Senior Bowl!

[joeshmo]

A note at the last 4 days al together -

The DL's as a whole look really good. Not becasue the OL look bad either. Raji, Peria Jerry, Hood, Will Davis are making themselves some money.

Larry English is consistently having good practices all 4 days. Showing more and more inside moves and bull rush moves as the practices go on. Fastest first step out of the bunch. He even got a chance to play LB on Thursday and look good, although he does need to work on coverage which is natural consdering its brand new to him.

Sintim without a doubt needs to be in a 3-4 to hide his horrendous coverage skills. Looks great everywhere else though.

The 3 USC LB's are showing why that defense was the best last year. After Rey had a bad first day he started to excell in the 11 on 11 drills. Surprisingly great inside blitz skills. Needs to work on coverage though which losing 5-10 pounds would realy help in eleviating. His playing weight needs to be in the 245-250 range, I know he played at 260 in college but that needs to change in the NFL. Matthews has also look like a solid 2nd/3rd rounder. But Cushing is now in my top 3 list for the senior bowl practices. Has shown everything, coverage, pass rush, gap control, athletic ability.

Kory Sheets is continuing to look like the best RB there. Quick and few mistakes.

This OT I have never heard of Beatty has the best feet out of all the OL. Loadholt has the best hands and punch, if he only had the feet. Fulton has the worst feet. Mack is solid and consistent. If Unger gets 5-10 more pounds on himself and gains even a little bit more strength he will be a stalwart on an OL for 10 years because he has the technique and feet, but his lack of strength is slowing him up at these practices. Havent got a chance to see much of Oher though. Caldwell is the best C there IMO. I really like that kid.

Top 3 list after 4 days of practices -

1. Raji
2. Cushing
3. English

Honorable mention to Caldwell and Jerry.

Probably wont be watching the last practice or the game itself.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Caldwell is the best C there IMO. I really like that kid.

Top 3 list after 4 days of practices -

1. Raji
2. Cushing
3. English

Honorable mention to Caldwell and Jerry.

Probably wont be watching the last practice or the game itself.

Caldwell is the best interior OL i saw as well. Herman Johnson was the worst.CB Alphonso Smith is also worthy of a honorable mention.

 

[cardsfanmd]

I'm still not totally sold on A. Smith. 5-8 is a bit short. This is coming from a guy who was told that at the beginning of tryouts for every team I ever went out for and I was only cut once so I understand how that sounds. The kid will be good, but I think I need someone who can cover anyone (Randy Mosses) if I am spending a first on this kid. He will be long gone by the time we come up in the second. It's not that I dont think he is worth a first, but I do think there will be better value out there when we pick.

I am intested to know more about him though. I saw a lot of PI in his future from the combine. Anyone have anything to add on him?

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I'm still not totally sold on A. Smith. 5-8 is a bit short. This is coming from a guy who was told that at the beginning of tryouts for every team I ever went out for and I was only cut once so I understand how that sounds. The kid will be good, but I think I need someone who can cover anyone (Randy Mosses) if I am spending a first on this kid. He will be long gone by the time we come up in the second. It's not that I dont think he is worth a first, but I do think there will be better value out there when we pick.

I am intested to know more about him though. I saw a lot of PI in his future from the combine. Anyone have anything to add on him?

we already have someone to cover the Mosses in DRC. Smith would be an upgrade over Ralph Brown, even though Brown has played well,and could eventually take over for Hood.

 

[Shogun]

Alphonso Smith is a playmaker plain and simple. Ball hawk and is an excellent tackler. He'll be fine as the #2 corner.

 

[SuperSpck]

Caldwell is the best interior OL i saw as well. Herman Johnson was the worst.CB Alphonso Smith is also worthy of a honorable mention.

Darn, I was really hoping Johson and Loadholt would be impressive. I had the highest hopes for them at the beginning of the season.

 

[Shzm13]

Me too for Loadholt, thought he might be a steal..

Does he look undisciplinned?

If he does.. too close of a reminder to bigg..

 

[cardsfanmd]

Me too for Loadholt, thought he might be a steal..

Does he look undisciplinned?

If he does.. too close of a reminder to bigg..

Poor feet IMO.

 

[joeshmo]

Me too for Loadholt, thought he might be a steal..

Does he look undisciplinned?

If he does.. too close of a reminder to bigg..

