Posts tagged 2013 Senior Bowl Practice Reports

Senior Bowl: Day Three

January 24, 2013 0 Comments read Players

Is E.J. Manuel along a similar path as Colin Kaepernick? Coudl be. Photo of Colin Kaepernick by Jason Ku Photography. — Is E.J. Manuel along a similar path as Colin Kaepernick? Could be. Photo of Colin Kaepernick by Jason Ku Photography.

This is going to be a reasonably quick take of Day Three, because morning will be here sooner for us than many others staying in Mobile or flying out of here. As opposed to the detailed, player-by-player highlights I gave the first two days, here are the takes I think everyone needs to know based on three days of the practice days that matter most at the Senior Bowl

Quarterbacks

One of the positives for me during this week is the chance to talk with a number of people who study football. Doug Farrar, Jene Bramel, and I spent a fair bit of time together watching the third day of practice. Farrar is one of the few who is bullish on Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel. One of the things I’ve feared writing is that I could see Manuel as a terrific tight end prospect due to his size and athleticism and there are moments where I have watched him play and wondered if he has the acumen to develop into an NFL quarterback. Despite this fact, I had some hefty, pre-Senior Bowl praise for Manuel:

There is a lot I love about Manuel from the standpoint of potential. Physically Manuel has all the tools you want from a franchise quarterback: strong arm, quick release, compact delivery, strength, height, size, speed, quickness, and the ability to throw the ball to the right or left on the move. He’s willing to deliver the ball from a tight pocket and take a hit to do so. He has touch in the short range of the field and I like his movement in the pocket, he keeps his eyes down field and can hitch, climb the pocket, or slid outside and then finds that outlet when under pressure. If he were a more refined passer in terms of decision-making, I’d feel even stronger about him. However, I think his maturity in the middle of the field and lack of experience with precision intermediate and deep passing is a big part of playing pro football that he’ll need to address. I would draft him late and hope I could develop him from the practice squad or as a QB3. I like him more than Terrelle Pryor and as a potential passer, but not as a top prospect. If he can learn to put let air under the ball he could shore up his issues on sideline routes in the intermediate and deep range. If he does this one thing, he actually has a chance to develop into an NFL QB.

Observers have been all over the map on Manuel. NFL writer Adam Caplan had Manuel ranked last in terms of his performance this week. Yahoo! Shutdown Corner columnist Doug Farrar has Manuel has a vastly underrated prospect in this group. I find him argument more compelling and there will be a link (here) to the piece he’ll be writing about his perspective. I’ll give you a few highlights: Farrar sees Manuel as more of a blank slate than a prospect who has to unlearn and then relearn concepts that will put him behind the curve. Think more Colin Kaepernick, less Terrelle Pryor. It didn’t hurt watching Manuel end Day Three of practice with a beautiful pass down the middle in tight coverage with touch to tight end Vance McDonald. It was one of the handful of NFL-caliber throws I’ve seen from any quarterback this week and most of them came from Tyler Wilson, the quarterback I think has the best combo of physical skills, feel for the game, accuracy, and leadership qualities to perform as an NFL starter.

Running Backs

Among the running backs in Mobile, Johnathan Franklin made one of the best blocks of the week in drills versus linebackers when he dropped defender to the ground with good position, hand placement, and turn of the defender. Franklin has to develop a much better punch, but doesn’t shy away from an oncoming defender. He’s my favorite back here, but I have to say that the best runner in Mobile might be Stepfan Taylor. Franklin has more big-play ability, but I know Taylor will be able to carry a load if needed. His style of play is along the spectrum of Doug Martin, but lacks the same quickness. I think Farrar’s thought of Taylor as a mid-career Willis McGahee who can get to the edge, but grind for those tough yards on third-and-short. Kenjon Barner made some of the most impressive catches of any runner I’ve seen in my four years in Mobile. He catches the ball in stride, with his hands, in coverage, and like a receiver in the intermediate range of the field. Yet as much as he tries, he’s a liability in pass protection because he “catches” blitzing defenders and lacks the bulk to anchor.

