Senior Bowl Winners and Losers

The 2009 Senior Bowl lacked the star power of previous games but several players were out to prove that they had the inside track to more money come draft day. With a lot to be desired for some positions, especially at defensive tackle, prospects performed their way to the top of draft boards during the four days of practice leading up to the Senior Bowl game on Saturday.

Winners

DT B.J. Raji (Boston College)
B.J. Raji was utterly explosive all week during practices. Already considered to be one of the top two defensive tackles, Raji may have locked up a top 15 selection when he dominated Oregon State OG Andy Levitre. Raji simply outworked his counterparts and put on a display of size and speed that Mobile has not seen since Brodrick Bunkley came through in 2006.

DT Evander “Ziggy” Hood (Missouri)
Hood set the tone early for his domination by out-maneuvering Cal center Alex Mack on Monday. While he didn’t really stand out the rest of the week, Hood’s strength should show on Saturday during the game. His knowledge of the game was impressive and therefore he should be a lock for at least the second round.

WR Derrick Williams (Penn State)
Derrick Williams put on a clinic all week long in practice. He showed the other wide receivers (and d-back’s) how to come out of a break and get separation by way of speed and proper route running. Williams also practiced as a punt returner where his skill set appears to be satisfying.

DE Larry English (Northern Illinois)
English is a possible outside linebacker in a 3-4. Still, he said he would love to get drafted by the Chicago Bears. He may not be around for them in the second round though, especially after his performance during the practices in Mobile. English showed his good motor, lateral quickness, and great moves.

TE Shawn Nelson (Southern Miss)
Shawn Nelson is one of the five best tight ends according to us. He is having one of the best week’s a tight end has ever had at the Senior Bowl. He catches everything plus his blocking is very good. He uses his hands, not his body, to reel in the reception.

CB Coye Francies (San Jose State)
One of the more unheralded defensive backs had a good week of practice in Mobile. He stays low and grounded, shows excellent balance, and is physical with the wide receiver from the snap. In 11-on-11 drills, he showed excellent coverage skills.

RB Andre Brown (North Carolina State)
Brown is from the Brandon Jacobs-variety. He has showed a powerful inside running ability all week long. Likely, he could get drafted within the first four rounds. Still, will he be another Jacobs or an Eric Shelton?

OT Jason Watkins (Florida)
Watkins was surprisingly consistent all week long. He has good, quick feet and is very fundamentally sound. He was hardly beaten off of the tackle all week long and showed enough for us to like him in the rush offense.

Losers

OT Phil Loadholt (Oklahoma)
Like we have said, Loadholt is a very big boy but has very slow feet. He was beaten more this week than he has all season (which makes us question how good Oklahoma’s offensive line really was). Loadholt was almost likable for the second round of the draft but we have to now say that he is nothing more than a mid-rounder at best.

CB Darius Butler (Connecticut)
The wide receivers that he faced this week wiped the floor with him. Butler may have been too aggressive and bit extremely hard on any pump fake or side-step, but he was simply terrible in man coverage and will not be a first round selection.

OG Andy Levitre (Oregon State)
After getting beat a lot this week, Levitre almost got into a fight on Wednesday with USF’s Tyrone McKenzie. Levitre has some work to do as he doesn’t combat any swim-like move real well. His injury history raises some red flags as well.

OLB Clint Sintim (Virginia)
Sintim, one of our favorite prospects, struggled getting any pressure from the edge and looked slow compared to the other defenders. While we can’t ignore what he did on Saturday’s, something wasn’t clicking this week in Mobile for him.

CB Domonique Johnson (Jackson State)
Hoping to be this year’s small school high-riser, Johnson has failed to impress. He struggled in zone and man coverage all week. He doesn’t get off of blocks well either.

S Derek Pegues (Mississippi State)
Needs a ton of work on his tackling, as we seen with the practices where coaches were focused on improving that area of the game. Speed was inconsistent and Pegues seemed to play out of his element a lot this past week.

Of course, more guys looked good and more struggled than we mentioned but we just wanted to point out our winners & losers. The winners should see their stock improve while the opposite should happen with the losers.

January 23, 2009 | Filed Under ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, CUSA, General, Independent, MAC, MWC, NFL, Pac10, SEC, Small School, WAC

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Surprise call ‘corrals’ Carr into bowl

Greg Carr’s NFL future changed with one ring of his cell phone Tuesday night.

As excited as he was, however, the former Florida State wide receiver couldn’t even respond to the news.

Sitting with a mouth full of food at a Golden Corral restaurant in Atlanta, Carr picked up a call from his agent, Richard Kopelman, who told Carr to be ready to travel in 20 minutes.

He had just become a late addition to the Senior Bowl roster, joining the South team in Mobile for Saturday’s game.

Better eat fast.

“I had a dinner roll in my mouth and got the phone call,” Carr said. “It surprised me. I packed a bag and got on a plane. I didn’t ask any questions, I was just ready to go.”

Carr’s invitation kept alive the Seminoles’ 18-year streak of having at least one player represented in the Senior Bowl. It seemed that impressive streak was history after star placekicker Graham Gano, a Tate High graduate and winner of the Lou Groza Award as the nation’s best collegiate kicker, failed to receive an invitation.

