2011 East West Shrine Game: West Team
by Alfie Crow on Jan 20, 2011 2:00 PM EST
in 2011 NFL Draft
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The weather on Tuesday and Wednesday in Orlando, Florida was perfect for standing outside and watching football practice. Monday, practice was held in the Grand Ball Room of the hotel, which was rather hilarious. There were kids taking falls on the carpet and getting blocked into potted plants. Tuesday and Wednesday however, the weather was perfect. The West, coached by former NFL head coach and current Houston Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips are weak at some critical positions.
First of all, Wade Phillips ran special teams practice for about a half hour on Tuesday afternoon, which was rather obnoxious. You could see most of the NFL scouts, etc. with an annoyed look on their face, especially because the West's kicker, Dan Bailey of Oklahoma State, kept booting the kickoff out of the endzone.
Once real practice rolled around, it was a little easier to evaluate the players. At the quarterback position, the West team falls short compared to the East team. The best quarterback on the West roster is Idaho's Nathan Enderle, and he's often erratic. He's got great size and an arm to make all of the throws, but he's wildly inconsistent. The other quarterbacks are Wisconsin's Scott Tolzien and Texas A&M's Jerrod Johnson, both of which have been underwhelming. Tolzien simply doesn't have an NFL arm and you can tell he muscles every one of his throws no matter the distance. Johnson is impressive with his size and his arm strength, but he's simply just not any good at the quarterback position. His 35 inch wingspan effects his throwing motion and he's not accurate. Not to mention he's just poor at reading the field even in skeleton drills. He should be running routes and catching passes to utilize his athleticism and size, but he's not.
At the running back position, Hawaii's Alex Green has been impressive. He's quick with good size and catches the football really well. South Carolina fullback Patrick DiMarco shows good skills in the passing game catching the ball out of the backfield, but he's playing a dying position in today's NFL. By showing he can catch out of the backfield however, he'll prove valuable enough to potentially stick to a roster.
Everyone was curious to see Ontario offensive lineman Matthew O'Donnell because of his size, he's 6'10". While he's an imposing figure on the football field, it just doesn't translate well. Once he gets his hands on someone he can go to work, but his problem is actually getting his hands on them. O'Donnell is almost too tall, as he struggled mightely with edge rushers who would simply bend wide and use their speed to just run past him. O'Donnell was also bull rushed by Fresno State linebacker Chris Carter in one on one pass rushing drills.
The other Canadian player at the game was wide receiver Anthony Parker from Calgary. Unlike his Canadian counterpart, Parker looked very good in the two days of practice I attended. He's rather thick for a wide receiver, looking more like a running back, but he shows nice strong hands and runs good routes. Oregon wide receiver Jeff Maehl was rather disappointing in the two days I attended. In college, he had a knack for just making plays. He looked small and frail, but that was expected. Maehl struggled getting open, didn't draw many looks from the quarterbacks, and just didn't look very good. Maehl has a tendency to show up in games however, so it's possible he's just a poor practice player. Stanford's Ryan Whalen wasn't overly impressive, but he simply caught everything thrown to him. Whalen runs excellent routes and showed great concentration on a deep ball down the seam that was tipped and still was able to pull in the catch. Whalen also stayed after every practice and ran routes for Scott Tolzien.
Southern Cal tight end Jordan Cameron looks like a natural all around tight end. He did a nice job blocking on the edge in 11 on 11 drills and showed a knack to find open holes in the zone on passing routes. He showed nice hands and an ability to box out defenders and go up for the football. The other interesting tight end at the game is Portland State's Julius Williams. Williams, who also played basketball at Portland State, is a great athlete playing tight end. He's primarily of the pass catching variety, but he knows how to get open, has soft hands, and is very quick and fast for his size.
UCLA defensive tackle David Carter was the most dominant defensive tackle on the West squad. Carter wasn't as dominant as UNC's Marvin Austin, but it was close. Carter gave the interior lineman fits, showing a good array of pass rushing moves. He set up the lineman nicely for spin moves to get to the quarterback. Iowa defensive lineman Karl Klugwas unimpressive his first day of practice, but showed much better on day two. Rice defensive end Cheta Ozougwuwas unblockable as a pass rusher. He's smallish with shorter than ideal arms and will likely have to transition to linebacker at the next level, but he knows how to get to the quarterback.