Best reach and best hands and punch technique of any of the OL at the senior bowl, IMO Two things he needs to work on -

1. His feet - he has the athletic ability to have good feet, he looks to be at the right weight, doesnt look fat at all, so I am not sure why his feet look so bad. Might just be a practice issue?

2. Sit in his Stance - Dude is tall so he has to work on sitting in his stance more then other OL. Right now he either stands to straight up losing his leverage advantage, or he stands over the balls of his feet a waist bender instead of a sitter thus giving the DL to much leverage.

Both are very fixable issues, so its a matter of personality, meaning is he the type of player that takes to coaching or is willing to work at his craft.

 

[joeshmo]

Alphonso Smith is a playmaker plain and simple. Ball hawk and is an excellent tackler. He'll be fine as the #2 corner.

I have to agree. If we were picking top 15 I think I would have to pass on this kid but since we are in the 30's....

I will say though that his playmaker status is also a curse for him. He takes a lot of risks which means he will get burnt sometimes and he did while in college. If he can work on his in game risk/reward thinking process, he and his smaller stature will do very good as a #2 opposite of DRC. But since we have Hood he would do excellent as the slot CB. A Slot CB that would play a lot especially if we get rid of that stupid big nickel package with Fransisco or Ware as our nickel.

Also although he measured in just slightly below 5-9 he actually weighed in more then other DB's who were 2-3 inches taller then him. He is a very stout just under 5-9 guy, which actually makes him a solid tackler. He also has the arm length, 31", of a 6'0" man.

 

[SuperSpck]

Best reach and best hands and punch technique of any of the OL at the senior bowl, IMO Two things he needs to work on -

1. His feet - he has the athletic ability to have good feet, he looks to be at the right weight, doesnt look fat at all, so I am not sure why his feet look so bad. Might just be a practice issue?

2. Sit in his Stance - Dude is tall so he has to work on sitting in his stance more then other OL. Right now he either stands to straight up losing his leverage advantage, or he stands over the balls of his feet a waist bender instead of a sitter thus giving the DL to much leverage.

Both are very fixable issues, so its a matter of personality, meaning is he the type of player that takes to coaching or is willing to work at his craft.

1 and 2 could be related.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I have to agree. If we were picking top 15 I think I would have to pass on this kid but since we are in the 30's....

I will say though that his playmaker status is also a curse for him. He takes a lot of risks which means he will get burnt sometimes and he did while in college. If he can work on his in game risk/reward thinking process, he and his smaller stature will do very good as a #2 opposite of DRC. But since we have Hood he would do excellent as the slot CB. A Slot CB that would play a lot especially if we get rid of that stupid big nickel package with Fransisco or Ware as our nickel.

Also although he measured in just slightly below 5-9 he actually weighed in more then other DB's who were 2-3 inches taller then him. He is a very stout just under 5-9 guy, which actually makes him a solid tackler. He also has the arm length, 31", of a 6'0" man.

Smith reminds me of Antoine Winfield.Smith may be more of a ballhawk and Winfield the better tackler but their games/style are similar.

 

[overseascardfan]

Anybody have a report on OT Alex Boone, he was an AA candidate before the season but after the USC fiasco his stock fell to the point where I haven't heard much about him since.

 

[JeffGollin]

Two Temptations We Should Avoid -


1. Overrating Senior Bowl prospects due to team need
We don't really know where there will be holes on next year's roster next year. If Q isn't back, would that make us more interested in a WR? Ditto guys like Dansby or Kurt. Conversely, we don't know the degree that FA pickups might strengthen otherwise weak positions.

Not only that, but if the team's drafting philosophy remains BPA (weighted for "fit" and position-need) we'd be well-advised not to fall into the "Tommy Knight trap" of reaching to fill a position.

2. Ignoring the Underclassmen
There are roughly 46 underclassman who've declared (including RB's like Moreno, Wells and Brown plus WR's like Britt, Crabtree, Harvin, Maclin and Heyward-Bey). That's eight potential game-breakers at just 2 positions. Unless they've changed the rules, none of these guys will appear in the Senior Bowl (and some of these plus others will probably skip the Combine).

It will then all come down to establishing the Cardinal Board. The good news is that all these underclassman will deepen the draft pool enough for us to wind up with a pretty good rookie at #31 or #32.

One other dynamic - when a team is down around 28 - 32, there will be other teams who absolutely love one specific available player will attempt to trade back up into the first round to get him. Depending on which prospects are still available on our Board at the end of the round, it might make sense for us to trade down a half-dozen or so spots to grab an extra pick or two.

