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Wreck'em Ŧech!
I haven't watched as many bowls as I would've liked for as long as I would've liked, but here are what I've seen fromm certain players thus far. I've broke it down by bowls because it would be too long otherwise. First up is the Cotton Bowl, where I got to sit front row because the people who were supposed to sit there never showed up. Well, heres the Cotton Bowl scouting report, the Sugar Bowl and various others will be added later!
David Irons, CB, Auburn Probably my #1 sleeper pick at this point, he shut down Nebraskas top WR all day at the Cotton Bowl. I was actually at the game and got to see pre game warm ups on top of the actual game. While Irons doesnt have the best speed, hes is very quick and is alert, which is why he always is around the ball. He played best in man coverage, and caught my eye on the short and intermediate routes on how well he covered them. For example, a WR ran a 10 yard in and Irons broke on it at almost the same time and knocked it down. He also made some clean breaks on a slant route and didnt let the WR catch the ball. He also wasnt afraid to come up and hit someone either. Hes not the soundest tackler, but he is very physical in his style of play. One little thing I did also notice is he had zero pass interference or holding calls against him.
While it wasnt a problem against Nebraska, there is the concern of his speed on deep routes. He never had to worry about Nebraska going deep too often because Auburn was great at getting a rush on Nebraska, but his speed is in question. Another concern is that he gets injured too easily, and he actually went down on a punt for a few minutes (this could be related to his physical style of play). He did return later however, so hes at least willing to battle the injuries. Overall, Irons isnt the best in terms of measurables, but is a gamer CB who puts himself in great position to make plays and reminds me a lot of Nathan Vasher.
Kenny Irons, RB, Auburn Kenny looked alright, but wasnt impressive and his backup caught my eye more than he did. On the plus side, he has decent size and had good quickness which helped him make people miss. He also had good vision and the ability to pick the right hole. The effort he gave was also noticeable, and he has the ability to catch and run the ball.
However, he was never strong enough to break any tackles and it seemed that he was limited in his moves to free himself when running in the middle. He struggled against Nebraska and went down pretty easily which could be a concern in the NFL. He had a couple nice runs when he was able to get to the outside, but he struggles getting there on a consistent basis and needs to learn to run better in the middle using vision rather than quickness. Overall, Irons doesnt look like a bad prospect, but it seemed to me that he requires a lot of help from his O Line to break the long run.
Ben Tate, RB, Auburn This is Irons backup and this guy looks like a total badass. Hes only a freshman, has great size (61, 215), and is extremely quick. On one play, he turned at least a 5 yard loss into a 3 yard gain. I know it doesnt sound like much, but he made Adam Carriker and a few other Huskers miss to get those yards using great quickness and good change of direction skills. I know its early, but he is definitely a guy to keep an eye on in the future and possibly the next great RB from Auburn.
Courtney Taylor, WR, Auburn I actually forgot about him until game time, but he looked good. He doesnt have great speed by any means, but uses his size to his advantage and has great hands. He looked best on short/intermediate routes because of a quick burst he has coming out of his stance. He also was able to make an incredible catch over a Nebraska CB while taking a hit in that made him stay down for a few minutes. He didnt drop a pass all day and that reliability is always a good thing to have. He wasnt afraid to be physical, so that should come in handy in the NFL.
On the negative size, is his speed which nobody should fear. This leads to the problem of needing to run better routes to get separation. Because of this, he also isnt a huge playmaking WR. As long as he can work on his route running to negate his speed, he should be fine. He wont be a deep threat in the NFL by any means, but Taylor looks like a good #2, possession WR.
Grubbs and Duckworth, OGs, Auburn Both look like impressive prospects, and both of them remind me of the bodyguard O Line brothers from The Replacements. Anyways, Grubbs was the better of the two in my mind, but Duckworth is definitely underrated. Grubbs looked athletic for his size and moved very fluidly and well. He wasnt extremely physical, but did a very nice job of walling off his man at the point of attack. He looked very impressive in pass protection as well; he was alert and helped out when needed (almost all the sacks Nebraska had came from the outside). Duckworth is the more physical of the two, and its fair to say hes a mauler. Hes just as big as Grubbs, but more of the physical type and isnt as athletic. He looks great when run blocking, but needs to get better in pass pro. To put it simply, Grubbs would be great in a zone blocking scheme, while Duckworth should be fine in a man blocking scheme.
