Today was the second day of practice at the NFLPA Bowl in Carson, CA. There were, again, no NFL scouts in attendance as they have been barred from going because the NFLPA chose to invite juniors that have declared for the draft. There were a couple UFL and CFL scouts, but attendance at the practices has been sparse to say the least.
First up on Wednesday was the National Team:
Patrick Witt, QB, Yale - While Witt probably couldn't have had a much worse day than he had on Tuesday, he actually looked like one of the best quarterbacks on the entire day. There was a never question he had a big arm, but today it was much more dialed in and accurate. On timing routes he released the ball at the perfect time and it was reaching receivers right where it needed to be as soon as they would turn their heads.Paul Madsen, G, Colorado State - Showed strength at the point of attack and did a good job sealing his man on run plays. The National Team coaches relied on Madsen most to pull across the formation and he did a good job getting across quickly, but he would sometimes get out of control and would be easily sidestepped or pushed off balance by defenders.
Laron Scott, CB, Georgia Southern - At just 5'8, 173 pounds it's understandable why Scott has little to no chance at being drafted, but he did impress at practice today. While his speed was never really a question, he did a very good job at showing the ability to fight off receivers and get to the ball in the air. Scott showed good ball skills and battled for the ball against a roster of very tall and strong receivers, including a very impressive interception against USC's Brandon Carswell. Not surprisingly, he was very easily sealed off and blocked during run plays.
G.J. Kinne, QB, Tulsa - I continue to be impressed by Kinne. He certainly doesn't have the arm that Witt or Harris have, but he's confident enough to rifle it in coverage on target. Against NFL-quality coverages he may get himself into trouble and he didn't have as good of a day as he did on Tuesday, but he shows intelligence and has enough of an arm to run an offense that doesn't feature much of a vertical game.
Taylor Embree, WR, UCLA - Embree again looked impressive with very smooth hands. He was clean in and out of his routes, getting the separation necessary to make the catch. Would have liked to see him battle for ball in the area of defenders more as any challenged throw was batted away from him. For his size I'd like to see more physicality at the position.
Marquette King, P, Fort Valley State - Because punters matter too. King was booming 50-60 yard punts over and over with plenty of hangtime. He had no problem angling them towards the sideline either. Some on the sidelines were joking that he was the top performer of the day.
Bryce McNaul, LB, Northwestern - McNaul showed a nack for finding the ball carrier as he did a great job flowing with the blockers and filling the correct gap at the right time. It's hard to find out how physical the linebackers are when there isn't any tackling, but with shoulder pads you could see that he met blockers with good leverage and did a good job shedding the blockers and swimming through blockers to get to the ball carrier.
Andrew Iupati, DT, Humboldt State - Brother of 49ers G and former first round pick, Mike Iupati, Andrew Iupati had a good day once the pads went on. He's a short defensive tackle (6-1, 310), but he makes for a very stout run stopper that was described by one person on the sideline as a "tank." He's not going to be a great pass rusher, but he could be a player that occupies multiple blockers and acts as a strong rotational nose tackle.
Matt Romine, G, Tulsa - Romine was pretty strong as a run blocker, but had a terrible day in pass protection. Iupati pushed him aside with a strong swim move and when he put his head forward against Wisconsin DT Patrick Butrym he was pulled forward and to the ground and easily beaten.
Delano Johnson, LB, Bowie State - I can't say that I expected a player from Bowie State to be the loudest player at the game, but he definitely is. At 6'4, 252 he is a very large linebacker and he uses his size well. He's not very fast though and against faster receivers and tight ends he will likely be abused in coverage.