the pro-set really didn't have it put together. If they couldn't make the throws without any blitzer in their faces, then how much worse can they be when there is the added pressure?

The DBs have no hands. I think I counted 3 dropped interceptions in the game, the most spectacular of which was by INT phenom Alphonso Smith who had a pick 6 gift-wrapped to him and let it bounce off his hands.

The NFL Network conducts its business similarly to how CNN conducts its war reporting. They had the North team's head coach wired for sound, and in an almost deadpan way, he would explain what the next play was and who it was going to.

Was there any surprise then that the South team was able to stop the North team fairly efficiently? They obviously had the audio feed piped straight into the MLB (Maualuga) helmet!

Also, I would like to thank tivo for continuously failing to understand that a football game is a live event and as such should be recorded from start to finish rather than in a pre-determined 3 hour window thus constantly cutting off the final 5 to 10 minutes of said game.

UPDATE:
Defensive stats - on the North side Marcus Freeman led all tacklers with 8, Tyrone McKenzie and Scott McKillop both had 7. McKenzie had a pass deflection and McKillop had a tackle for loss. The North forced zero turnovers and had zero sacks.

on the South side the top 7 tacklers were defensive backs with the top LB only getting 3 tackles (Maualuga). They also had 8 pass deflections and 4.5 sacks as a group which indicates that there were a lot of passing plays from the North who were down all game long.

American Idol 2009

So there's been talk that Rey Maualuga may not be as tough as we thought he was.

There's been buzz and clamor by Dolphins fans thinking Clay Matthews is our 1st round saviour in 2009.

But it seems to me these two USC standouts are engaged in a more serious battle than trying to improve their draft stock before April.

The battle, of sexiest hair alive (technically it's hair 'dead' but you catch my meaning).

So who do you think will be drafted higher on the hair league's draft?

Rey 'Double Conditioned' Maualuga



Clay 'All Natural' Matthews

Would you like to Senior-Size your Linebacker today?

Well the Senior Bowl practices have ended and as is the usual deal with these things, my impressions have changed almost 360 degrees from the week before.

Although as a whole I was more impressed by the small-school prospects in the East-West Shrine Game and practices, there were a couple of players this week who I never targeted that are now square in the cross-hairs.

First and foremost, the linebacker squad really went into a heady spin for me and came out looking much different than where I was at this time a week ago. I can't wait to see the game to see the linebackers and safeties going full speed and hitting people. But here are my end of practices impressions of who some of the top players were:

1. Linebacker Marcus Freeman was top notch at everything he was asked to do. He squared up on tackles, lowering his shoulders each time. During cover drills, he blanketed the receiver everytime, keeping one hand on him like a shutdown corner. He looked the part even at 6'1" 235lbs, he somehow looked bigger than that but moved much more fluidly than the competition.

2. Derrick Williams, WR. At 5'11", 197lbs, he's the spitting image of Ted Ginn, Jr, and doesn't fit into the Dolphins book, but he was the most impressive of all the WRs at the practices. Sharp routes, good hands, and decent speed. Brian Robiskie got a lot of press coverage but I was not impressed with his routes or hands, and though he is 6'2" 207 lbs, he looked wiry.

3. BJ Raji, DT. Don't know what to say other than he was just dominant and should be very impressive in the game. When all is said and done he will likely be a top ten pick.

4. Keenan Lewis, CB. This one is a head-shaker. He looked damn-impressive in practice with his 6'1" 198 lb frame being VERY physical at the line. Several times I noticed him walk right up to the WR, less than a yard away, then jump forward and shove the shite out of him after the snap. He would continue to be disruptive during the play. Essentially he completely took his guy out of the play. Sounds great right? Well, yeah in practice. In a game he's going to be called for pass interference, so it's a matter of if his field awareness is such as to lay off before the ball is in the air.

5. William Beatty, OT. This guy can start for us at RT right now. What else can I say?

6. Eric Wood, C. At 6'4", 305 lbs with 10 1/8" hands and a 33" reach, he has the body of a center, but what he showed during practices was an ability to stand up the DT. None of the other centers were able to do this on a consistent basis.

7. Kyle Moore, DE. The 'unknown' USC guy at the party, he possibly was the most impressive because he had the lowest expectations coming in. Since the media thinks of USC as New England-West, we can't escape all the hype. Moore had no hype coming in. The other USC guys were bland and uninspired with the possible exception of Matthews, and the occasional spark shown by Moala, who seemed to get worn down later on in practices. Moore looked like an NFL defensive end to me, possibly more than any other player there. At 6'5" 265lbs, he will most likely fit into a 4-3 DE role. His stock definitely improved.

