| Senior Bowl |
| --Game Day: Saturday, January 30 (4 ET) |
| January 27 -- North Practice Thoughts: |
| 
Garrett Graham |
It was another sunny morning in Mobile and with a new day came new surprises at the North team’s practice. I again spent a lot of time watching receivers and defensive backs and was excited to see how Kyle Wilson would continue to perform. It wasn’t Kyle Wilson that caught my eye today, though.
Pittsburgh TE/WR Dorin Dickerson looked phenomenal today. Dickerson ran crisp routes and made several nice catches-- enough to warrant Steeler’s coach Mike Tomlin’s praise from the sidelines. He topped his receiving performance off with a ballerina-like tip-toe along the sidelines, tapping two feet in bounds before being pushed out. He’s not someone I initially came into this week expected much from, but he burnt Syd’Quan Thompson today on a go route. I’ll be watching more of him tomorrow.
Brandon Ghee looked better today. He had a nice pass break-up against Mardy Gilyard and did a better job limiting separation in coverage. He’s not far from being my favorite corner in this year’s draft class. He’s not the fastest or most agile, but I love his attitude and I can’t wait to see what he does in full pads Saturday.
Speaking of attitude, Dan LeFevour left Garrett Graham hanging out to dry on a floated pass to the sidelines. Larry Asante hit him low and flipped Graham around, but took some heat from North coaches for not going for the ball. You love to see safeties who like to hit, but you hate to see guys going at legs during practice. I guess we’ll see Saturday if he likes to hit opponents as hard as he hits his teammates.
WR Taylor Price from Ohio University has been getting some praise for his good hands in practice this week, but he seems to have problems finding the ball out of cuts. He adjusts well to the ball in the air on deeper routes, but he has trouble finding the ball on out and slant patterns. Timing routes might be a problem for Price in the future, so I’ll be watching for him to do a better job finding the football and reacting to it more quickly.
I was excited to see some of the late adds today, including Cory Jackson of Maryland. He’s been on my fullback radar for a while and I’ll be happy to get a good look at him as the week progresses.
--Justin Onslow
| 
Sean Weatherspoon |
Joique Bell made a few nice catches during position drills. He’s been really impressive in practices. North coach Jim Schwartz made a comment yesterday during the press conference that with players like Bell who come from small schools, you look to see if they fit in with this level of competition. Bell has fit in and looks like a solid mid round prospect in April’s draft at this point. Lonyae Miller improved from yesterday’s practice. He was quick in and out of the hole and made a few nice cuts during the 11 vs. 11 drills. He also took a pitch and showed the ability to turn the corner. LeGarrette Blount is a true north/south runner; it’s hard to tell the effectiveness though because these aren’t full contact practices. It will be interesting to watch him finish runs on Saturday.
Sean Canfield had a better day and looked good with his short to intermediate throws. He still has trouble slinging the ball downfield, but he’s been really precise with the short routes. Dan LeFevour made a couple nice throws during practice, but also struggled with his accuracy. He was leaving passes high and missed a lot of open receivers who had to adjust to the ball.
Jacoby Ford had another good day. He looked explosive and made a few nice grabs. He’s really been shooting up boards this week by demonstrating a solid set of hands while also being the fastest player on the North roster.
Vladimir Ducasse lined up at LT for most of the day and struggled. He continually got beat by quicker edge-rushers. On one instance, Austen Lane blew past him and Ducasse barely laid a hand on him. His footwork has looked sloppy throughout the week and one has to wonder how he’d fair against top NFL competition.
Sean Weatherspoon was extremely vocal and intense during practice today. He looks like a fiery competitor and is constantly amping up the players around him. I spoke with Sean after practice and he is a really nice guy, has to be a coach’s dream I’m sure.
--Ian Kenyon
| 
Thomas Welch |
The most impressive lineman today was Penn State’s Jared Odrick. He got good penetration at the line and blew right by Mike Iupati and Zane Beadles in two consecutive plays. He beat Shawn Lauvao in a later drill and tallied two tackles-for-loss in the 11-on-11 drills, and got to the quarterback once on a pass play. Iupati said after practice he’d play LT in the next level if needed, but admitted he needed work there and that it didn’t go well yesterday. As a guard today, he exploded into his blocks and showed very good strength at the point of attack.
The biggest roar from the crowd during the North practice was after Arkansas St. DL Alex Carrington bull-rushed Tyson Alualu to the ground. The 2008 Sun Belt Player of the Year has had a nice week and should go in the middle rounds of the Draft.
The newest additions to the North roster are Youngstown St. WR Donald Jones, Vanderbilt OL Thomas Welch and Maryland FB Cory Jackson. We had said yesterday that Bowling Green WR Freddie Barnes had received an invite. According to BGSU Sports Information Director Dave Meyer, Fredde Barnes declined the invite.
Eric Olsen looked slow, as did Vladimir Ducasse in their lateral movement. Olsen was caught out of position on some running plays, too often giving up the inside when the run was headed that way. Welch had an up-and-down day, showed quick feet early but then got beat by speed (Brandon Graham) later in practice. Both Sam Young and Ducasse were easily pushed around by bigger objects and Ducasse, working as a LT, easily got beat in one instance by Murray St. DE Austen Lane.
--Craig VanderKam
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