2011 Senior Bowl North Practice Notes: Day 2

I was able to sneak away for about 45 minutes and catch most of the North practice today. Once again it focused early on the quarterbacks in one-on-one drills. Locker keeps displaying his picture perfect throwing motion and cannon for an arm, but his accuracy is still erratic. That may just be what he is, but at the NFL he'll certainly have more talent than he did in college to help make up for that. Ricky Stanzi looks the most polished and "NFL ready" of the North quarterbacks. He's got an NFL arm and his best attribute is his ball placement, making most catches easy for his receivers. He was a bit erratic today, however. Colin Kaepernick remains the most interesting quarterback. He's got a strong arm able to zip the ball down the field, but he has a funky long throwing motion. It's not a huge wind up, as he keeps the ball high and doesn't drop down, but it's just... long and kind of three-quarters.

On the defensive side of the ball, Iowa's Christian Ballard and Cameron Jordan stole the show. Both were seemingly unblockable in one-on-one pass rush drills. Jordan routinely beat blockers from the defensive tackle and defensive end position. Ballard showed explosiveness off the ball and was tough to block, but wasn't nearly as unblockable as Jordan. Purdue's Ryan Kerrigan had another up and down day. When he gets the initial step on the offensive lineman, he can blow past them. If he doesn't however, he gets engulfed. He was stoned twice in a row by Nate Solderof Colorado. Kerrigan got in Solder's hands and tried to bull rush to no avail. The second time he tried to spin out, but Solder wouldn't let him by.

For the receivers, Titus Young of Boise State and San Diego State's Vincent Brown continued to impress. Young has drawn comparison's to Eagles DeSean Jackson, but I'm told Young is all speed and doesn't have the change of direction quickness of someone like Jackson. Boise State's other receiver, Austin Pettis, is a big body who's not fast but he knows how to block out defenders and catch touchdowns. North Carolina's Kendric Burney continues to show well as he did yesterday, showing fluid hips and sticking to receivers. Virginia Tech's Rashad Carmichael has also played very well, but did get caught for would-be pass interference on some deeper routes. New addition Richard Sherman of Stanford is a big corner (6-3, 192) and watching him he looks like a corner/safety hybrid. His best bet in the NFL is probably a move to safety because of his size. He looked good in press coverage where he could be physical, but struggled when he had to play off.

Michigan State's Greg Jones had criticism for his coverage coming into the week, but he had a nice day today doing a little bit of everything. Boston College's Mark Herzlich started out rough but recovered nicely. He's just a massive linebacker, but he does move well for his size.