Adam Carriker, DE, Nebraska First off, this guy is HUGE! Hes about 66 290 and is just a big guy in general. The other thing I noticed about him is that hes actually pretty athletic and versatile for his size. Nebraska used him wisely and he played both DE and DT in the game (usually they ran inside stunts with him as well). He isnt very fast, but is quick and is very strong. He is a strong tackler, and most people dont get away from him. His best skill however is how quick he is at getting to the QB. He uses his size and strength well when rushing the QB and uses it to get OTs off balance and then overwhelms them.
On the negative side, he is a tweener in terms of what position hell play in the NFL. While he has the size and ability to be a traditional 4-3 DE, I think his best bet would be playing in a 3-4 as a DE. Hes got the size, strength, and is a good pass rusher in his own right. Other than that, he just needs to keep working hard.
Jay Moore, DE, Nebraska Another sleeper pick that I like. Hes got great size for a DE 64 275) and is athletic. He plays the run very well, and is pretty good when it comes to getting to the QB. He isnt overly fast or strong, but is very aware and does a good job getting pressure on the QB. The best thing about him is that hes a hard worker and is always hustling. One play he missed the initial tackle, but kept hustling and got it a few seconds later and saved a big gain.
However, his pass rushes werent always successful and it looked like he had limited pass rushing moves. It seems that when he gets locked up, its over and he struggles to fight when it happens. You also have to wonder how much potential he really has because of how hard of a worker he really is. Overall, Moore has been in the shadow of Carriker and might be able to break out of his shadow. In a sense, it could be the case with Manny Lawson and Mario Williams and how Manny being in his shadow was both good and bad (on a much, much smaller and not as talented scale of course).
Stewart Bradley and Bo Ruud, LB, Nebraska Bradley didnt do too much to impress me, but didnt do anything to really disappoint me either. Measurement wise, hes real big for a LB (64 250), but isnt overly athletic or fast. His strength is his tackling and he was always around the ball. He seemed instinctive when he was playing. However, he is far from a playmaker and seems more so one dimensional.
Ruud on the other hand looks like a great player and is a true playmaker for Nebraska. For starters, he has real good size at 63 235 and is very athletic. He moves very well laterally and reads plays fairly well. Whats even better is that he is a good blitzer and is effective in pass coverage. In fact, he jumped a route in which he couldve returned for a TD (he didnt catch it). The one thing Ruud needs to work on is consistency. Hes a great playmaker, but needs to be more consistent and work on always getting involved on plays.
David Irons, CB, Auburn Probably my #1 sleeper pick at this point, he shut down Nebraskas top WR all day at the Cotton Bowl. I was actually at the game and got to see pre game warm ups on top of the actual game. While Irons doesnt have the best speed, hes is very quick and is alert, which is why he always is around the ball. He played best in man coverage, and caught my eye on the short and intermediate routes on how well he covered them. For example, a WR ran a 10 yard in and Irons broke on it at almost the same time and knocked it down. He also made some clean breaks on a slant route and didnt let the WR catch the ball. He also wasnt afraid to come up and hit someone either. Hes not the soundest tackler, but he is very physical in his style of play. One little thing I did also notice is he had zero pass interference or holding calls against him.
While it wasnt a problem against Nebraska, there is the concern of his speed on deep routes. He never had to worry about Nebraska going deep too often because Auburn was great at getting a rush on Nebraska, but his speed is in question. Another concern is that he gets injured too easily, and he actually went down on a punt for a few minutes (this could be related to his physical style of play). He did return later however, so hes at least willing to battle the injuries. Overall, Irons isnt the best in terms of measurables, but is a gamer CB who puts himself in great position to make plays and reminds me a lot of Nathan Vasher.
Kenny Irons, RB, Auburn Kenny looked alright, but wasnt impressive and his backup caught my eye more than he did. On the plus side, he has decent size and had good quickness which helped him make people miss. He also had good vision and the ability to pick the right hole. The effort he gave was also noticeable, and he has the ability to catch and run the ball.
However, he was never strong enough to break any tackles and it seemed that he was limited in his moves to free himself when running in the middle. He struggled against Nebraska and went down pretty easily which could be a concern in the NFL. He had a couple nice runs when he was able to get to the outside, but he struggles getting there on a consistent basis and needs to learn to run better in the middle using vision rather than quickness. Overall, Irons doesnt look like a bad prospect, but it seemed to me that he requires a lot of help from his O Line to break the long run.
