2011 Senior Bowl Review

After a week of heavily scrutinized NFL-style practices and a game with the nation’s finest seniors, here’s a quick recap of players that made money and others that failed to capitalize on their opportunity.

On the Rise:

Von Miller, DE/OLB, Texas A&M – About the only thing to stop Von Miller in Mobile was the illness he battled in the middle of the week. He attended meetings, impressed in interviews, and when it came time to put the information he was taught during the week to the test on Saturday afternoon, he excelled. Miller was active around the line of scrimmage recording 2 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. They moved him around at various positions from the defensive line to the linebacker and there was drop-off in energy or accountability. He put a screeching halt to reverse and screen pass in his direction and also made another terrific play taking out both the running back rolling into a flat pattern then pressuring the quarterback to force the throwaway. His athleticism and pass rushing tools were already known, but his heady play and versatility displayed this week should have solidified himself a selection firmly inside the top 10.

Phil Taylor, NT, Baylor – The last time we saw a player with this combination of size and rare athletic ability at the Senior Bowl was 2009 when BJ Raji earned himself some money jumping into top the 10. Just last week, we saw him put those tools to the test by dropping into coverage and returning an interception to the end zone in the NFC Championship game. I’ll be interested to see how well Taylor tests at the Combine. Taylor is more of a classic nose tackle who won’t supply as much of a pass rush as Raji does, but he held up well this week. His impressive week began at the weigh-in where he checked in at a very controlled 337 pounds. Playing in that range, Taylor was dominant in virtually all of the one-on-one drills using his quickness and strength to knock offensive linemen off balance. Though he failed to record a tackle, he led a defensive effort that limited the North team to less than 40 yards on the ground and also applied nice pressure on a 4th quarter play.

Leonard Hankerson, WR, Miami (FL) – Hankerson made a couple nice plays every day in practice, which culminated 5 catches, 100 yards, and a touchdown in the game. The 6’2, 205-pound Hankerson had a productive senior season and seems ready to translate his success to the pro game. His biggest concern coming into this week was his ability to gain separation consistently and he did just that, albeit against middle-round competition. There were two drawbacks I noticed this week though. One, he has severe concentration issues, which also showed up in college, and two, he occasionally gets complacent on his routes. Hankerson must continue to give a more consistent effort from play to play and if he does, he’s going to be a great starter at the next level.

Christian Ponder, QB, Florida State – No quarterback helped himself more this week than Christian Ponder. Unlike a couple of the other guys, primarily across the field from him, he didn’t have to worry too much about dropbacks and footwork. There’s plenty to like from his game. He gets the ball out consistently, on time, and in rhythm. He does a nice job of reading defenses and running his offense. He has the ability to make all of the short throws with great accuracy and has the ability to extend this to intermediate throws as well. His biggest improvements will come by learning to push the ball down the field. He’ll probably never be lethal in this area, but it’s something plenty of quarterbacks have improved upon with pro-level coaching. Down at the goal line, Ponder looked a little sloppy throwing the fade route, another “specialty throw,” he’ll need to work at.

Bilal Powell, RB, Louisville – I’m actually fairly surprised Powell hasn’t received a bit more praise through his senior season and even this week, where he outperformed several other big names at the position. At 5’10, 204 pounds, he still has room to go up to about 212-215, which I think will ultimately be his ideal playing weight. Powell showed he could be an outstanding one-cut runner and cause some damage north and south. He often fell a bit easier than I expected from him, but it’s not from a lack of effort. He’s at his best running between the tackles and will be a great fit in a zone-blocking scheme. With a little more size has the capability of becoming a starting back and I’d begin giving him looks in the late 2nd round.

Danny Watkins, OG, Baylor – After taking over for former first round left tackle Jason Smith, Watkins came to Mobile this week and made the seamless transition inside to guard. His size, strength, and technique are very sound for an interior lineman, especially considering he only started playing organized football four years ago. He has a nice understanding of hand punch and placement as well as leverage. He looked combo blocking and moving to the second level and put this drill to the test in the game where he opened up a massive hole for Derrick Locke. By showing his ability to play guard in a pinch, Watkins earned some serious money this week and has become one of the top guard prospects. Teams shouldn’t be too concerned about his inexperience with how well Sebastian Vollmer is playing under a similar set of circumstances.

Kendric Burney, CB, North Carolina – Burney’s one for the Tampa 2 teams. He’s a physical defender who excels at pressing at the line of scrimmage and limiting YAC on passes thrown in his direction. There are corners each year that fit the bill and though they lack the fluidity and elite change-of-direction skills, they get by on physicality and instincts. Burney fits the bill. He made an impression this week doing just that in the individual drills and carrying it over to the game, where press coverage is illegal outside of the goal line. He recorded 7 tackles in the game including several on special teams where he was a standout. Burney will make immediate contributions in that area and work his way into defensive snaps based on his ability to make open field tackles if positioned in the right scheme.

