Senior Bowl

[76Texan]

From NFL Draft Countdown:

• I continue to be impressed with Nebraska offensive tackle Carl Nicks, who looks like a great natural athlete despite his massive size but he is still raw and plays too high at times.

• Boston College offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus may be a very large man but he also moves his feet well.

• Indiana cornerback Tracy Porter was okay yesterday but he was even better today, jumping a route to intercept a Joe Flacco pass in 7-on-7's on a play that would have been a "Pick 6" in a real game. He also did a nice job of sticking with his guy in coverage.

Delaware's Joe Flacco looked pretty average and the best of the bunch today was Michigan's Chad Henne. Overall though I am still waiting for one of these guys to step up.

• Iowa cornerback Charles Godfrey had another nice day in coverage, even drawing praise from Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan for his efforts in 7-on-7's.

• Oklahoma St. running back Dantrell Savage isn't very big but he showed some toughness running inside today.

 

[76Texan]

From DraftInsiders:

QB Joe Flacco of Delaware had a nice day of practice Tuesday throwing the ball after being wild on day one, Monday. That is understandable for a first day especially from a small college kid. OT Chris Williams of Vanderbilt had a fine practice. He is a massive athlete with footwork, technique and great power. He comes off the ball with a strong punch and fine functional strength to get a consistently good push at the line of scrimmage. Safety Quintin Demps of UTEP moves well and shows the instincts to get to the ball easily. He shows cornerback like skills in coverage, though he needs some technique development. OL Oniel Cousins of UTEP is a fine athlete with the footwork and physical tools to play several positions along the line. He played tackle in college and is lining up there in the practices, but probably projects inside to center/guard early in his pro career.
RB Chris Johnson of East Carolina showed good speed and running skills. He caught the ball well in passing drills and looks to show his well rounded ability this week. DT Red Bryant of Texas A&M looked like a beast most in the middle. He was stout in the middle and held up well vs the double teams. He rarely got outside the tackle box to make plays. He can play too high that at 6'5" most big linemen will tend to allow to happen. When he got into the blocker's chest, he was able to push him back to the quarterback. OT Heath Benedict of Newberry checked in at 321 lbs. and over 6'4". He held up well in drills especially from a power standpoint.


Several players withdrew from the Senior Bowl due to injuries, notably QB Brian Brohm of Louisville, TE John Carlton of Notre Dame and DE Quentin Groves of Auburn

 

[76Texan]

great blue north draft report:

USC OT Sam Baker may be the biggest name. but Boston College OT Gosder Cherilus was the most dominating North OT this morning. Cherilus moves his feet well, sets up efficiently and simply engulfed pass rushers with his upper body strength. Cherilus, though, still needs to concentrate on keeping his pads low. Baker also had his moments shutting down several outside pass rushers. Baker, though, also shut down his feet a couple of times and was run around. In fact, Baker’s teammate OG Drew Radovich had the more consistent morning; Radovich did a nice job locking onto opposing pass rushers and keeping his feet alive. It was a solid morning all around for the North offensive line as OTs Kirk Barton of Ohio State and Nebraska’s Carl Nicks were physically dominating, although neither appeared to be overly quick or athletic. OGs Roy Schuening of Oregon State and Chad Rinehart of Northern Iowa were also solid as was Arizona State C Mike Pollak.

• Iowa CB Charles Godfrey started off great, sticking with some smaller, quicker wideouts, but later in the practice he struggled a bit and gave up some completions
• Indiana CB Tracy Porter isn't known for a physical style of play but he played Adarius Bowman tough despite a drastic size difference and was able to stay in the hip pocket of most of the wideouts he was matched up against.

• USC OT Sam Baker displayed good use of his hands and nice footwork. He especially stood out in pass protection against speed rushers.
• It was tough for the running backs to stand out in a practice like this but East Carolina's Chris Johnson was shifty and showcased his ability to make people miss. Cal RB Justin Forsett also displayed good speed and elusiveness on a long run.

• Not only is Nebraska OT Carl Nicks one of the most physically impressive players in Mobile but he did a good job of stonewalling Virginia Tech DE Chris Ellis in 11-on-11's and showcased a physical and sometimes nasty demeanor.