At #31 or #32, I view our best strategy as being similar to the basis for the title of Salinger's novel: "The Catcher in the Rye" (i.e. "the dude who stands at the base of the cliff in the hope of catching the best prospect who falls over it").

Finally - when you're drafting at the very top or very bottom of a round, you are only a couple of picks away from the round above you or the round below you - i.e. a #31 pick is not much different than a high second round pick. A #33 pick is tantamount to having a very, very late first round pick. So what it really all boils down to is: If there are 6 or 7 guys on our board that we'd be happy with (and no single player at the top who's head & shoulders better than the other guys), why not trade down 6 or 7 picks since we'll be guaranteed we'll get one of them anyway?

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Anybody have a report on OT Alex Boone, he was an AA candidate before the season but after the USC fiasco his stock fell to the point where I haven't heard much about him since.

I do. There's a good reason you haven't heard alot about him, he's not that good. He was supposed to be all-world coming out of high school but never lived up to it. There's no way he can play LT in the NFL. He gets absolutely abused by speed and he's not that much of a run blocker either.USC abused him,Orakpo went by him like he was standing still, and i didn't see the game,but i guess he was exposed at the East-West shrine game as well. He has the measurables but i wouldn't touch before round 4, if then.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

the only guys i'd even consider from OSU this year are Jenkins, Wells, and Freeman. Say no to Laurinitis, Boone, Hartline(why did he even declare?????), Donald Washington( rumored drug problems).

Two darkhorse guys are Lawrence Wilson,DE, and Jamario O'neal,safety. Wilson would have been a 1st round pick if he could stay healthy. The last 2 years he's had season ending injuries in a broken leg and, i think a broken ankle.Not sure on the second injury. O'neal has all the athletic ability in the world he just needs to put it together. He was supposed to be a better prospect than Ted Ginn when he came to OSU and, while he flashed at times, he was never much of a factor.

 

[Unsterblich856]

I don't have NFL Network so I couldn't watch the Senior Bowl. What I did hear was that Graham Harrell sucked it up big time, to those who watched, how badly did he do?

 

[Brewster10]

the only guys i'd even consider from OSU this year are Jenkins, Wells, and Freeman. Say no to Laurinitis, Boone, Hartline(why did he even declare?????), Donald Washington( rumored drug problems).

Two darkhorse guys are Lawrence Wilson,DE, and Jamario O'neal,safety. Wilson would have been a 1st round pick if he could stay healthy. The last 2 years he's had season ending injuries in a broken leg and, i think a broken ankle.Not sure on the second injury. O'neal has all the athletic ability in the world he just needs to put it together. He was supposed to be a better prospect than Ted Ginn when he came to OSU and, while he flashed at times, he was never much of a factor.

I don't know why Donald came out.

Wilson isnt in the draft. He's back at Ohio St. next yr. O'Neal was never a starter at OSU, outside of 2006 when he got pushed into the lineup due to injury.. he's a future special teamer at best.

 

[Timm Rosenbach]

Larry English would be a fine OLB pass rusher in our scheme.

Love the kid

 

[az jam]

I don't have NFL Network so I couldn't watch the Senior Bowl. What I did hear was that Graham Harrell sucked it up big time, to those who watched, how badly did he do?

Terrible. No arm strength at all. May not even be drafted.

 

[az jam]

Remarks on Harrell's performance from NFLDraftcountdown.com


Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell had a terrible night, appearing indecisive and displaying lackluster arm strength. Harrell threw one interception and another one of his attempts should have been a pick six but Alphonso Smith dropped the ball. Harrell also fell down on one of his backdrops, raising further questions about his ability to work under center. He only completed 4 of 13 passes for 40 yards.

 

[joeshmo]

Remarks on Harrell's performance from NFLDraftcountdown.com


Texas Tech QB Graham Harrell had a terrible night, appearing indecisive and displaying lackluster arm strength. Harrell threw one interception and another one of his attempts should have been a pick six but Alphonso Smith dropped the ball. Harrell also fell down on one of his backdrops, raising further questions about his ability to work under center. He only completed 4 of 13 passes for 40 yards.

I dont watch the actual game or Fridays practice because 99% of the teams staffs leave before then becuase Friday is just a walk through and they dont care about the actual game just the practices.

But when a player sucks that bad in a game the scouts dont even watch it still has to peak your ears.