Senior Bowl risers and fallers
by Dan Kadar
By Josh Gaier
As the media around the world turns their attention to the most hyped up game in America, the Super Bowl, NFL draft junkies have the Super Bowl as an afterthought. Instead they are focused on a bigger bowl: the Senior Bowl. This past week the top senior prospects in America gathered in Mobile, Alabama to do their best to wow the NFL brass. Players from all over the country flew to Mobile, and for the first time in their football careers, they had to endure an NFL style practice. The coaching staffs of the San Francisco 49ers (coaches of the South Team) and the Oakland Raiders (coaches of the North Team) did their best to impersonate NFL style practices throughout the course of the week. These once college all-stars are learning through experience the rigors that come along with the big bucks. Some players embraced the experience and played with mental toughness and intensity, while others struggled and put a dent in their draft stock. Regardless of whether you were an All-American or bench warmer at the college level, it’s all put aside during Senior Bowl week. Every player has equal opportunity to improve his stock. Some emerged from the pack and saw their draft status skyrocket, while others regret coming and saw their dollars floating away. Although the North Team was generally more impressive than the South Team, players from each squad shinned. Below is my list of risers and fallers during this pivotal time of the scouting process.
Risers
Sedrick Ellis, Defensive Tackle, Southern California- 6’07, 308 Pounds
Heading into the week, Sedrick Ellis was already flirting with the possibility of being a top ten pick. By week’s end he turned flirtation into a long-lasting relationship. Ellis has been dominating in every sense of the word. In one-on-one drills he was unstoppable, and was consistently beating defenders off the line. Collectively, he displayed a great combination of power, burst, quickness, speed, and explosiveness. In fact, the competition looked inferior to him at times. He did an excellent job creating penetration, and even disrupted plays in the backfield during 11-on-11 drills. Ellis has been wreaking havoc all week long. He’s been explosive in pass rushing situations and stout in run support. After his overwhelmingly impressive practices, Ellis warrants a top five selection in my books.
Lavelle Hawkins, Wide Receiver, California – 5’11, 187 Pounds
Lavelle Hawkins has been spectacular this week, and in my mind, the most impressive offensive player of the practices. In the one-on-one drills, Hawkins has been dominating and the corners don’t have an answer for this once overshadowed Cal receiver. He ran smooth, crisp routes. He did an excellent job creating separation, and has displayed spectacular hands. In addition, Hawkins has shown quickness off the line, has beaten the jam, and has shown top-end speed. On a consistent basis, Hawkins has done a great job plucking the ball away from his body and uses his hands very nicely. He’s made finger tip catches in stride down the field, and has displayed very good ball skills throughout the course of the week. Hawkins possibly moved himself into the second round of the draft with his consistent spectacular performances throughout the week.
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Cornerback, Tennessee State – 6’1, 183 Pounds
This one time sleeper from a small Division II school is officially on the radar. Cromartie, a cousin of San Diego Chargers cornerback Antonio Cromartie, has had himself one heck of a week. He’s been a versatile player this week that has seen both action at safety and cornerback. Nonetheless, Cromartie has displayed fluid hips, quick feet, and tremendous ball skills. On the last day of practice, he made a leaping catch where he caught the ball at its highest point, and his teammates were ecstatic. In the one-on-one drills, Cromartie has shown he has been able to hang with the big boys, and does an exceptional job breaking on the ball. He’s knocked down a couple balls in practice, and recovered a fumble in the 11-on-11 drills. The man has shown playmaking potential at the next level and is looking like a sure fire second round pick at this point.
Leodis McKelvin, Cornerback, Troy – 5’105, 190 Pounds
Similar to South teammate Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Leodis McLelvin is a small school prospect with a high ceiling. Remarkably, McKelvin has some of the best feet I have ever seen in the history of scouting the cornerback position. He does an exceptional job changing directions, has extremely fluid hips, quick feet, acceleration, and top-end speed. The thing that’s impressed me the most about McKelvin is his break on the football. He has an extremely slow, long-range covering backpedal that allows him to burst towards the ball when it’s in the air. Throughout the course of the week, he’s done a phenomenal job breaking up balls. In fact, I don’t even recall a receiver catching the ball on him in the one-on-one drills. He’s shown the ability to be a potential lockdown corner in the NFL, and might slip into the top ten when the scouting season reaches its conclusion.
