Official Senior Bowl Thread

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Roy P

Yeah, those tweeners are so easy to come by. Most people around here long for the days of Jason Babin and Antwan Peek.

Seriously that raises an question that always puzzled me ? Why did Capers have so much trouble finding a really effective, stud pass-rush OLB for
his 3-4 ?
Watching this weeks Senior-Bowl practice, there were gobs of those prospects out there in the 235-255 lb range who had the kinda quicks off the edge to play the position. And that's not even counting all of the prospects that were absent like FSUs Brown, UTs Orakpo, and undercalssmen Maybin,
and many others. It just seems to me that the front 7 in the 3-4 is easier to populate than the 4-3, and of course that's always been an argument for the scheme.
BTW, did you see that Capers is taking his 3-4 to the NFC North ?
http://www.studyofsports.com/?p=1028
We all knew big things were in store for the Packers when Mike McCarthy summarily dismissed most of his defensive staff after a disappointing 6-10 season. What few were expecting was for McCarthy to stake his, and the team’s, future on the installation of the 3-4 scheme with the hiring of Dom Capers as Defensive Coordinator.

Most younger Packers fans, myself included, have only seen the 4-3 defense played in Green Bay. This sudden change, and McCarthy’s words on the matter, are somewhat surprising considering that McCarthy will no doubt be facing pressure to take the division back next season after the collapse of the defense and special teams this season.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Seriously that raises an question that always puzzled me ? Why did Capers have so much trouble finding a really effective, stud pass-rush OLB for
his 3-4 ?
Watching this weeks Senior-Bowl practice, there were gobs of those prospects out there in the 235-255 lb range who had the kinda quicks off the edge to play the position.

Gobs of prospects don't always translate into legitimate NFL players. Mike Mayock is intrigued by English from N. Illinois. However, Robert Brewster of Ball State shut him down. Therefore, I am not impressed by the level of competetion that he faced.

While I like Cody Brown, I'm not 100% sure that he would be the next Joey Porter, much less DeMarcus Ware. There are more Matt Roths and Dan Bazuins in the draft than Shawne Merrimans. Sidbury and Veikune could be more like Ken Pettway and Travis Laboy than Shaun Phillips.

Trying to project a college DE into a standup OLB is pretty tricky business.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Roy P

Gobs of prospects don't always translate into legitimate NFL players. Mike Mayock is intrigued by English from N. Illinois. However, Robert Brewster of Ball State shut him down. Therefore, I am not impressed by the level of competetion that he faced.

While I like Cody Brown, I'm not 100% sure that he would be the next Joey Porter, much less DeMarcus Ware. There are more Matt Roths and Dan Bazuins in the draft than Shawne Merrimans. Sidbury and Veikune could be more like Ken Pettway and Travis Laboy than Shaun Phillips.

Trying to project a college DE into a standup OLB is pretty tricky business.

True. But IMO it's still tougher to find a guy coming out of college who has got what it takes to play DE in the 4-3 where you've got to be able to have the quicks to rush the QB from the edge and still be big & strong enough to defense the run.
BTW, about last nights game, I could have sworn I saw Raji on the field once or twice but I dunno if I heard his name a single time ? The guy looked great in practice this week but apparently left Mobile before last nights kickoff ?
Slatons former QB teammate pretty much guaranteed himself a spot in the Draft someplace in the first 2 rounds after last nights performance, though the verdict is still out about him playing QB.
I don't think Graham Harrell will be sending Mike Mayoc a Christmas card this year ? Mayoc really trashed his performance, not that it wasn't evident for the whole football world to see.
I thought Bomar was impressive despite fumbing in the EZ thereby letting the D recover and score a TD. He's got a strong arm and showed his athleticism
in a couple scrambles out of the pocket. I dunno, is he there for us in the third-round ?