One of my Twitter followers, NFL Draftnik and writer Ethan Hammerman believes 6-7 running backs from this 2013 rookie class will have 1000-yard seasons in the NFL due to opportunity and talent. He’s extraordinarily high on the talent of this running back group. History keeps me skeptical. I believe 1-2 backs with 1000 yards as a rookie is likely. I would say 3-4 has even odds. Anything more than that is improbable based on recent history. This is a deep class, but I don’t think I agree with him that it is a class filled with elite prospects at the position. I think 6-7 backs from this class could have 1000-yard seasons, but not all as rookies. I’d bet on 1-2 at the most even if I like Hammerman’s optimism. When it comes to the Senior Bowl backs in Mobile, Taylor, Franklin, and Gillislee have the talent in the right situation, but I’m not sold there’s ample opportunity in 2013.

Wide Receivers

Markus Wheaton made a terrific back-shoulder catch on a seam route in scrimmages on Wednesday – one of his three best catches of the week. Even in run blocking drills, he delivers a punch and moves his feet. He’s a feisty, scrappy blocker who won’t dominate but for all that you get from him as a receiver, the play away from the ball won’t be a major disappointment. I might like him more than a top-tier prospect from 2012 like Kendall Wright.

Speaking of Baylor receivers, Terrence Williams probably received the most “that’s way better than Monday,” responses from the coach than I have heard in a single day of practice. Every rep with footwork drills or exercises emphasizing releases and breaks were a little sharper and with better pad level. The Lions receiver coach imitated Williams’ previous high pad level for effect to demonstrate the dramatic difference with Williams’ improvement. At the same time, Williams wasn’t in the middle of the pack among all the receivers I saw. In blocking drills, one of the Lions coaches saw Williams shield a defender without a punch and drive of his legs and he told the receiver that his effort was “powder puff shit.” Williams picked up his efforts in subsequent reps, but he still has to do a better job of pad level and striking. Although at the mid-tier among performers when studying this week in a vacuum the Baylor receiver’s upside is among the best of the players in Mobile.

Marquise Goodwin plays too high when coming off the line of scrimmage and he’s not strong enough to handle press coverage when he isn’t in good position to generate angles to avoid defensive contact. But stylistically there’s some Jacoby Ford to his game. He extends well for the ball, playing “long” even in tight coverage. His speed makes up for a lot of errors, but I’m skeptical this will continue to be an advantage he can lean on in the NFL.

Russell Shepard, the LSU dual-threat quarterback, running back, and now receiver replaced Ryan Swope today and immediately flashed some of the best hand-eye coordination in ball drills, some of the best footwork in route drills, and a terrific physical streak as a blocker. The natural skill and ability to pick up concepts quickly is there, but his conditioning was not. Once the drills were over and the scrimmages began, Shepard had multiple routes where he slipped while making his break – something he didn’t do at all in drills. He also dropped a couple of passes, and in drills he made some really impressive receptions on high velocity, awkwardly placed balls. He’s a player who intrigues me and I want a closer look.

Cobi Hamilton is a big player who plays too high and not physical enough. He doesn’t consistently get smart position on the football when he’s working against tight coverage down field. Quinton Patton, Markus Wheaton, and even small-school prospect Aaron Mellette is better at it and he has more technique flaws than Hamilton. The strength of Aaron Dobson’s game might be plays on contested throws and making late adjustments. Hamilton has the goods at first look, but under the hood the performance isn’t there.

Tight Ends

Mychal Rivera fights for everything and has enough athleticism and concentration as a receiver to make plays downfield and in tight coverage. He’s a little more consistent and physical than what I remember seeing from former Purdue star Dustin Keller. Rivera probably isn’t the fifth-best tight end in this class, which should tell you the depth is strong this year.

Senior Bowl: North Squad WRs Day 1

January 21, 2013 0 Comments read Players, Wide Receiver

Oregon State's Wheaton shined on the first day of Senior Bowl practices. Photo by John Martinez Pavliga. — Oregon State Markus Wheaton shined on the first day of Senior Bowl practices. Photo by John Martinez Pavliga.

Every NFL team that conducts a Senior Bowl practice has a different style and process. The Oakland Raiders began and ended with special teams and utilized a lot of scrimmaging in a variety of 1-on-1, 5-on-7, and 11-on-11 situations. The drills I tend to get the most from feature wide receivers and the Raiders practice was no different.

