Today was the last day of full practices and both teams elected to go without pads and go with more of a walkthrough approach rather than a contact practice. As such, it was hard to take away much from the lineman and running backs, but the passing drills did show off the quarterbacks, receivers and defensive backs.
First up today was the American Team:
Bo Levi Mitchell, QB, Eastern Washington - Mitchell had the best day of the American Team quarterbacks and probably had the best week of practice as well. Standing at 6'0, 199 pounds, Mitchell probably doesn't have the size nor the arm necessary to be an NFL quarterback, but he should have won the American Team starting position. He anticipates receivers breaking open well and is deadly accurate on underneath and intermediate routes.Nick Stephens, QB, Tartleton State - Stephens' day started out rough with three consecutive overthrows that resulted in incomplete passes on the same play, a rollout to the right side of the field. The 6'4, 227 pound QB had some difficulties making accurate passes on the move, but on the plays where he set his feet he had a great day. Has a big arm and throws an excellent deep ball with touch and even showed some success on the rollout play later in practice after he had gotten into a groove
Jarett Lee, QB, LSU - Jarett Lee is the quarterback most being talked about at the game, but has been underwhelming. While he hasn't been terrible, he's been a little late on just about every throw of practice. Most of the time it just results in the receiver turning their body a bit to catch the ball, other times it results in a receiver turning all the way around and when there's defense it has resulted in interceptions. Probably the most accurate of the three quarterbacks on the run, though.
Desmond Cox, RB, Morehead State & Jason Ford, RB, Illinois - Running with the ball when lineman aren't wearing pads is never all that impressive, but pass catching certainly can be. Both Cox and Ford showed impressive hands with fingertip catches on wheel routes about 30 yards downfield.
Lavasier Tuinei, WR, Oregon - My favorite receiver of the first two days for the American Team came back down to Earth today with four or five drops by my count. He looked lackadaisical at times as he went through his routes and never once went up to fight a defensive back for the ball.
Jared Green, WR, Southern - Green was the best receiver of the day showing plenty of quickness and explosiveness. He's very shifty at the line ran crisp routes that gave room for throws. Also impressive were the hands he showed in traffic, fighting off defensive backs for the ball. Does need to work on knowing where the sideline is.
Jonathan Bademosi, CB, Stanford - Bademosi was very good in coverage today with very physical play at the line. At 6'1, 198, he uses his size well and may have enough size to make for an athletic free safety. He has great hips that allow him to stay very close to the receiver and he has good ball skills that allowed him to come away with a couple interceptions on the week.
Richard Crawford, CB, SMU - One of my favorite guys of the week, Crawford had another good day. He mirrors receivers extremely well and always stays right in their hip pocket. On zone plays he breaks on routes very quickly and is there to hit the receiver when the ball gets there. He struggled today with getting his head around to locate the ball in the air and gave the receiver a chance at times.