Ben Tate, RB, Auburn This is Irons backup and this guy looks like a total badass. Hes only a freshman, has great size (61, 215), and is extremely quick. On one play, he turned at least a 5 yard loss into a 3 yard gain. I know it doesnt sound like much, but he made Adam Carriker and a few other Huskers miss to get those yards using great quickness and good change of direction skills. I know its early, but he is definitely a guy to keep an eye on in the future and possibly the next great RB from Auburn.
Courtney Taylor, WR, Auburn I actually forgot about him until game time, but he looked good. He doesnt have great speed by any means, but uses his size to his advantage and has great hands. He looked best on short/intermediate routes because of a quick burst he has coming out of his stance. He also was able to make an incredible catch over a Nebraska CB while taking a hit in that made him stay down for a few minutes. He didnt drop a pass all day and that reliability is always a good thing to have. He wasnt afraid to be physical, so that should come in handy in the NFL.
On the negative size, is his speed which nobody should fear. This leads to the problem of needing to run better routes to get separation. Because of this, he also isnt a huge playmaking WR. As long as he can work on his route running to negate his speed, he should be fine. He wont be a deep threat in the NFL by any means, but Taylor looks like a good #2, possession WR.
Grubbs and Duckworth, OGs, Auburn Both look like impressive prospects, and both of them remind me of the bodyguard O Line brothers from The Replacements. Anyways, Grubbs was the better of the two in my mind, but Duckworth is definitely underrated. Grubbs looked athletic for his size and moved very fluidly and well. He wasnt extremely physical, but did a very nice job of walling off his man at the point of attack. He looked very impressive in pass protection as well; he was alert and helped out when needed (almost all the sacks Nebraska had came from the outside). Duckworth is the more physical of the two, and its fair to say hes a mauler. Hes just as big as Grubbs, but more of the physical type and isnt as athletic. He looks great when run blocking, but needs to get better in pass pro. To put it simply, Grubbs would be great in a zone blocking scheme, while Duckworth should be fine in a man blocking scheme.
Adam Carriker, DE, Nebraska First off, this guy is HUGE! Hes about 66 290 and is just a big guy in general. The other thing I noticed about him is that hes actually pretty athletic and versatile for his size. Nebraska used him wisely and he played both DE and DT in the game (usually they ran inside stunts with him as well). He isnt very fast, but is quick and is very strong. He is a strong tackler, and most people dont get away from him. His best skill however is how quick he is at getting to the QB. He uses his size and strength well when rushing the QB and uses it to get OTs off balance and then overwhelms them.
On the negative side, he is a tweener in terms of what position hell play in the NFL. While he has the size and ability to be a traditional 4-3 DE, I think his best bet would be playing in a 3-4 as a DE. Hes got the size, strength, and is a good pass rusher in his own right. Other than that, he just needs to keep working hard.
Jay Moore, DE, Nebraska Another sleeper pick that I like. Hes got great size for a DE 64 275) and is athletic. He plays the run very well, and is pretty good when it comes to getting to the QB. He isnt overly fast or strong, but is very aware and does a good job getting pressure on the QB. The best thing about him is that hes a hard worker and is always hustling. One play he missed the initial tackle, but kept hustling and got it a few seconds later and saved a big gain.
However, his pass rushes werent always successful and it looked like he had limited pass rushing moves. It seems that when he gets locked up, its over and he struggles to fight when it happens. You also have to wonder how much potential he really has because of how hard of a worker he really is. Overall, Moore has been in the shadow of Carriker and might be able to break out of his shadow. In a sense, it could be the case with Manny Lawson and Mario Williams and how Manny being in his shadow was both good and bad (on a much, much smaller and not as talented scale of course).
Stewart Bradley and Bo Ruud, LB, Nebraska Bradley didnt do too much to impress me, but didnt do anything to really disappoint me either. Measurement wise, hes real big for a LB (64 250), but isnt overly athletic or fast. His strength is his tackling and he was always around the ball. He seemed instinctive when he was playing. However, he is far from a playmaker and seems more so one dimensional.
Ruud on the other hand looks like a great player and is a true playmaker for Nebraska. For starters, he has real good size at 63 235 and is very athletic. He moves very well laterally and reads plays fairly well. Whats even better is that he is a good blitzer and is effective in pass coverage. In fact, he jumped a route in which he couldve returned for a TD (he didnt catch it). The one thing Ruud needs to work on is consistency. Hes a great playmaker, but needs to be more consistent and work on always getting involved on plays.