The linebacker everyone came to see was Nevada's Dontay Moch who claims to run in the 4.1-4.2 40-yard dash range. While Moch is unbelievably fast, I highly doubt he runs in that range. Moch was all over the field however, and even showed an ability to rush the passer off the edge. California linebacker Michael Mohammed wasn't flashy, but was always around the play. Aside from Moch, Fresno State's Chris Carter was the best linebacker on the West team. Carter seems like an ideal 3-4 outside linebacker. He played stand up in 11 on 11 drills and would work with the defensive ends in pass rushing drills.
In the defensive backfield, Idaho's Shiloh Keo and Boise State's Jeron Johnson were the cream of the crop at the safety position. Keo is a thick safety who can come up and lay a hit, but also shows excellent play recognition skills. Johnson is the classic free safety who patrols the middle of the field. At the corner position, Boise State's Brandyn Thompsonoften blanketed his receivers and picked off multiple bad throws by the West team quarterbacks. Notre Dame's Darrin Walls was good and bad in his practices. Walls would often stay on the hip of his receiver, but he'd allow the receiver to make the catch and not make a play on the ball.
Jaguars Interest West Team:
Nathan Enderle, QB, Idaho
Julius Williams, TE, Portland State
Dontay Moch, LB, Nevada
Chris Carter, LB, Fresno State
Shiloh Keo, S, Idaho
Brandyn Thompson, CB, Boise State
Nicholas Bellore, LB, Central Michigan
Ricky Elmore, DE/LB, Arizona
David Carter, DL, UCLA
Cheta Ozougwu, DE/LB, Rice
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Thanks Mr Crow
Invaluable insights.
How could you see us using Moch? Too small for end. Situational rusher from OLB?
Same with Cheta is that what you’re proposing third-down linebackers?
Also your ’ tone’ doesn’t sound impressed by WR Whalen but your words make him sound ideal. Which way are you leaning?
What are the speeds like for Brandyn Thompson and Keo. You can’t coach speed but they sound good.
What could of happened; did.
Whalen just makes plays, but he’s not physically impressive.
by Alfie Crow on Jan 21, 2011 6:41 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
David Carter
is a good unheralded player, but he’s too similar to Alualu, Leger, and DA Smith to make the team right away.
Got these 10 players to watch from Universal Draft
1. DT #99 Marvin Austin, East – Austin dominated practices and should be able to affect the West’s ability to get their ground game going. He is the only true blue chip prospect in Orlando. He uses a combination of good technique, strong natural power, and superb athleticism to make plays in both facets of the game. He can explode off the ball and beat linemen with his initial move, he can use counters to shake himself free, he can steer blockers and close on the running lane, and he can drive blockers straight back with brute strength.
2. RB #12 Delone Carter, East – Carter has a tremendous inside game and gets through his cuts in the backfield quickly, has the versatility to pick his holes in zone or man schemes. He also can catch the ball out of the backfield with nice, soft hands, and I expect him to do that during the game with checkdown guys throwing to him. He should show some strength and balance in this game as he’s built like a bowling ball.
3. QB #17 Pat Devlin, East – Devlin is a former blue chip high school quarterback prospect that transferred from Penn State to Delaware when Joe Paterno switched to his high octane spread system, which made the competition between a dropback guy like Devlin and a versatile player like Daryll Clark, a foregone conclusion. He favors short passes and uses his eyes well to fool defenders. He lacks the arm strength to consistently use the perimeter of the field unless he’s got his feet set and a good follow-thru. Because of this, he can be a deer-in-headlights when pressured inside the pocket. However, he is extremely accurate and knows how to hurt a defense with timing, eye use and accuracy.