[TexanJedi]

I would avoid any QB at the Senior Bowl except for Pat White. He's got the arm and legs but is he big enough and can he read an NFL defense? Bomar is just not accurate enough for Kubiak's offense. Harrell looks like he has a weak arm and bad mechanics. The kid from Central Arkansas was in over his head.

At running back the best to me was Rashad Jennings for Liberty. He would make for a nice complement to Slaton. Andre Brown looks like a nice prospect but when he was dancing in hole. I had flashbacks of Jonathan Wells.

The best DT last night was Mitch King from Iowa, though Jerry had a couple of good plays. Mayock was high on Raji and seems to think he won't get past us at 15. The South interior linemen did a nice job against him and the rest of the North tackles.

In the secondary, Eugene Chung looked like the best safety. Moore from Mizzou did not look good. I want to think his senior season was an anomaly and he can be the player he was as a junior. Maybe he can and some team will get a steal, but that remains to be seen. I had Dunta flashbacks with the smaller safety from Western Michigan.

Maualuga and Cushing at times looked like beasts at linebacker.

The defensive end from Tennessee and Larry English looked like the best pass rushers.

Anyway, that's one man's opinion.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by TexanJedi

The best DT last night was Mitch King from Iowa, though Jerry had a couple of good plays. Mayock was high on Raji and seems to think he won't get past us at 15. The South interior linemen did a nice job against him and the rest of the North tackles.


Moore from Mizzou did not look good. I want to think his senior season was an anomaly and he can be the player he was as a junior. Maybe he can and some team will get a steal, but that remains to be seen.

After re-watching the game, Raji was getting doubled many times, leaving Mitch King to look like Warren Sapp. On the goal line when Mayock mentioned Raji "got handled" by Eric Wood, it was actually King who got run over by Tyronne Green that allowed Andre Brown to score easily.

Jeria Perry got good penetration and pressured the QB several times. He also batted a ball down. I'm wondering if he'd be an upgrade over TJ if Raji is off the board and if the Texans are through with TJs attitude.

Moore left the game with an ankle injury. I'm not a Dr. but this kid has played hurt his entire Senior year. If he goes to Indy and the Dr's go through his medical history, I wonder how far he will drop. Can he come back and play like his Junior year, or is he just going to be on IR during his pro career?

[jppaul]

Originally Posted by Roy P

After re-watching the game, Raji was getting doubled many times, leaving Mitch King to look like Warren Sapp. On the goal line when Mayock mentioned Raji "got handled" by Eric Wood, it was actually King who got run over by Tyronne Green that allowed Andre Brown to score easily.

I was watching that play and I saw a player with a BC helmet get shunted to the side. I wouldn't call it manhandled but it was an effective block. I think it was Raji but I would have to rewatch to make sure it wasn't Brace.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by jppaul

I was watching that play and I saw a player with a BC helmet get shunted to the side. I wouldn't call it manhandled but it was an effective block. I think it was Raji but I would have to rewatch to make sure it wasn't Brace.

Raji did get shunted to the side, but it was King who got pancaked allowing Brown to go into the endzone. Would it have been nice to see Raji shed his block and make the tackle? Yeah. However, if he had another 300lbs DT next to him, I'm not sure if the TD is scored.

There were several plays during the game that I watched closely to see. For example, when JP Wilson scored his TD on a draw play, the Middle LB (McKillop or Follett) got blocked after Raji and King parted ways leaving the middle open. I saw some hestitation in Marcus Freeman, Brian Cushing, Tyrone McKenzie, and others that I did not like along with some poor tackling. Clint Sintim really dissapointed me for somebody who is consistently ranked as a 1st round prospect.

The three guys who impressed me the most were Peria Jerry, Robert Ayers, and Cody Brown. If they were our 1st 3 picks of the draft, that would suit me just fine. The best tackler I saw this week was Scott McKillop in terms of wrapping up and taking on backs head on. Patrick Chung and Alphonso Smith moved up in terms of Secondary prospects.