Senior Bowl notes: Who shined as North stars?
The senior defensive end group lacks star power. Will Davis (Illinois) has adequate burst off the line and actually sent Fulton to the ground in one drill.
Larry English (Northern Illinois) could be tried at linebacker later this week, but was strong enough in drills to disengage from blocks to make plays outside when lined up at end. Stout Tim Jamison (Michigan) doesn't own great quickness on the edge but, like English, recognizes plays coming to his side and is able to rein in the ballcarrier.
Defensive tackle Ziggy Hood (Missouri) had one of the standout spin moves during one-on-one drills, maintaining his balance throughout just like he's done over the last couple of seasons for the Tigers.
Boston College DT B.J. Raji demonstrated his unique combination of explosiveness and strength inside in scrimmages and drills. His matchups with Unger were interesting; Raji beat him with quickness on one set and then tried a bull rush that didn't work quite as well.
Iowa's Mitch King is undersized at 275 pounds, but he is relentless and uses quick hands and a variety of pass rush moves to beat his man off the snap.
Linebackers and safeties are the toughest positions to scout during all-star game practices, when open-field tackling ability is left to the imagination.
But Clint Sintim (Virginia) is a prototypical 3-4 outside linebacker with good size, closing speed and the willingness to mix it up with a top tight end like Pettigrew in coverage. Versatile Tyrone McKenzie (South Florida) is just a solid player who doesn't do any one thing great, but seems to consistently be around the ball. Middle linebacker Scott McKillop (Pittsburgh) had trouble beating backs to the edge but showed nice awareness in coverage, closing on Juaquin Iglesias (Oklahoma) in his zone and stripping the ball out.
Among safeties, David Bruton (Notre Dame) displayed better lateral movement than William Moore (Missouri), who actually looked more like a linebacker. Both are good closers when a play is in front of them. Oregon's Patrick Chung is a bit more versatile, looking smooth for his position in drills and able to play in the box without fear. Louis Delmas (Western Michigan) also exhibited sideline-to-sideline range as a free safety.
The North team also has some talented corners, a position featuring pretty good depth in this draft. UConn's Darius Butler looked like a perfect zone corner/free safety with excellent closing ability and toughness. Cincinnati cornerbacks Mike Mickens and DeAngelo Smith acquitted themselves well, although Mickens showed better ball skills and more fluid hips. Victor "Macho" Harris (Virginia Tech) and Keenan Lewis (Oregon State) will be squarely on teams' radars this week as potential first-day picks.
Kicker Louie Sakoda (Utah) is a strength for the North team, but punter Kevin Huber (Cincinnati) turned over only one punt, which minimizes hang-time (usually less than four seconds) and distance (around 40 yards). Long snapping specialist Mark Estermyer (Pittsburgh) bounced a couple back to Huber and his better snaps usually came between .75 and .78 seconds -- which is about one-tenth of a second too long for scouts' liking.
Receiver Derrick Williams also had problems returning punts, dropping two -- one hit him in the helmet -- and allowing another to drop on the ground about a yard away as he lost visual contact with the ball to find the sideline.
Weigh-in notes
• The National Scouting weigh-in took place Monday and evaluators were finally able to scrap the program-listed -- and often embellished -- height and weight of the seniors on hand for eyewitness measurements. Some prospects impressed with their length, height and/or cut builds, while others looked as though they spent more time in the dining room than the weight room. Who measured up?
• Standing tall was wide receiver Ramses Barden (Cal Poly), who came in at 6-6 on the nose and impressed with his 10 5/8-inch hands and 33¾-inch arms. Oklahoma offensive tackle Phil Loadholt measured 6-8 and his 36½-inch arms were the longest on either roster. Free safety David Bruton (Notre Dame, 6-1¾, 210) showed a six-pack and his 10-inch hands and 34-inch arms are prototypical for defensive backs. Center Alex Mack (California) and guard Kraig Urbik both looked tall and thick with long arms (33¼ inches and 33½, respectively) and big hands (10 5/8 inches, 10½).
• A few players came in a bit smaller than expected. Quarterback Nathan Brown (Central Arkansas) came in at 6-0½-inches and 217 pounds with what looked more like a kicker's body than a quarterback's. The physical traits of running backs Jeremiah Johnson (Oregon, 5-8 ¾, 198) and Cedric Peerman (Virginia, 7 7/8-inch hands) disappointed scouts.
• Cincinnati cornerbacks Mike Mickens (5-10, 176) and DeAngelo Smith (29½-inch hands) did not measure up in some ways but both had some obvious strength. Teammate Trevor Canfield's (6-4½, 311) physique did not impress, however, nor did his relatively small hands (9¼ inches) or arms (31 inches) for a guard.
• Arm and hand length may seem trivial to casual fans, but backs with small hands like Peerman will get tested by NFL linebackers in space to see if they can hold onto the ball. Although he hadn't had fumble issues until the end of his senior year, pro scouts will factor the late-season turnovers and small hands in their evaluations.
Chad Reuter is a Senior Analyst for NFLDraftScout.com, distributed by The Sports Xchange.
