Senior Bowl 2013: South practices, days 3-4

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There is OBVIOUSLY a big differencebetween being at a practice live and attempting to recap thatpractice from home as it’s televised. NFL Network’s coverage ofthis week’s Senior Bowl practices has been excellent for my intentsand purposes. But at home, we can only get 5-10% of what’s going onin Mobile. Shoot, I go to several Rams practices a summer and amprobably lucky to get 10% of what’s going on when I’m there inperson. So when it comes to any year’s draft prospects, manyplayers are going to slip through the cracks at RamView, because Isimply haven’t seen as much of them.
A prime example of that issue thisyear is South CB Robert Alford (Southeast La.), who’s frequentlytouted as one of the week’s top performers. I cannot say that fromwhat I’ve had to review. My notes from Wednesday’s coverage keepasking if Alford was awake today. He looked way slow to close fromzone coverage, interfered with receivers, and got himself in suchpoor position after a comeback to Tavarres King, he never would havemade the tackle and would have given up a big gain after the catch.He did make a nice play in run support in 11-on-11, but I stillhaven’t seen what makes Alford fussworthy. YMMV. 
A DB who did standout on the broadcast was safety Bacarri Rambo (Georgia), who coveredTEs well, breaking up a hitch to Michael Williams (Alabama) andblanketing the best TE there, Vance McDonald, on a deep post. He didNOT look good against WRs, which opens up a Craig Dahl-sized questionabout him, but he looked so good against the TEs that he’ll beworth a good, long look at Rams Park. Plus, the Rams are almostobliged to get a player named “Rambo” in their uniform, aren’tthey?
Despite King’s earlier exploits, andhis absolute torment of Alabama safety Robert Lester in red zone1-on-1 Thursday, Terrance Williams emerged as the best receiver oneither roster by the end of the week. He beat B.W. Webb pretty easilyjust on deep speed. He drew a brutal DPI from Marc Anthony thanks toa well-run stop-and-go route, and still fought through contact for adeep catch. Shawn Williams (Georgia) defended red zone slant routesto him very well, yielding no ground, but Terrance came back and beatAlford for a TD in red zone 11-on-11. Get Williams coached up as ared zone receiver and he looks like a solid receiving weapon who canbreak big plays and make plays all over the field. TE Mychal Riveraflashed as a red zone weapon, winning a couple of TD balls 1-on-1,and he wasn’t going up against midgets. The strangest red zoneperformance was by Duke WR Conner Vernon, who attempted to catcheverything one-handed.
E.J. Manuel (Florida State) threw oneof the prettiest balls of the week Wednesday, dropping a 40-yard bombright in the bucket to Quinton Patton (La. Tech), who was coveredjust about perfectly by Lester, who failed only to look for the ball.Manuel also threw a ball so poor in 11-on-11 that Ziggy Ansah didn’treally need to jump to block it, but when he did, he blocked it withhis shoulder pad. I believe that pass was deflected to Zaviar Goodenof Mizzou for a pick-six. NFL-N’s Senior Bowl promos have beenthick with mentions of former participants Colin Kaepernick, JoeFlacco and Russell Wilson, so I guess I should keep an open mindabout this year’s QBs, but I haven’t been thoroughly impressed.Landry Jones can probably make the first round with a big Combine orpro day, so there’s your potential Flacco. Manuel took off one time11-on-11, and he is pretty much Kaepernick’s size, but I haven’tseen that kind of speed or the arm strength from him. Tyler Wilson(Arkansas) will need more mustard on some of the sideline throws Isaw or he’ll be a pick-six machine. If anybody’s going to pull aRussell Wilson, I’d put my money on Ryan Nassib from the Northteam.
The South o-line continued to staywell in front of the d-line. That o-line is thick with pro prospects.Lane Johnson continued to just stuff people. He doesn’t quite haveEric Fisher’s strength or foot quickness, but still has thosequalities in spades. He can outflank a rusher or meet him right up inthe hole and keep him there. He’s got the patience as apass-protector to let his man make his move and hasn’t been eatenup by spin moves or quick inside moves. Larry Warford and BrianSchwenke continue to be more difficult to move than trees. Despitehis 350-pound girth, Johnathan Jenkins (Georgia) failed to moveWarford much in several tries, and was gassed and barely moving by the end of 1-on-1. Schwenke didn’t get in trouble 1-on-1until lining up at guard and having to deal more with lateralspeed. At the same time, though, he was the best red zone blockerThursday, opening up great running holes several times, both at LGand RG.