While many people are focused on a receiver’s ability to catch the football in these practices, what has equal if not greater importance is everything a receiver does before the ball arrives. Monday afternoon’s practice included drills to test the craft of each receiver’s ability to establish and maintain separation before the ball arrives:

Agility drills to emphasize footwork and hip flexibility.
Receiver versus corner drills with an emphasis on releases within a five-yard boundary.
One-on-one receiver vs. corner press-man drills with a variety of routes.

None of the receivers I saw on the North squad did anything that altered my assessment of what they have or haven’t shown in their careers. Each of these prospects displayed strengths and weaknesses that I think will ultimately come down to an NFL team’s perception of a player’s fit within the organization and how patient they are with that player to develop. Of course, most of you reading this don’t care about the long view. You want to know who looked good and who struggled.

I don’t blame you. Here’s what I saw with each of the drills listed above and then the 5-on-7 and 11-on-11 scrimmages. Remember, catching the ball in these situations is nice but slightly overrated if the rest of the form, technique, and craft is missing.

This contact takes at least 1-2 steps for Goodwin to recover. He'll have no such leeway against good defenders in the NFL. — As I wrote about last year, this contact takes at least 1-2 steps for Goodwin to recover. He’ll have no such leeway against good defenders in the NFL and he didn’t in Senior Bowl practice.

Agility Drills

Receivers ran through a set of mini cones in a footwork pattern that the coach requested, ending the exercise with a curl inside as the break on the route to catch a pass. The focus of this exercise was to demonstrate fluid hip-turn, precise footwork, quickness, and strong change of direction while keeping the head up and looking down field.

Marquise Goodwin, Texas: Goodwin is a track star with excellent speed, but it was clear from the onset that his hip flexibility needs work. The Raiders coaches gave this feedback about his hips on multiple reps and even pulled Goodwin aside to emphasize the point after his third run through the drill. Goodwin attempted to do what the Raiders staff asked, but his movements were exaggerated and lacked the refined motor movement of someone capable of picking up this technique on the fly.

Aaron Dobson, Marshall: Dobson looked good in this drill. His feet were fluid, his hip turns were sharp for a man of his size (6’2”, 203 pounds), and he demonstrated some explosion making his final break to the football. He isn’t a burner, but he acquitted himself well in this opening exercise.

Chris Harper, Kansas State: The coaching staff asked Harper to pick up his feet during the drill. The 228-pound receiver is quick for his size, but his movement could stand to get sharper. I didn’t see much improvement in subsequent reps after the coach’s feedback.

Markus Wheaton, Oregon State: Wheaton was quick, crisp, and fluid with each rep. He demonstrated quick hips and good control making turns. He also caught the ball well despite some throws that were arriving at awkward windows as he executed his break at the end of each rep.

Denard Robinson, Michigan: They key takeaway from Robinson in this drill was “intent.” Robinson’s movements were careful and intentionally slow to master the precision of the footwork and hip movement with each drill. While I thought this was admirable for a quarterback-turned-receiver, eventually the coaching staff turned up the heat and exhorted Robinson to speed up during the final reps of the exercise. Robinson caught each ball cleanly, but the position is new to him and I’ll be interested to see how much he improves with this drill between now and Wednesday.

Aaron Mellette, Elon: Mellette looked fast and his feet were pretty good, but the hips didn’t move with the alacrity you want to see. He was quick, but the precision was lacking. Mellette caught the ball well and I like the athleticism, but the raw technique on this drill was a preview for the rest of the drills in practice.

Denard Robinson is known for his speed, but naturally this new convert to wide receiver was doing everything in slow motion on Day 1 of Senior Bowl practices. Photo by Adam Glanzman.

Four-Corner Cone Boundaries vs. Cornerbacks

Two pairs of cones demarcated a 10-yard-long x 5-yard-wide boundary. The receivers faced the corners in press-man coverage. The objective for the corners was to force the receivers outside the width of the cones before the receivers reached that 10-yard distance. Lots of hands technique to study in this drill.

