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?