The o-line’s domination extendedbeyond the week’s early standouts. Garrett Gilkey (Chadron State)put Everett Dawkins (Florida State) on the ground, twice. DaltonFreeman (Clemson) dominated Cory Grissom on two occasions; once,Grissom couldn’t even get out of the patch of ground he’d linedup in. Terron Armstead (Ark.-Pine Bluff) showed up fresh from theShrine Game, got beat once by Cornelius Washington’s edge rush, butpounced on his inside move the next snap and threw him on the ground.Oday Aboushi had trouble with Lavar Edwards’ edge speed initiallybut figured out how to use it against him. That was at LT. Aboushilooked much more comfortable and effective at guard, handling MontoriHughes (Tenn.-Martin) convincingly. Jordan Mills (La. Tech) built onan excellent practice Tuesday by manhandling Josh Boyd (MississippiState), who was beating Schwenke when he lined up at guard. Millscould be a real sleeper from this game; he’s a replacement but hasbeen consistently good.
How much of this is good o-line playvs. bad d-line play is yet to be seen. Malliciah Goodman spends waytoo much time on the ground. He was also easily blocked inside by TEMichael Williams on a simulated 4^th-and-inches in 9-on-7.I just don’t see that he brings anything to the table. I didn’tsee Dawkins beat anybody all week. Ansah continues to go onathleticism alone. He made the nice leaping play 11-on-11, but failedto do much of anything 1-on-1 all week, consistently playing high andfailing to make a second move on anyone. He’s even high working thetackling dummies in drills; nice coaching, Detroit. You, too, BYU.Jenkins rallied in the Thursday 11-on-11. He blew up one run byswimming past Freeman, and another by beating a double-team fromGilkey and Johnson. Jenkins finished the practice week with aflourish by flattening Warford to stuff a goal-line run. Ladies andgentlemen, Johnathan Jenkins: the 2013 draft’s poster child forconditioning.
Apologies again that I don’t get agood feel for the RBs from this week’s coverage. Mike Gillislee(Florida) and Stepfan Taylor (Stanford) look like the main men forthe South. Gillislee seems quicker to the hole; Taylor uses hisblocks better and does a good job finding running room. Taylor alsoabsolutely stuffed Ansah Thursday with a chip block. I think KenjonBarner’s the top prospect in the game and the likeliest 1^strounder, but I can see these south RBs getting off the board day 2.
Gooden and Nico Johnson (Alabama) werethe linebacking stars of Wednesday’s 11-on-11. Gooden not only hadthe pick-six but did a nice job working through traffic to blow up adraw to Gilleslee. Getting caught in traffic sets back a lot of LBs.Johnson looked up to the task, too, actually getting off a Schwenkeblock to blow up one run and beating Gilleslee to the hole to stuffanother.
Takeaway: Assuming I make it torecapping the game itself (which will be a RamView first if ithappens), the offensive lines of both teams should be fun to watch,and should be the units where the most money is made in Mobile. Ifthe Rams have a shot at Lane Johnson at #16, I’d have a hard timenot pulling the trigger. He’s close enough to Fisher’s skilllevel, with upside, to make that pick pay off quickly. The South lineis stacked from one end to the other. With Ansah almost completely aproject, Jenkins is the most interesting d-lineman, but needs to bein better shape for the Combine and pro days. I find it hard tobelieve Tavarres King and Terrance Williams aren’t ahead of whereBrian Quick was this time last year. Maybe even where he is rightnow. They have the size and ability to separate to be attractivepicks in the Mayock Zone (late 1^st-early 2^nd,where he annually projects about 100 players to go). Add Rambo to thelist of South players I hope the Rams have their eyes on, and theSenior Bowl should be a draftable feast.
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