Rodney Hudson, OG, Florida State – Hudson was expected to weigh in the 270 or 280 pound range, but surprised some at 291. While it’s easy to pack on pounds, it’s how you look and feel at that weight. Even at his weight, Hudson was 11 pounds smaller than the next lightest lineman and didn’t look all that impressive carrying the weight, especially in the midsection, meaning he probably added a couple pounds for the sake of trying to fight off his stigma. I have a feeling he’ll be playing at least 10 pounds lighter. Still, he looked pretty impressive on his feet and comfortable taking on some of the bigger linemen this week. While his weight may suggest he’d be a better zone fit, he was strong in the interior and played with outstanding technique. He rarely overextended and kept his feet under his body. I’m still not sure if I’d trust him to play in a predominantly power-blocking scheme if I’m selecting him in the second round given the ballooning weights of the nose tackles at the next level, but he sure looked the part against his competition this week.

Greg McElroy, QB, Alabama – McElroy’s energy was contagious! There are players on the field that look like they’re just going through the motions and just enjoy playing on the weekends and others that truly want to absorb information on the weekdays and have fun while doing it. McElroy falls in the latter group and made the most of his opportunity. He was slapping fives with his teammates, encouraging them when they made mistakes, and looked calm and in control the whole time. It’s like he knew what a pro coaching environment was supposed to look like. I guess Saban’s program will do that for you. Besides the general enthusiasm for the game, McElroy looked sharp, both in practice and in the game. He finished only a modest 5-8 for 36 yards and came away with a hand injury, but he showed the ability to make passes on time and with good zip given a clear passing lane. He’s an accurate passer with outstanding intangibles who lacks only the elite arm tools. I like him in the middle rounds as a back-up at the next level and if he can improve his arm strength just a tad, he may have “game manager” starter potential down the road.

James Carpenter, OT/OG, Alabama – I have a hard time believing that Carpenter is only 314 pounds at 6’5, given his flabby body type, but he looked much better at offensive tackle this week than others of a similar build have in the past. This is generally a week where weaknesses in space are accentuated, especially in the one-on-one drills. For the most part, Carpenter held his own on the left side against a couple good speed rushers. He tends to sometimes overset to compensate for his lack of quickness against the speed rush and doesn’t have the recovery speed to counter an inside rush. He’ll probably find his natural position at the next level at right tackle or inside at guard, where his body type and lack of quickness can be masked.

Brooks Reed, DE/OLB, Arizona – I’m sure Reed will get some comparisons to Clay Matthews simply because of his hair and his gift for attacking the quarterback and it may be a pretty decent comparison. The only downfall to that comparison is that Reed doesn’t have the rare explosion of Matthews. Besides that they’re pretty similar prospects as the Arizona defensive end showed this week. He has a great speed rush, but a limited arsenal. Collegiate production was solid, but not terrific. He also has the ability to be swallowed by larger tackles and sometimes struggles to get off blocks in the run game. His effectiveness as a pass rusher this week certainly helped, including a nice sack against one of the premier left tackles of this year’s class.

Titus Young, WR, Boise State – Both Boise State receivers helped themselves this week, especially Titus Young. Young has outstanding deep speed and made a point of showing it often this week. He chose to run deep routes in most of his one-on-one opportunities and capitalized several times. He was a little underwhelming in the game failing to make a big play and dropping a couple passes. Having already known about his speed, I would have liked to see him show us his route-running polish on underneath routes, but what he did, he did well.

Shareece Wright, CB, USC – I absolutely love the physical skill set of Shareece Wright at 5’11, 182 pound with 32 ¼-inch arms. He loves playing press coverage to reroute receivers at the line of the scrimmage and has the fluidity and athleticism to handle it on the back end as well. He started off the week with inconsistency, but came together nicely toward the end. He has flashed the ability to be a terrific cornerback, but needs to continue to keep his head in the game and play with consistent technique from down to down. He excelled in the game making a couple of nice plays breaking on short throws.

Cameron Jordan, DL, California – Every year, there’s a 5-technique capable player that seems to rise during draft season and this year it’s going to be Cameron Jordan. He’s a stout run defender and has ideal size to play that position. With several teams needy at the position inside the top 10, I wouldn’t be incredibly surprised to sneak up into that area when it’s all said and done, but for now, the middle to late first round seems appropriate. This week he was lined up inside and outside and beat just about every lineman at least once with a variety of power moves. He’s an impressive young man who will also benefit from the solid rookie campaign of Tyson Alualu.

Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada – The live-armed, mobile quarterback from the pistol offense earned a little bit of confidence from decision makers this week as he showed considerable improvement throughout the week. Kaepernick spun the ball well and hit targets with good accuracy on the whole, especially when afforded clear throwing lanes. His numbers on Saturday don’t fully reflect his performance as he was the victim of several drops, including one that went for the lone interception in the game. There’s still plenty of development left in his game before he can become a starting quarterback and consequently I wouldn’t begin considering him until later in the second round. He needs to improve throwing with traffic at his feet inside the pocket and keeping his eyes downfield when he rolls outside. These are both improvements that often come with experience. When he did throw on the run, he seemed more accurate than all of the quarterbacks, but Locker. His throwing motion isn’t ideal and tinkering with it could lead to gains in consistency and accuracy.

On the Decline/Standing Still:

Jake Locker, QB, Washington – At 6’2, 228 pounds, Locker has a terrific build, which will allow his terrific athletic ability to flourish at the next level. But before he can begin tapping into his legs, he must first prove that he can become a consistent pocket passer. He’s always been a player who has flashed elite potential making jaw-dropping throws and runs, but making a habit out of it has proven extremely difficult for Locker. He’s a terrific quarterback when he gets outside the pocket as he keeps his eyes downfield making him a true dual thread, but inside the pocket is an entirely different story. He struggles to make throws while moving forward and when his throwing lanes are obstructed. Accuracy is wildly inconsistent as his balls end up sailing high nearly as much as they do on target. Of the passes that find their target, ball placement is still an issue. These are the types of corrections that are often more difficult to make and not just a result from inexperience. I’d be concerned if taking Locker and wouldn’t think twice about passing on him in the first round even if I was a quarterback-needy team picking toward the end of the order.

Noel Devine, RB, West Virginia – Smaller backs like Dexter McCluster have had some success here over the last few years, so this would have been the perfect opportunity for a player with Devine’s suddenness to take advantage. He could added value by showing his receiving skills or making a big play or two, but instead went quietly unnoticed. Rushing for only 8 yards on 7 carries, Devine did very little and was shown up by Kentucky’s Derrick Locke, who has better size for a similar player and made more of his opportunities. Given his modest senior productive, the West Virginia back will need to makes jaws drop in the second round to just be mentioned in the same area McCluster was taken a year ago.

Kristofer O’Dowd, C, USC – There were some who really liked O’Dowd enough to make him the number two center behind unanimous number one Stefen Wisniewski. He was victimized early and often in he one-on-one drills, though that was to be expected. His strength isn’t anchoring against the big dogs in the middle, but unfortunately that’s primarily how centers earn their buck. The first and second rounders such as Mangold, Kalil, and Mack have all shown the ability to anchor against these nose tackles. Having a center that can hold up without much help can make a world of difference in the interior and free up the interior linemen to get to the second level in run blocking and give more help to the tackles in pass protection. O’Dowd did start at center for the South team, which was pretty effective in opening up holes in the middle for Powell and Locke. This reinforces my belief that he may be a solid center at the next level, but will never jump into that top tier.

DeMarcus Love, OL, Arkansas – Love was selected to the first team All-SEC at offensive tackle, but struggled to replicate that success in Mobile this week. He fires out of his stance too upright and was caught reaching too often, which forced him off balance, allowing an easy path to “quarterback” in one-on-one drills. At 6’5, 318 pounds with 35-inch arms, it appeared like a good idea to play him at right tackle, but he struggled all week with any form of speed. Love could be the Loadholt of this year, but it looks more than likely that he’ll be pushed inside to guard in the NFL.

Courtney Smith, WR, South Alabama – I don’t want to say that Smith lost money this week, but it seems like every year we see a small school receiver emerge and the stage was set for Smith to be that guy this week, playing on his home field. At 6’4, 220, he has terrific size and long arms, but struggled to gain separation from the big school corners. When he had a step and ball was thrown in his vicinity, he didn’t make the tough catches routinely to capitalize. Still, he made a couple nice plays during the week and is a tough player to bring down after the catch, but doesn’t appear to have that burst and quickness in and out of cuts to be a consistent route runner in the NFL.

Nate Solder, OT, Colorado – I’m not sure why I’m singling out Solder as he’s the tackle the coaches played at left tackle to start the game. Castonzo was used inside at guard and right tackle, while Carimi was forced to sit out the game. All three tackles this week failed to live up to their 1st round draft grades, getting beaten in one-on-one drills and Solder was beaten in the game for a sack where he lost the battle on his kick-step. Then again, going back a couple years, it was Chris Williams who left coaches and GMs in awe with his footwork and now he’s playing inside at guard for the Bears. On the other hand, Phil Loadholt looked like an absolute disaster in space, but has played very well in pass protection for the Vikings. It’s easy to get too caught up in the results of the Senior Bowl, where Solder and his other LT teammates were less than impressive, but I think this is a case where scouts will just have to rely on game tape. Rather than losing money by coming out this week, Solder, Carimi, Castonzo were unable to gain any sort of separation from the others.