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Senior Bowl: FSU's Williams takes charge
January, 23, 2013 10:46PM ET
By Todd McShay, Kevin Weidl, Steve Muench

Florida State's Vince Williams has been a physical and emotional presence at the Senior Bowl.

MOBILE, Ala. -- Just as one linebacker caught our eye in the morning practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, another made us take notice in the South's practice session in the afternoon.

Florida State's Vince Williams (6-foot-0½, 247 pounds) is big and strong. He really shows up when they do any type of hitting and striking. He did a nice job of slipping blocks when he should slip blocks, did a good job of taking them on when he should take them on. He's playing with a chip on his shoulder.

Sometimes guys emerge as leaders at the Senior Bowl, and this year Williams is one of those guys. The other players are rallying around him when he makes a play. You can see there's a little more emotion and fire with Williams. On Wednesday, you could see that he's a guy that everyone looks to on this defense to light a spark.

He's not a great athlete laterally, but he ran well on a straight line, and that was surprising because we weren't sure if he could do that.

Also in the South linebacker group, Missouri's Zaviar Gooden (6-1½, 233) is an absolute freak of an athlete and his speed is unbelievable. Pound for pound, he may be the fastest player in the draft.

But his instincts are not where they need to be, and he takes a lot of false steps and gets in trouble. If it wasn't for his rare speed, he'd be severely out of position and, even then, he's still out of position a lot.

Texas A&M's Shawn Porter (6-1⅜, 231) and Southern Mississippi's Jamie Collins (6-3 3/8, 245) flashed their talent on occasion. And Alabama's Nico Johnson (6-17/8, 249) is good against the run, but he has such severe limitations in coverage that it's going to hurt his draft stock.

Stanford's Chase Thomas (6-3⅛, 241) showed on Wednesday that the Senior Bowl is not a good venue for him because of his athletic limitations in coverage. He's tough against the run, though, and can get up field against the quarterback.

All of these guys do things well, but Williams has been the most complete linebacker this week.



Strong offensive line showing

Oklahoma OT Lane Johnson (6-6¼, 302) continued his good week. He parlayed a good Tuesday into a good Wednesday. The thing to like about him is his length and his arm length. He's light on his feet, and has a lot of range on the edge. He and CMU's Eric Fisher are the easiest movers of the offensive tackles. He has the ability to sink and anchor. He has done well this week.

Arkansas Pine-Bluff OL Terron Armstead (6-4¾, 306), arrived on Wednesday as a late injury replacement, and he looked like he belonged here. He did get caught lunging once in one-on-one, but showed the ability to recover and even threw Cornelius Washington to the ground. He showed good feet and turned in a solid performance.

Virginia OL Oday Aboushi (6-5¼, 310) is strong, stout and mixes it up. He's a little heavy footed. He had a little issue with lateral agility and played at left tackle and was beaten on the inside with a swim move by LSU's Lavar Edwards in one-on-ones. Aboushimoved to right tackle and looked a little more comfortable. He's probably best at guard, where he can use his leverage and strong base in the NFL. Wednesday was a microcosm of what he could be.



Ansah struggles

Ezekiel Ansah's raw talent is evident, but can he put it all together?
You wanted to see more from BYU's Ezekiel Ansah (6-5¼, 274).

He flashed his talent at times and he was able to set, redirect and disengage to affect the play and make a stop. You can see the talent, athleticism and speed, especially at his size, but you wanted to see more. You want to see the proper use of hands, the technique and instincts.

That may take a while in that department. He's not there at this point.

Georgia's John Jenkins (6-3⅞, 359) continues to dominate interior line play with his size and strength. He eats up space and overpowered a lot of guys on the interior Wednesday. He showed good bull-rush and split a double team in run drills. He flashes some hands, but he can rock interior lineman on their feet. He has looked the best and brings the most presence.

Florida State's Everett Dawkins (6-2 1/8, 288) has quick hands, but you wonder about his ability to anchor. He's a little light at 288, especially working against double-teams. You'd like to see him play with a little more balance. He had an up-and-down Wednesday.



Mixed day for the QBs

Arkansas' Tyler Wilson (6-2⅛, 218) had the best Wednesday of the QBs. He was sharp early on with his accuracy. He doesn't have elite arm strength, but when he had to drive the ball down the field, he could. He made some nice touch throws down field and he reset his feet going to his left and throwing on the move.