For Carr, getting here was half the battle. Continue Reading

January 23, 2009 | Filed Under ACC

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Declared Underclassmen - Final List

D.J. Moore, CB, Vanderbilt
Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois
Sen’Derrick Marks, DT, Auburn
Shonn Greene, RB, Iowa
Josh Freeman, QB, Kansas State
Captain Munnerlyn, CB, South Carolina
Ricky Jean-Francois, DT, LSU
Myron Rolle, FS, Florida State
Andrew Davie, TE, Arkansas
Eben Britton, OT, Arizona
Kenny Britt, WR, Rutgers
Donald Brown, RB, Connecticut
Andre Smith, OT, Alabama
Emmanuel Cook, S, South Carolina
Gerald McRath, LB, Southern Miss
Hakeem Nicks, WR, North Carolina
James Casey, TE, Rice
Jerraud Powers, CB, Auburn
Matt Stafford, QB, Georgia
Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia
Everette Brown, DE, Florida State
Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland
Kevin Olgetree, WR, Virginia
Jared Cook, TE, South Carolina
Jeremy Maclin, WR, Missouri
Michael Crabtree, WR, Texas Tech
Chris “Beanie” Wells, RB, Ohio State
P.J. Hill, RB, Wisconsin
Garrett Graham, TE, Wisconsin
Austin Collie, WR, BYU
Glen Coffee, RB, Alabama
Mike Goodson, RB, Texas A&M
Carson Butler, TE/DE, Michigan
Aaron Maybin, DE, Penn State
James Williams, CB, So. Connecticut
Richard Quinn, TE, North Carolina
Greg Isdaner, OG, West Virginia
Brandon Mason, RB, Stony Brook
LeSean McCoy, RB, Pitt
Paul Kruger, DE, Utah
Sean Smith, CB, Utah
Nate Davis, QB, Ball State
Asher Allen, CB, Georgia
Brandon LaFell, WR, LSU
Maurice Evans, DE, Penn State
Brian Hartline, WR, Ohio State
Jeremy Childs, WR, Boise State
Brandon Williams, DE, Texas Tech
Mark Sanchez, QB, USC
Percy Harvin, WR, Florida

Staying
Colt McCoy, QB, Texas
Terrence Cody, DT, Alabama
Sean Weatherspoon, LB, Missouri
Damian Williams, WR, USC
Kam Chancellor, S, Va. Tech
Antonio Coleman, OLB, Auburn
Eric Norwood, DE/OLB, South Carolina
George Selvie, DE, USF
Mark Herzlich, LB, Boston College
Tim Tebow, QB, Florida
Brandon Spikes, LB, Florida
Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska
Gerald McCoy, DT, Oklahoma
Taylor Mays, S, USC
Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
Jermaine Gresham, TE, Oklahoma
Greg Hardy, DE, Ole Miss

January 23, 2009 | Filed Under ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, CUSA, General, Independent, MAC, MWC, Pac10, SEC, Small School, Underclassmen, WAC

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Top Prospects at each position

Quarterbacks
1. Mark Sanchez (Southern Cal)
2. Matt Stafford (Georgia)
3. Josh Freeman (Kansas State)
4. Nate Davis (Ball State)
5. Rhett Bomar (Sam Houston State)

Running Backs
1. Knowshon Moreno (Georgia)
2. Chris Wells (Ohio State)
3. LeSean McCoy (Pittsburgh)
4. Shonn Greene (Iowa)
5. Donald Brown (Connecticut)

Wide Receivers
1. Jeremy Maclin (Missouri)
2. Michael Crabtree (Texas Tech)
3. Darrius Heyward-Bey (Maryland)
4. Hakeem Nicks (North Carolina)
5. Derrick Williams (Penn State)

Tight Ends
1. Brandon Pettigrew (Oklahoma State)
2. James Casey (Rice)
3. Chase Coffman (Missouri)
4. Cornelius Ingram (Florida)
5. Travis Beckum (Wisconsin)

Off. Tackles
1. Eugene Monroe (Virginia)
2. Michael Oher (Ole Miss)
3. Jason Smith (Baylor)
4. Andre Smith (Alabama)
5. Eben Britton (Arizona)

Off. Guards
1. Duke Robinson (Oklahoma)
2. Andy Levitre (Oregon State)
3. Jamon Meredith (South Carolina)
4. Herman Johnson (LSU)
5. Kraig Urbik (Wisconsin)

Centers
1. Alex Mack (California)
2. Max Unger (Oregon)
3. Eric Wood (Louisville)
4. Antoine Caldwell (Alabama)
5. A.Q. Shipley (Penn State)

Defensive Ends
1. Everette Brown (Florida State)
2. Brian Orakpo (Texas)
3. Larry English (Northern Illinois)
4. Michael Johnson (Georgia Tech)
5. Aaron Maybin (Penn State)

Defensive Tackles
1. Peria Jerry (Ole Miss)
2. B.J. Raji (Boston College)
3. Evander Hood (Missouri)
4. Ron Brace (Boston College)
5. Fili Moala (Southern Cal)

Outside Linebackers
1. Aaron Curry (Wake Forest)
2. Clint Sintim (Virginia)
3. Brian Cushing (Southern Cal)
4. Gerald McRath (Southern Miss)
5. Marcus Freeman (Ohio State)

Inside Linebackers
1. Rey Maualuga (Southern Cal)
2. Scott McKillop (Pittsburgh)
3. Jason Phillips (TCU)
4. Dannell Ellerbe (Georgia)
5. James Laurinaitis (Ohio State)

Cornerbacks
1. Malcolm Jenkins (Ohio State)
2. D.J. Moore (Vanderbilt)
3. Vontae Davis (Illinois)
4. Alphonso Smith (Wake Forest)
5. Sean Smith (Utah)

Safeties
1. Rashad Johnson (Alabama)
2. Louis Delmas (Western Michigan)
3. William Moore (Missouri)
4. Patrick Chung (Oregon)
5. David Bruton (Notre Dame)

January 23, 2009 | Filed Under ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, CUSA, General, Independent, MAC, MWC, NFL, Pac10, Prospect Rankings, SEC, Small School, Underclassmen, WAC

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