4. LB #55 Dontay Moch, West – He is a top prospect but he is not necessarily being put in this game at a position that will put his unique abilities on display. He is an exceptional athlete and can put his hand down and pass rush against anyone in the Draft. Due to his athleticism, movement skills and lack of physicality, you want to back him up and put him in space, and then make use of his pass rush abilities in special situations. He is still adapting to a true linebacker role, and though he holds potential there, I don’t expect him to look like an exceptional player yet. The most disturbing part of his game is that he seems lazy on the field at times, does not play through the whistle.
5. DT #85 David Carter, West – Carter is a very good pro prospect with fantastic size and the versatility and movement skills to potentially shift out to a 5-Technique position at the NFL level. Playing on the inside in this game may be a bit more of a chore for him but he should do well with his long arms and power.
6. LB #43 Chris Carter, West – Much like Dontay Moch, Carter is not in a position where I expect him to do especially well in this game. Unlike Moch, I do think he should spend his NFL career rushing the passer full time as a Cameron Wake-like player in a 3-4 that rushes from the perimeter and only drops back into coverage about 15 to 20% of the time. He has fantastic speed and ability to get low, bend, and come back to the quarterback. He can use his speed to bull rush even the biggest players straight back into the quarterback.
7. CB #14 Cortez Allen, West – He caught my attention in a big way this week in Orlando, because of his combination of back pedal, fluid direction change, closing burst, and frame. He has the ability to lock on and/or deliver the blow at the line of scrimmage. Coming from the Citadel, he is a raw player, but when you polish him up I do believe he could be a starter in the NFL.
8. LB #19 Winston Venable, West – Some are going to call me nuts over this one, as he’s only 5′11″ and 219 lbs. But, you can’t teach what he has. For a 219 lbs player to be this explosive is special. He has genuine speed and burst, and can be a coverage specialist at the next level, but I will be damned if I could see anyone dominating him physically in the briar patch, the way he explodes into blockers, shows the eyes to find the ball, and makes plays in the backfield. I rarely invoke the holy name of Zach Thomas when I’m looking at a player, and I’m not saying he has Thomas’ prescience when it comes to predicting plays and knowing where to be, but he does have his physicality, pad level and ability to explode into targets in a way that has you mystified that such a small player can make such big plays.
9. WR Terrence Toliver, East – Toliver this week showed me some of the problems that made him an inconsistent player at LSU. But, he also showed me that if his quarterback wasn’t Jordan Jefferson, he probably would have caught a lot more passes. No player at the position in Orlando this week had his combination of size, fluid movement, understanding of routes, and ball skills. His cuts are effortless, and he gets up the field as quickly as anyone in Orlando, including the speedy but small Aldrick Robinson of SMU. There is a reason he is being brought up to the Senior Bowl to compete with better players.
10. TE #86 Virgil Green, West – This week Virgil showed up and weighed in very well, which was important because at times you look at him and swear you’re looking at a wide receiver. He has a lot of tape of him blocking extremely well for his size, and this week he showed that he was a savvy, smooth and fluid playmaker in the passing game. He looked good in space and he was able to haul in the ball with tight coverage. As I told one trainer who was looking for prospects, he is probably the best all-around Tight End in Orlando, even better than his teammate the x-factor #87 Julius Thomas.
Honorable Mentions (in no particular order): OT #61 Christian Hairston (East), OG #66 Randall Hunt (East), LB #33 Scott Lutrus (East), DT #9 Martin Parker (East), CB #9 Justin Rogers (East), FB #48 Anthony Sherman (East), DT #88 Brandon Bair (West), WR #80 Armon Binns (West), TE #84 Jordan Cameron (West), DE #44 Ricky Elmore (West), QB #10 Nathan Enderle (West), OT #78 Adam Grant (West), RB #25 Alex Green (West), LB #54 Ben Jacobs (West), SS #22 Jeron Johnson (West), DE #45 Cheta Ozougwu (West), WR #20 Aldrick Robinson (West), TE #87 Julius Thomas (West), CB #7 Brandyn Thompson (West), QB #16 Scott Tolzien (West), WR #8 Ryan Whalen (West)
What could of happened; did.
ILB Nicholas Bellore
6ft1in 250. I heard he’s very good against the run
what do you think and what round would he go in?
What could of happened; did.
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