Oklahoma's Landry Jones (6-3⅝, 221) had a tough day. He was a little out of sorts with LSU WR Russell Shephard, who practiced for the first time Wednesday. There was some miscommunication between Jones and his receivers. The problems started early and snowballed during the day. He made some bad decisions and forced some throws. He just never looked comfortable Wednesday.



South notebook

Shepard (6-0⅜, 194) looked as if he was pressing on his first day here. He had a drop during individual drills, but he looked good at other times. He looked smooth catching the ball over the middle on a drag route, but he was pressing and trying to make too much happen.

• Louisiana Tech's Quinton Patton (6-0, 202) had a solid, but unremarkable day. He had a double catch and made an average double-move against Alabama DB Robert Lester, but a lot of NFL corners wouldn't have allowed him to separate on that route. He did have a nice adjustment on a deep pass back-shoulder throw and made a nice catch of a low pass over the middle.

• Cal CB Marc Anthony had the best Wednesday. He turned and ran with Georgia's Tavarres King. I think he runs well, showed the ability to turn and run with guys, and he can break on balls thrown in front of him. He almost had a pick, and he can get physical.

• Southeast Louisiana CB Robert Alford (5-9⅞, 186) is working hard. You saw in one-on-ones that he was working on blocking. It's not going to make or break a guy's draft stick, but he played tough and got physical with Patton. For a guy that small, from a smaller school, he's really competing here.

• In run drills, Lester (6-1¼, 212) looks OK -- he's stepping up, he's filling the gaps, he's playing with a lot of emotion. Where he struggles is in coverage. He's having difficulty turning and running with guys. There's no acceleration once he has forced to change direction. He has been exposed in coverage time and time again.

• Georgia Southern safety J.J. Wilcox (5-11⅜, 214) looked good at times, but there was a play during 11-on-11 when he made a great read of the route and the QB. But then made contact early, when he should be playing the ball and not the man at that point. He's going to get a flag for that. He needs to look for the ball.

• We wish Wake Forest FB Tommy Bohanon (6-0⅝, 247) played a different position. He's a good football player. He's in on everything. He catches the ball well. He's not an overpowering finisher as a blocker, but he has some good pop and he seems to be in good position more often than not.

• Alabama TE Michael Williams (6-5¾, 269) is a big, strong blocker and probably the best blocker of the guys who get drafted at tight end this year, but he really struggles to separate. He's a big target, and occasionally does a nice job of using his frame to box out defenders, but you see his limitations as a receiver when he tries to separate and run after the catch.

• Florida RB Mike Gillislee (5-11¼, 207) stood out on Wednesday. He's always running hard, he's instinctive and he can get in and out of tight spots. He's not the biggest, but he has adequate size and he doesn't have terrible speed. He just really has great instincts and quickness.

• Miami (Fla.) RB Mike James was out in L.A. for the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and was one of the best five or six players out there. We didn't expect that going into the game and in L.A. he did all the little things. James didn't have an exceptional Wednesday, but he didn't look out of place either. He ran hard, showed toughness and caught the ball a couple of times. He's a guy that really, if you asked us before the draft process, whether he would benefit from the draft process, we'd say no because he didn't have elite measurable. He's done a nice job of getting here and holding up well. But getting more eyes on him and doing more things well can only help.
 
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Senior Bowl: Say hello to Sio
January, 23, 2013 9:25PM ET
By Todd McShay, Kevin Weidl, Steve Muench

MOBILE, Ala. -- It was the second-to-last day of Senior Bowl practice, and like Tuesday it was sunny, but unlike Tuesday it was nice and warm. (And we say that with apologies to the folks in the Midwest and East in the deep freeze.) But it made for a perfect day to evaluate the talent here in Mobile.

The North had first dibs on Ladd-Peebles Stadium and there were some standouts Wednesday, including one who made his debut in the morning.

UConn LB Sio Moore (6-foot-0¾, 242 pounds) came in off the street as a replacement for injured linebackers. He played as if he had been here all week and looked as if he belonged. He did a nice job in one-on-ones in the pass protection drills. His best move is speed-to-power and he does a good work with his burst as he launched himself into the blockers.

The most impressive thing is that Moore had a plan. Sometimes you see guys use their speed, but if someone counters, they don't know what to do. But Moore had a swim move and a rip move. He stood out in nine-on-seven drills and did well when it came to diagnosing plays.

He was also patient. Sometimes, when a guy comes in late to practice they're so eager to make a play. He knew where he wanted to go and he wasn't going to allow the excitement of being here affect his play. He also looks like he has good strength and good pop at the point of attack.

