NFL Draft Blog Senior Bowl: O-line prospects play well
January, 21, 2013 6:26PM ET
By Kevin Weidl
MOBILE, Ala. -- It was the first day of practice at the Senior Bowl, and we were at Ladd-Peebles Stadium watching the North team practice.
As usual on the first day, you want to see how the quarterbacks do with new receivers, a new offense and in front of the eyes of scouts and TV cameras.
Ryan Nassib was the most consistent QB on Day 1 for the North.
Of the group, I thought Syracuse QB Ryan Nassib had the best day. He was on the mark early on, had zip on the ball and good placement with his out routes. He also did a good job of looking off his throws on the one-high safety in seven-on-seven drills. I thought he was confident in letting it rip. I like the anticipation. I think he's out there competing.
Zac Dysart of Miami (Ohio) may have been the most erratic today. He had poor ball placement throughout the day. His one INT in seven-on-sevens wasn't his fault as his receiver slipped. Then, there was his INT during the whole team workout, which was his fault. He needed to show he belonged as he's the only quarterback here from a non-AQ conference, but he was a little shaky.
North Carolina State QB Mike Glennon is the easiest thrower of the football. He has a big stature, strong arm. The ball comes out easy for him. He had a little trouble with his accuracy. He was a little high on both of his throws in the seam route, one of which was intercepted in team period. And he still holds the ball too long. Glennon doesn't have a ton of mobility -- I expected him to be a little better, but watching him and Nassib at the end of practice, I noticed Nassib had put his body into it.
Glennon has to work on his anticipation, and it will get better as it goes along. No one really stood out, but Nassib had the best day overall.
Denard Robinson is making a position switch from QB to WR, and didn't get a lot of reps in seven-on-seven or team drills. It looked as if he was off to the side learning. Early on, his routes were segmented, as if he were feeling out the position right now. He needs to learn the little things that go along with being a wide receiver -- getting out of breaks, understanding leverages. His hands were inconsistent, as he had a drop.
He's going to have to do some returning. Thing is, he didn't look natural. He has problems judging punts at times. The ball would hang, and he would fight against the wind, and muffed one. It will be interesting to see his development.
Offensive line group shines
This group had me excited. We have Central Michigan's Eric Fisher as a first-rounder, and he looked like one. He's an easy mover, especially in one-on-ones. He can shuffle-and-mirror with defensive linemen, moving laterally and latching on. I thought he had a good day.
Syracuse's Justin Pugh has good feet and good balance, and strong inline power. He checked in under 6-foot-5, but has short arms and that brings up some concerns. But he's a guy who can play guard or center. I think he could be a good starter in the NFL. I like his instincts and toughness.
Brian Winters of Kent State is a tough kid and finishes. And Ricky Wagner, the tackle from Wisconsin, did a good job against UConn's Trevardo Williams. Wagner did a nice job of sinking and anchoring and riding defenders past the pocket.
Oregon's Kyle Long is raw. He needs a lot of work, but he has a lot of tools to work with. He's athletic with natural power and a flexible lower half. He's a step late -- it's a little fast for him now, but you have to have patience because he has the talent, but he needs to be molded and worked with. The biggest thing with Long is how has he progressed during the week.
That's the good, right there.
Illinois' Hugh Thornton is a tough kid, strong and sort of nasty, but he had trouble with balance and holding up in space. And Braxston Cave from Notre Dame got rocked back a few times.
But overall this group was impressive. It's one of the better groups I've seen in my six years at the Senior Bowl.
Sylvester Williams should be a first-rounder. The question is: How high will he go in that round?
The best player of Day One
Of anyone on the field, the guy who had the best practice was North Carolina's Sylvester Williams. He has strong, powerful hands and had a tackle for a loss in nine-on-seven. His combination of quickness and power -- with his hands and his feet -- is really disruptive. He had four or five opportunities -- although you can't tackle -- to blow up the play in the backfield.
He is a guy who performed like a first-rounder and if he keeps playing like this, he'll elevate his stock. The way he played today -- he was the best.
Miscellaneous practice notes
DL Alex Okafor of Texas did some nice things on the edge. I wonder how explosive he is. He has length and power and he used his hands well, but you'd like to see a little more consistency.
DL Kawaan Short of Purdue showed some quickness with his hands and feet, and won a few one-on-ones.
UCLA DL Datone Jones has power and can be explosive, but is a little light and will need to play defensive end or the five-technique.
DL Margus Hunt from SMU is a freak of nature at 6-8, 277, but raw. He had trouble with counter-punching. A good example is Sylvester Williams, the best one here at that skill.
At linebacker, UNC's Kevin Reddick and Rutgers' Khaseem Green stood out. They did a good job sticking with the running backs and with their anticipation. Reddick is an enforcer in the run game, good in tight quarters and can blitz.
Ohio State's John Simon is the one we talked about in our weigh-in notes. His lack of size showed in today's practice. His lack of length off the edge in one-on-one drills was evident. He's strong, but struggled in one-on-one coverage. You'd have to find a unique position. There are limited roles for him in the NFL. He's in the third-round mix.
DBs Blidi Wreh-Wilson of UConn and Boise State's Jamar Taylor stood out to me. Wreh-Wilson is big, strong, balanced and did a great job of using his length in press coverage to disrupt timing. As a matter of fact, he jammed up Oregon State's Marcus Wheaton, tossed him aside and made a pick in team play. It was impressive. He's smooth for his size.
Taylor's not as big was Wreh-Wilson, but he's smooth too. I like his instincts. He turned and located the ball on his interception on a deep throw -- good job of locating, recovering and making the INT.
Utah State's Will Davis and Oregon State's Jordan Poyer had tough days. They were a little tight and had trouble running. They struggled to recover when they were beaten. Poyer had no burst out of his breaks.
Marshall WR Aaron Dobson had a good day and was able to separate. He caught the ball well. Wheaton needs to get stronger, but he can move, he can fly. He ran by a lot of guys and is quick out of his breaks. He caught the ball well. He had trouble at the end of the season, but he caught the ball well today.
UCLA's Johnathan Franklin had the best day of the running backs. He was sudden out of his routes, had good burst and caught the ball well.