Some stock down linebackers, just for food for thought:

Sintim and English looked essentially identical, and while both were good coming off the edge as DEs, they both looked absolutely horrible standing up. When asked to do cover drills they stuck out like sore thumbs. They are expected to be stand up LBs in the NFL, but right now they're both 'projects' at that position.

Maualuga is an enigma. During the college season, he looked like Ray Lewis junior, in constant attack mode with a great motor. In practices this week he looked like a couch potato got pulled out of the stands. Is it that he just let himself go during the off-time? Or is he that bad of a practicer? Pete Carrol, any comments?

Nic Harris should not have been converted. He really hurt his stock by moving up from the safety position. Don't these guys have agents? Why are they letting the Bengals coaching staff push them around?

And why are the Bengals and Jaguars the coaching staffs? How does that work?

Any Exposure Is Good Exposure

Thursday is the last full practice day at the Senior Bowl and I have the Tivo set at home with the North practice (I watched the South on Monday and Tuesday, North on Wednesday) and the recap waiting for my viewing.

But I doubt today's practice in shells will show anything new. It's amazing every year how little a player's college career can factor into their draft prospect in the end. Sure it actually gets them invited to these all-star bowls and combines, but quite often the day after the draft, you look at your new players and after extensive googling find out that some of them had less than stellar college careers. Quite a few of them may not have played more than one season of football to begin with.

And that's because the performances during the NFL-style practices and game this week and the combine/pro-day showings in some ways outweigh the impact of the college ball statistics.

When I started following BJ Raji, he was rated as a 3rd round pick. Today after 3 days of Senior Bowl practice, he is ranked as the sixth best prospect in the country. It should be noted that Michael Crabtree is ranked numero uno. But he hasn't been in front of the scouts yet. What will happen when he gets to the combine? If he falters, will he drop down? It's unlikely he would be the first pick in the draft (though the Lions are a wacky bunch), but is it possible that the guy with the best stats (Crabtree) gets overlooked for the guy with the best pro showing so far (Raji)?

Here's some other guys who have jumped up at least a round in the scouts' eyes:

Peria Jerry, DT - a month ago he was rated second to third round. Currently sits at #18.
William Beatty, OT - jumped from 2nd to 1st round prospect thanks to Senior Bowl practices.
Clay Matthews, LB - the 'lesser known' USC LB. He is poised to be a 2nd round pick at the moment.
Brian Robiskie, WR - leapfrogged about 6 other WRs into the second round.
Cecil Newton, C - after his showing in the East West Shrine Game, he went from being rated as the 11th best Center in the draft to the 7th and from being a UFA to a 6th rd projection.
Don Carey, CB - I had him on my board with the Dolphins 3rd &th round pick, but he is now ranked as 6th round but based on who's in front of him I wouldn't be surprised if he went 5th round.

'cause I'm Levitre on a jet plane...

After the rocketship to stardom former Oregon State Guard, Andy Levitre, took into Miami Dolphin's blogs this week, I took the time to watch him in the North team's practices yesterday.

He had the unfortunate task of starting his day against BJ Raji in 1 on 1 drills. Let's just say, it didn't go Levitre's way. Raji not only beat Levitre, Mack, and Unger in those drills, but in the team portion, he routinely got 4 or 5 yards into the backfield using bull rushes and made it look easy.

So what does Levitre have to say for himself?

"I went against a guy named Raji from Boston College who is a very good player and has a great bull rush. Raji was able get me on the first rep, however like my college coach would always tell us we need to go on to the next play and that's what my focus was. I came back with a sharp focus against him and stopped him in his tracks. That showed me that on every play I have to ready for anything."

Hmm, not what I saw. What about the part where he was blowing up the backfield?

"The rest of the day consisted of team periods we were all together which I dominated every opponent. I had a great time getting on my blocks and finishing them not allowing them to come close to making a play."

Ok, Levitre, whatever you say. So how fast can we sign this guy?

This just in - Omar Kelly caught ogling big small black man

When confronted on the previous comment he had made Wednesday about Boston College standout defensive tackle BJ Raji being "small", Sun Sentinel beat writer, Omar Kelly, responded by saying, "He's got a huge butt, and tree trunk for legs. But he's small."

He then continued, "But don't get me wrong. He's powerful. But he's a poor man's Sedrick Ellis."

So what did this miniscule descendent of reggae superstar, Bob Marley, mean when he said Raji was "small?" And was he checking out Sedrick Ellis' butt and thighs last year?

Non-attempts to reach the reporter resulted in no further information being available.

BJ Raji turned in an impressive, almost dominant performance in practice Wednesday, egged on by NFL Network's Mike Mayock's "call-out" of the previous day. Now that Kelly has called out Raji's size, it has been reported that Raji will report to practice tomorrow 3 inches taller than he was previously.

Stay tuned for updates...