Senior Bowl observations

[5 Fingers of Death]

Here our my observations from the first day of practice in the Senior Bowl.

B.J. Raji is the real deal. He is very explosive and nimble on his feet. Looked dominating. A.

Mitch King at 6'1 defensive tackle was very fast and looked like a man possessed to play well. Very underrated. B+

Kraig Urbik, offensive guard from Wisconsin, really stuffed Evander Hood cold. Hood was impressive. He was very quick with great spin moves. I like Urbik as a guard prospect in the third down. Trevor Canfield and Andy Levitre look outmatched. Urbik A-. Canfield B-. Levitre C.

Max Unger and Alex Mack practiced well. Mack looked very polish and impressively strong. Unger was a ultra powerful. A pure mauler. Strong and had good base strength. Unger B+. Mack B.

Phil Loadholt was dominating. He is so big, 6-7 340. Phil just manhandled his man and pushed him down to the ground. This happened an may instances. Phil looked bored. You think he would be slow with that frame, but not the contrary. None of the defensive tackles could come close to passing him and getting to the fake quarterback. He can play left tackle or right tackle in the NFL. Loadholt A+.

My favorites so far ar Raji, Urbik, and Loadholt. I think hope the Lions target Raji at #20 and Urbik in the 3rd round. A close look at Peria Jerry is needed to determine who is better: Raji or Perry?

Harrell, Bomar, and Nathan Brown threw the ball. I think all of them need to adjust to taking snaps from under the center. Brown measured out at 6 ft. Bomar and Harrell and 6-2. Bomar has the best arm. Brown had the touch. Harrell was in between but looked like he was not as good under the center as he was in the spread. He did not improve his stock today. Bomar stayed up to his stock but did not improve or get worse. Brown's height may be an issue.
Peria Jerry and Herman Johnson did not practice.

From the East West Shrine bowl, Jarrett Dillard and Mike Thomas were impressive. From the senior bowl, Brain Robiskie and Brandon Gibson were good.

[5 Fingers of Death]

Bomar, Brown, and Harrell played in spread offenses in college. They seemed to be adjusting quickly to playing under the center but sure looked like they were uncomfortable. I think this gives players like Stafford and Sanchez a huge advantage to the scouts since both played in prostyle offenses in college.

At 9:30 Pacific time, NFL network had a 30 minute piece on Path to the Draft. A review of how the first day went. Mike Mayock broke down Matthew Stafford in four replays. The first played showed that Stafford's gun could fit the ball through a tight window with a 30-40 yard bullet pass beating the corner and the safety. Mayock stated that there was no one better in the NFL that can throw that deep as hard and as accurately has Stafford. He stated Stafford does that twice a game. Second pass showed Stafford throwing a strike down the middle 30 yards with a skinny post, just before getting hit, just high enough over the defenders for his receiver to catch the ball. The third thing he mentioned was how inaccurate Stafford was with short 10 yard passes where the whole middle field was open which Stafford throws opposite of the receiver. The fourth and fifth replay showed poor footwork and drifting back when in trouble to allow the defense end to come in causing Stafford to rush the throw for an incomplete.

I think all the negatives Mayock mentioned, can be fixed by a good coach and experience. I rewatched Stafford against South Carolina. His arm seems to be too strong leading to drop passes if it's not on target. He needs to throw short balls with slightly more touch and accuracy. Nobody throws to the sidelines as good as Stafford. Nobody throws any ball as hard as Stafford with a 3rd and 15+ yards. I think the fact he takes so many long passes and throws so hard, his completation percentage will drop. 61% while leading the SEC in complete passes over 20+ yards is pretty good to me.

The quarterback position is the hardest to master right away. No college QB comes in and has success like Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco, or Marino in their rookie season. All have some growing pains. I expect Stafford and Sanchez to do the same. Freeman may surprise a lot of people.