Moore did have one limitation and that was in coverage, as Oregon RB Kenjon Barner separated easily from him. That may be an area of weakness for Moore and we need to keep watching him on tape. But it's always a good story of a guy who comes in, gets an opportunity and takes it.


Solid out of the backfield

UCLA's Johnathan Franklin (5-10, 201) had the most complete day of the backs. He ran good routes to get open, and although he didn't catch a ball on a vertical route, we've seen him catch the ball on tape and we know he has good hands.

He had a couple nice runs in nine-on-seven drills. You don't see the acceleration off the cuts that'd you'd like to see with him and he's a little impatient at times as you can see when he gets to the second level. What does concern us is that he doesn't have the speed that Giovani Bernard and Jawan Jamison have. That makes him more of a third- or fourth-round prospect instead of a second.

As we noted earlier, Barner (5-9¼, 188) got separation in one-on-one drills against Moore. He got open on a wheel route on seven-on-sevens, he wound up catching it, but he double-caught it. If you're small, and you're going to run a 4.50 40-yard dash instead of a 4.38, you've got to make those plays. He has a good feel running routes and very coachable from what we saw.

Fresno State's Robbie Rouse (5-5⅞, 186) has solid hands and good quickness, but he's so small. It's hard to get excited about him when you compare him to all these other backs coming out. You can see in these drills what his limitations are and how hard an offensive coordinator will need to work to mask these things. He's bullied by UNC's Kevin Riddick in press coverage. Rouse is such a small target that he gets lost. He struggles to create any yards after contact.

Harvard fullback Kyle Juszczyk (6-1⅜, 248) will probably go undrafted, but he made a nice catch on a vertical route and he plucked another pass from over his head. He's not going to get separation and he'll probably run a 4.7 or 4.8 40, but he stood out.

The running backs were good, but the tight ends were highly disappointing. It's not a good group of tight ends and it feels that in the last couple years as if it's running dry.

I expected more from San Jose State's Ryan Otten (6-5¼, 235), who was very productive this year. We were surprised by how much he struggled separating. He also had a lack of speed on his out cuts, was deliberate as a route-runner and lacked savvy.


N.C. State QB Mike Glennon continues to impress scouts at the Senior Bowl.

Glennon's still playing well

Mike Glennon had the best day out of the three QBs for two reasons; one, he threw the deep ball well and had the best touch, especially down the right sidelines in one-on-one and during the team portion. He did miss Markus Wheaton early, but no one will be perfect.

Two, in terms of consistency with ball placement and accuracy underneath, he was the best of the three.

What concerns us is his ability to side tep pressure. For a guy his size (6-6¾, 220), we wonder how fast is he going to move laterally, especially going to his left. That's something that we're going to need to look at when we go back to the tape.

Syracuse's Ryan Nassib (6-5, 223) had a disappointing day. More than anything else, it was his ball placement and how he forced his receivers to adjust. Even when he was hitting them, he was making them catch the ball below the numbers and he didn't put his receivers in a good position to produce right after the catch.

Miami (Ohio) Zac Dysert has least natural tools of the three. He was good with his accuracy and timing early, but became more erratic as the day progressed.

Overall, all three QBs made good decisions.



Robinson's rocky transition

Michigan's Denard Robinson (5-10½, 196) really struggled in the beginning of practice with his 90-degree cuts. He also had a hard time gearing down, planting that outside foot and then exploding. That's an issue for him.

In his first live action at WR, Michigan's Denard Robinson struggled.

Any pass with an arc he had a chance on. He also made a nice catch above his head near the sideline. But if a pass has any zip on it, it's just bouncing off his hands. He's struggling to make the catch. He'll make one, but it's never clean and he had more than a few drops.

Marshall's Aaron Dobson (6-2⅝, 203) had the best day and what stands out about him is his release. Washington's Desmond Trufant is a bigger, longer, stronger corner who did a good job on Wednesday, but Dobson did a nice job against Trufant, getting off the line of scrimmage and getting into his route early. But again, it's Dobson's release that stood out the most.

Kansas State's Chris Harper made some nice plays. At 228, he's a big guy. He has the ability to make plays and box out defenders, but he had a hard time getting off the line because he doesn't have that foot speed. There are times when he couldn't get into his route and he had a harder time separating against the underneath coverage.
 
