Note: This is solely my opinion based on what I watched and was told with conversations with people at the practices.
It's the final day of Senior Bowl practices and for the most part what's been done is done. There won't be a whole lot a final day of practice will change. There were some players who definitely hurt their draft stock and some who definitely helped their draft stock. After the jump, I'm going to give you some guys that I think hurt their stock and helped their stock. In this post we'll focus on the losers.
LOSERS
Christian Ponder, QB, Florida State
I had high hopes for Ponder heading into Senior Bowl week because he played with an injured tricep/elbow all season at FSU. It showed his toughness, but if it hadn't been his senior year he'd been better served to be sat down. The damaged he caused long-term is apparent. He's been consistently "blah" all week in practice and his arm is leaving a lot to be desired. Some contend he's not 100% yet and could drastically improve come personal work outs and the NFL Combine, however. He tended to hold the ball too long and was tentative, playing too careful.
Jake Locker, QB, Washington
I don't think Locker was a "loser" in the sense that it hurt his draft stock much if at all. His mechanics and footwork are borderline flawless, but he's erratic throwing the football and slow to decipher coverage. The coverage issue can come with time, as he only played in an offense requiring that for his final two seasons. His arm is more than strong enough and he's physically and athletically impressive, but somethings just off. He was wildly inconsistent all week.
Andy Dalton, QB, Texas Christian
I fought myself to leave Dalton off this list, but his reviews have been all over the place, but he wasn't necessarily bad. Todd McShay and Greg Gabriel thought highly of him. I watched him and came away kind of "meh" with some questions about his arm strength. He sets up quickly and throws a catchable ball, but questions about his arm linger. Not to mention the fact that he didn't look all that much better than his South teammate Greg McElroy, who's not even expected to be drafted until the 6th or 7th round. Dalton can make up a lot of ground in work outs and the Combine, but he's a guy people are all over the board with. I'm not entirely sure what to think of him at this point.
Jeremy Beal, DE/LB, Oklahoma
Beal was a player many wanted to see at both end and linebacker given he weighed in much bigger than expected at 268 pounds. Quite frankly however, he had a pretty poor week of practice. He got swallowed up in pass rush drills from the end position by offensive tackles and didn't look very good standing up either. Beal's got a lot of work to do for a player who was highly touted as a potential second round pick.
Allen Bailey, DL, Miami(FL)
Bailey might be a player suffering from position switches at Miami, as he's got great athleticism and body size for the defensive line, but he just didn't show out much. He only has one pass rush move, the bull rush, and offensive linemen were quick to simply just anchor and stuff him. He's a prospect who will physically test out great, but he's not all there yet and is a man without a position.
Casey Matthews, LB, Oregon
Matthews gets a lot of pub because of his older brother, but he's a good player in his own right. Matthews was coming off the BCS National Championship game where he played well, but was disappointing in practice. He was routinely blocked out and washed out of plays, and in one-on-one drills with the running back he was stuff nearly every time.
Mark Herzlich, LB, Boston College
Herzlich is a fantastic story because of his battle with rare bone cancer, but from a football stand point he just didn't have a great week. His size is more than ideal for a linebacker at 6-5 250 pounds, but he's not all back yet. You can see he's still getting his football legs under him after missing a full season and part of the 2010 season. He's a guy who in a year or two could regain the form he was in in 2008 when he looked like a potential Top 15 pick, but right now he was just average and struggled in coverage.
Noel Devine, RB, West Virginia
Devine is a tiny running back, and that's being generous. Everyone was concerned with his size and they became more concerned when he actually weighed in at 160 pounds. He was so small, the South coaches wouldn't even let him participate in one-on-one pass blocking drills. Devine is certainly fast and explosive, but he's small small small for the NFL running back position. He might be better served as a kick returner and putting on some weight.
Kristofer O'Dowd, C, Southern Cal
O'Dowd had drawn comparisons to former USC center Ryan Khalil, but I'm not sure why. He simply cannot anchor from the center position and if you can't do that you won't play. He's a big body with some talent, but he gets over powered and bull rushed way too easily.