Goodwin: Goodwin’s size (5’8”, 179) didn’t do him any favors in this drill. When a corner locked onto Goodwin, the receiver had difficulty working free unless he used a spin move of some type to work loose. The corners repeatedly pushed Goodwin outside the width of the boundary.

Dobson: Dobson had a lot of success with this drill and the coaches praised him for playing big. The Marshall receiver used his hands well in this drill. He often bulled through the jam, or deflected the defenders’ arms and then used his size and quickness to get on top of his opponent.

Harper: Harper got coached up after getting knocked down during his first rep and his subsequent reps incrementally improved. He performed better when he played to his size, but there were moments where he tried to be use quickness to get on top of the corner and it failed. I’ll be interested in seeing if he makes the adjustment to his natural strengths in subsequent practices.

Mellette: Multiple defenders got the best of Mellette in this drill, but has he started to use his 216-pound frame, his reps improved to the point that he began to win some of the action. Mellette is one of those players who might tease an organization because the natural ability is there, but can he accelerate his learning curve to develop into an NFL-caliber receiver. This will be the big question.

Wheaton: Wheaton was the most fluid of the receivers in this drill. He was the best at integrating his hands and footwork, using his hands adeptly to swat away the jam and position his feet to create angles so he could accelerate past the defenders with every rep. He is the most polished receiver of the North squad and there were further illustrations of this fact later in practice.

Robinson: Once again, slow motion was the theme of Robinson’s performances in the drill. I have no notes of him winning these battles. He wasn’t pushed aside as much as held up too long and unable to get on top of the defender.

1-on-1’s, 5-on-7’s, and 11-on-11’s vs. Corners with a Variety of Routes

Dobson: I continued to notice precision and fluid movement from Dobson, who demonstrated a nice mix of physical play and quickness. I watched Dobson integrate his footwork and hands well to get open on a deep fade, but the quarterback underthrew the pass and the cornerback tipped the ball away. The one thing the coaches notice that was a repeat issue came at the end of routes as the ball arrived: Dobson had a tendency to lean back towards the ball rather than attack the ball after his break. I hope to see a more aggressive finish to his routes in subsequent practices.

Goodwin: When Goodwin got a free release, he made defenders pay with his speed. However, he had a lot of wasted, imprecise movement off the line versus quality press coverage. I want to see him make incremental improvement versus press coverage. One of his best plays of the day was a crossing route with a sharp break and good catch in the thick of zone coverage. He did a nice job reaching for the ball over his head, making the grab, and turning up field.

Mellette: The most notable issue with the Elon receiver came in these drills. He had difficulty gaining position to shield the defender from the pass after his break. I like his size and quickness, but his hands technique and the depth and angle of his breaks were lacking.

Harper: He did a strong job of selling some two-move routes although I thought each of these instances the second move into his break was a little ragged and something he’ll need to sharpen. His breaks at the end of routes weren’t as sharp or as quick as the early portion of his patterns. At the same time, he’s decisive and has a nice size-speed combo that allowed him to keep defenders guessing about the tact he’d take with each rep. I did notice that he was a little better when he didn’t have to deal with contact despite the fact he’s the biggest receiver of this group. He beat a corner by two steps on a deep sideline fade up the right sideline, but Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib was either late on the throw or simply underthrew the ball by 3-5 yards.

Wheaton: The Beavers receiver worked well back to the football and he did a good job versus off-man technique as well as press coverage. He ran the best fade route of the North practice, gaining early separation with an outside move, slipping inside the defender to get his back to the defender and also buying real estate away from the sideline to make the quarterback’s job easier by giving the passer room to target the receiver at the sideline. Although the quarterback overthrew Wheaton, this was a textbook sideline fade that a receiver like Mario Manningham still doesn’t run consistently as well. On one route, a 12-yard out that looked like the beginning of a double move, Wheaton got the best of the corner so early into the route that the defender had no other choice but pull the receiver to the turf so he wasn’t beaten. Wheaton’s best catch was at the end of 11-on-11’s when he beat his man on a streak up the left flat and made a turning, leaping catch behind coverage on a late, underthrown ball. If Miami quarterback Zac Dysert demonstrates better anticipation, Wheaton has a 50-yard touchdown that he catches in stride.

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