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North notebook

• Texas DE Alex Okafor (6-4⅝, 261) had a good day today. He can be a little firmer. His pad level was high against the run and he had trouble with double teams, but in one-on-ones, he used his long arms to set the edge, particularly in the team portion.

He really stood out as a pass-rusher today. He has an above average first-step quickness for his size. His ability to convert his speed to power on Wednesday was great. He flashed explosive power in his upper body and got under Eric Fisher's pads in one-on-one drills. He also beat Fisher in the 11-on-11 portion of the day. We're going to watch more film on him, but he had the standout Wednesday of the group.

• UCLA's Datone Jones (6-4⅛, 280) had another good day. Talk about explosive upper body power -- this guy has it. He played hard and is a disciplined backside defender. He blew up a play on nine-on-seven with his quickness and ability to get inside. He also has the ability to work his hands and disengaged when he's locked up in a tight situation.

He's had a good week. There's a buzz in the stands about him.

• SMU's Margus Hunt (6-8¼,277) had a bit of a disappointing day. He did a good job using his length to beat Justin Pugh in one-on-one drills. His biggest problem is that he's not very sudden as a pass-rusher. His movements are deliberate. He just doesn't have the quick-twitch explosiveness you'd like to see with an edge rusher. He's a little bit high off the ball at times, and you'd like to see a little more from him as a pass-rusher.

• It looked as if Robinson would get the best of UConn's Blidi Wreh-Wilson (6-0⅝, 192), but again, Wreh-Wilson is so smooth and so under control, that he was able to recover on the little separation Robinson did get. Wreh-Wilson didn't have a flashy day today, but he plays under control, fluid and is always where he's supposed to be.

• His teammate, Dwayne Gratz (5-11⅛, 200) didn't fare as well. Hesitation moves give him a problem. His feet die and he can't match the acceleration. He got beat on a deep ball because he whiffed at the line of scrimmage on a receiver. And he doesn't recover as well.

• During bag work drills, Fresno State's Phillip Thomas (6-0⅝, 210) was a little unsure of his feet and looked a little stiffer than he did during his individual work when he matched up with receivers, backs and tight ends. He seemed more comfortable and his ball skills were good, but not great. You can see why he's a playmaker, though, as there was one play where he just reached out with his left hand and caught the ball. That ability to track the ball and bring it in was impressive.

• Central Michigan's Eric Fisher (6-7¼, 305) has been good this week, but didn't have his best performance on Wednesday. One of his weaknesses is his lack of an anchor in the rear. He doesn't have that elite anchor inside. He had some problems with power-rushers, specifically with Okafor. Fisher can get into position and cover defenders with his wingspan and length, but he may not be a consistent road-grader in the NFL. He's got great feet and he rarely gets beat to the outside. Any type of speed rush, he's able to shuffle his feet and use his length to ride the guy past the pocket. He had his good moments.

• Pugh (6-4⅞, 301) had a solid Wednesday. He has good balance, good feet and above-average inline power. He moves well laterally and can shuffle-and-mirror with his feet. He did a good job at the second level in cutting off defenders. The biggest problem is his length. He has 31½-inch arms and a guy such as Hunt was able to use his length in a swim move to get past Pugh in one-on-ones. I saw the inability to lockout defenders. He's a better fit at guard at the next level.

• Kent State's Brian Winters (6-3½, 310), like Fisher, is another guy who lacks an elite anchor. I like his quick feet, but he has limited lateral agility. He's a "quick-footed stiff guy." He's light on his feet, but when he has to move laterally or pull, he's stiff at times.
 
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NFL Draft Bible:

Senior Bowl Draft Risers: Offense--Ryan Nassib. Aaron Dobson. Vance McDonald. Eric Fisher. Lane Johnson. David Quessenberry. Brian Schwenke.

Senior Bowl Draft Risers: Defense--Kawann Short. Datone Jones. Steve Beauharnais. Vince Williams. Desmond Trufant. Jordan Poyer.
 
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Scott Wright:

South Hybrids Getting LB Reps: Alex Okafor, Michael Buchanan, Datone Jones, Margus Hunt, Travis Johnson, Ty Powell & Sio Moore. #SeniorBowl

Margus Hunt of #SMU does not look good in the linebacker drills. Awkward and stiff with bad hands. #SeniorBowl

Pretty sure #UCLA DE Datone Jones has done everything well this week. Underrated. #SeniorBowl

Washington CB Desmond Trufant w/ INT in 11-on-11. Whale of a week. Will be my new #3 CB and Johnthan Banks should be looking over shoulder.
 
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