| Senior Bowl |
| --Game Day: Saturday, January 30 (4 ET) |
| January 26 -- South Practice Thoughts: |
| 
John Conner |
Although I spent much of today’s South team practice watching defensive backs, I kept a close eye on John Conner.
He was a late add who showed up today and did nothing but impress me. As a projected fullback, Conner
has been on my radar all year as an outstanding blocker. Today, Conner showed me he can run routes and
catch balls out of the backfield. He showed soft hands and great reaction in adjusting for bad passes.
He won’t be drafted in the early rounds, but he’s my bet to be the first fullback taken in the draft.
As far as safeties go, I was impressed with Myron Rolle.
Scouts were impressed with his measurements and physique during weigh-ins yesterday, and
although he’s still shaking off some rust for taking a year away from football in Oxford,
he still looked rather instinctive. Rolle showed good footwork in man coverage drills and
did a great job turning his head around to find the ball in the air.
Perrish Cox is a guy I really liked this year, and although he had a disappointing practice
today, I still think he’s going to impress scouts. Cox showed good physicality and quick hips as
well as an innate ability to get to the ball in the air, even when out of position. I’d still like
to see him limit separation and cause more contact.
Taylor Mays has been touted as a first-round pick, mostly because of his size.
Mays is 231 lbs. and looks every bit of it. Unfortunately, Mays looks very stiff in coverage
and isn’t as agile as he should be. I look for him to be more of a blitzing, run-stopping safety
than a middle of the field ball hawk.
Apart from defensive backs, I also got a chance to watch Anthony McCoy run routes and do some blocking.
McCoy did a great job stretching the field from the tight end position and making some great grabs down
the middle. He also blocked hard on running plays and looked very natural in using his weight to get up
under the pads of defensive linemen.
More to come soon. Be sure to check out the photos from today’s practices.
--Justin Onslow
| 
John Jerry |
Today was our first time seeing the South team practice. On Monday, both practiced at the same time at
different stadiums, so we had seen the North twice before our first look at the South team.
Jarrett Brown has a very strong arm, he threw a very catchable football and hit receivers
in stride on short, intermediate and deep routes. The Dolphins coaching staff also had him taking some snaps
from the wildcat. He did fumble on snap from under center but was still the most impressive of the
South quarterbacks. Some of Tim Tebow’s passed floated and his throwing motion is
severely flawed and delivery takes a long time to develop.
John Jerry was the most impressive offensive lineman. He was able to push back Dan Williams
throughout practice and showed his dominance several times with pancake blocks. Williams did some damage
against Selvish Capers toward the end of the practice. In addition to Jerry, Ted Larsen
was also impressive and quickly got into defenders while run blocking and showed nice lateral movement.
On the other side of the line, Terrence Cody could not be slowed down and proved he has the
potential to be a premier run stopper in the NFL. Of course, the big question with Cody surrounds his
weight and whether it continues to spiral out of control. Geno Atkins was extremely instinctive
and showed great penetration through the line. He has a lot to gain this week as he’s a little undersized
but makes up for it with his strength and quickness.
--Craig VanderKam
| 
Tim Tebow |
Dexter McCluster worked out with both the RBs and the WRs and looked great at both places. He
looked natural catching the ball and extended his hands really well. The only problem was that on a
couple routes where he was being guarded by DBs, he got bumped off his routes too easily. McCluster
also made a highlight reel diving catch after burning Alabama corner Javier Arenas
deep which brought high praise from the crowd despite Arenas being a hometown favorite here.
Tim Tebow struggled today. His delivery looks awful. We’ve all discussed it for years,
but seeing it in person and being able to compare it side by side with other NFL prospects it really
sticks out. He drops the ball to his knees before he winds up to throw and it gives the defense an extra
half second to anticipate the throw. Defensive backs were able to jump routes when Tebow was throwing the ball.
Zac Robinson impressed me with his arm strength. He was throwing darts all day and got great rotation
on the ball.
Ben Tate ran some good routes out of the backfield today but showed inconsistent hands.
He dropped a few passes that should have been routine catches.
Taylor Mays looked confused on defense. During team drills he was late diagnosing plays and never
really stood out as a dominant defender. You can see his athleticism when runs to the ball carrier,
but he’s always in a bad position to make the play.
Riley Cooper looked great today after declaring that he will be focusing on football rather
than baseball. He made a catch down the sideline that drew praise from fans in the stadium. Anthony McCoy was also very impressive with both his blocking and his hands. He looks natural
plucking the ball on the run and ran some good routes that got him some separation.
--Ian Kenyon
|