Jordy Nelson, Wide Receiver, Kansas State – 6’025, 215 Pounds
Quietly, Jordy Nelson has put together a terrific week of work. He’s emerged as a sure handed receiver on the practice field, and does an excellent job catching the ball away from his body. He makes catching the ball over his shoulder look effortless. In the one-on-one drills, he’s shown the tendency to go over the middle and catch the ball in traffic. He also has shown sneaky athleticism and has been able to beat his man vertically a couple times. Nelson has also done a good job incorporating his size and strength into his game, and will overpower the smaller weaker corners at the line. Plus, down towards the goal line, Nelson has become a favorite target of the North quarterbacks and hasn’t dropped a ball down there. Although he is quite raw at the position, Nelson has shown a ton of potential and has snuck into the second round at this point.
Fallers
Colt Brennan, Quarterback, Hawaii – 6’022, 185 Pounds
The New Year has not been a good one for Hawaii’s record setting quarterback Colt Brennan. After a dismal Sugar Bowl performance, Brennan has been anything but stellar during the Senior Bowl. First, he weighed in at a fragile 185 pounds – a serious concern entering a league built on strength and power. On the field, Brennan has showed the ability to hit the NFL throws on occasion, but has also struggled whipping it out past the numbers. However, the most atrocious part of his game has been his footwork. It’s very evident that he has limited experience in an NFL style offense, as he struggles coming off under center and plays with extremely loose footwork. His throwing motion also continues to worry me a little because it’s very unorthodox. In my mind, all Brennan has showed is that he’s a quarterback that will need to undergo a serious grace period before claiming the reign as a starting NFL quarterback.
Andre Woodson, Quarterback, Kentucky – 6’4, 234 Pounds
In short, Andre Woodson has not been as good as advertised during his time at the Senior Bowl. For a player that people were sticking in the first round of their mocks, he certainly hasn’t performed like a first round quarterback. For starters, his release is extremely slow and appears to be an immediate problem upon his entrance into the professional game. The defensive backs have also realized this and have had enough time exploding towards the ball as he cocks back his arm. In addition, Woodson has struggled immensely with his accuracy, and has struggled throughout the course of the week to make throws that a prospect of his caliber should make effortlessly. His decision making has also been shaky. With the North quarterbacks emerging, Woodson is plummeting his way down his positional board, and might have dropped himself out of the first round.
Adarius Bowman, Wide Receiver, Oklahoma State – 6’3, 220 Pounds
In a receiving class with no clear cut number one guy, Adarius Bowman had a chance to separate himself from the pack with an impressive performance during the Senior Bowl week. However, he’s done just the opposite of that, and has shown he isn’t going to emerge as the crème of the crop. Bowman has greatly struggled catching the ball, and within the first two days of practice he had around nine drops. Also, the catches weren’t even necessarily tough - he was dropping basic button hooks, slants, and flies. Separation appeared to be a problem as well, and when Bowman created separation he was constantly cutting his routes short. To make matters worse, when he caught a ball in team drills he fumbled. Although Bowman has improved as of late, his first couple days of practice have left an imprint on his overall performance.
DeJuan Tribble, Cornerback, Boston College – 5’8, 190 Pounds
After measuring shorter than what most people expected, Tribble’s nightmare was far from over. In the one-on-one drills Tribble had been horrific! He’s been constantly beaten when left on an island, and has made it loud and clear that he’ll struggle with man coverage in the NFL. Against Eddie Royal, he struggled to keep up with him down the field and was overmatched by his quickness at the line. Against Lavelle Hawkins, he lacked the quickness to contain him at the line and was beat vertical on a number of occasions. The fact that Tribble struggled jamming receivers at the line and doesn’t have the recovery speed to catch up doesn’t bode well for his draft stock. More or less, Tribble has struggled to keep up with receivers in coverage the entire week.