East-West Shrine Game 2006: Confirmations and Surprises
by Sigmund Bloom and Marc Faletti
Any time you study a week of practice and follow it up by watching a game performance, you look for two things: players who can follow through on the promise (or lack of it) shown during drills and scrimmages, and players who either surprise you by stepping up under the lights or unexpectedly folding under the pressure. One could argue that weeklong consistency is more valuable than a breakout performance or game-time disappointment, or vice versa. We’ll let you decide.
Consistent Performers
De’Arrius Howard, RB, Arkansas
What can we say that hasn’t already been said? We don’t know, but we’ll try to find something. His first scoring run showed surprising speed to the outside, beating the entire West team to the right pylon. His third scoring run showed elusiveness on a LB-freezing shoulder dip and power to ram through multiple unblocked defenders while crossing the goal line. He showed great patience and set up his lead blockers, riding in the hip pocket of Ohio State OG Rob Sims on more than one big run. He finished every run with authority, punishing tacklers and pushing them backwards consistently, and as they noted on ESPN2, he would’ve been the MVP had it not been for McNeal’s heroics. Howard even picked up pass rushers on multiple occasions. Also, don’t be fooled by his somewhat pedestrian 4 yards per carry average. It should really have been 5; the first play of the game was a terrible screen pass they credited as a rush for an 8 yard loss. Additionally, the stop on the crucial goal line play to end the game was more of an amazing individual play by UCLA ILB Justin London, pushing the pulling guard (Jason Spitz of Louisville) right into Howard’s path, than any failing on Howard’s part. McNeal overshadowed this gem, but make no mistake, this game cinched what his practice performance made clear: Howard can handle the load if given a shot in the NFL. We stand firm on our strong recommendation to get your hands on this diamond in the rough in your dynasty rookie draft.
Drew Olson, QB, UCLA
Harrumph. Let’s see, he had precisely 2 good throws during the game. One came while scrambling under pressure, the other on a designed rollout to a wide open David Thomas. Any time Olson stayed in the pocket, however, he either floated a softie (sound familiar?) or crumpled like tissue paper when a defender sneezed near him. He was inaccurate with no zip all week, and unless you’re willing to roll Olsen out on 100% of your pass plays, the game served as confirmation of what practice already told us: give him a miss.
Brett Basanez, QB, Northwestern
We can’t agree on whether Basanez or Olson disappointed the most, and while Basanez had a few big plays in the box score, most of them were saves by his wideouts, including Colston catching a hail mary ball that Basanez couldn’t even get into the endzone. Basanez missed on passes about every way a QB can, and seemed to lack confidence all game just like he did all week. We will say that if you are drafting a QB to be a hard count specialist, then Brett is your man.
Leon Washington, RB, FSU
In many ways, Leon Washington appeared as a man among boys during practice. He has a veteran’s body and seems very advanced as a pass catcher, particularly in the target radius he gives his QBs. During the game itself, Washington regularly caught balls that were poorly thrown high, low, right, and left, and he managed to tuck and turn himself upfield in one fluid, instant move. Washington showed solid acceleration in his straight line running, and a great pass rush pickup one on one on a DE. He’s a prototype 3rd down back that can step in and play NFL quality football right away, and has decent power finishing runs for a guy on the small side. He doesn’t quite have the moves or speed to the outside to be an every-down back, but guys like Dom Davis and Mewelde Moore have surprised recently by defying these kinds of limitations to get feature back workloads.
Taurean Henderson, RB, Texas Tech
As we noted in our Wednesday report, Henderson seemed to improve between the tackles after Monday’s disappointing performance. During the game, Coach Franchione went out of his way to run Henderson up the middle and gave him several goal line carries, as well. Most of the time, Henderson did more than you’d expect from a guy his size with the ball, including a TD run in which he dragged two linemen across with him. Do we think he’s an every-down guy? Maybe not. But as we projected earlier in the week, he can run a great draw, catches well, and can help a team as a runner in spot duty. If he continues to show the knack for using his quick feet and excellent cutting ability to be effective running inside, there’s an outside chance he could put it all together. We might even list him ahead of Leon Washington for potential fantasy impact. (For our fantasy rankings coming out of the game, stay tuned.)
Tim Day, TE, Oregon
All week in practice, Day showed the ability to use his big frame to shield defenders and make an easy target for his QB. His tools are not elite in any single area, but he’s quick, fluid, and athletic enough to be a solid pass receiving TE in the NFL. Saturday’s performance for Day was no different, as he sat down in space nicely and squared up to the QB on two receptions. He also caught Reggie McNeal’s quacker for a TD with defenders hanging all over him in the back of the end zone.
DonTrell Moore, RB, New Mexico
Despite having size very similar to Henderson and Washington, Moore did not show any of the power, burst, or moves they did in practice, and he didn’t step it up on Saturday. Moore went down on first contact too easily, and almost never moved tackling defenders backwards when they hit him. He did demonstrate good vision on his TD run, but vision alone will not equal success at the next level – Moore needs to be faster, stronger, and more elusive than he showed this week to make it on Sundays. All of this analysis has an asterisk that should be kept in mind – Moore tore his ACL about a year ago and is still in the two year window of recovery, so the burst, moves, and power could definitely be improved in a year on that alone.
Andy Fantuz, WR, Western Ontario
Fantuz did not demonstrate the athleticism to stick in the NFL during practices, and was almost non-existent during the game. He got pushed off his routes all week by DBs that were clearly more physical than any he had encountered before. Fantuz may make it to a training camp, but we believe that this week cinched his standing as a marginal NFL prospect at best. If we were Andy’s agent, we would tell him to follow the more fruitful career path of a 1st round pick in the CFL.
Tarvaris Jackson, QB, Alabama St
One word sticks out when we reflect on Jackson’s week – intriguing. Just like in practice, Jackson’s lack of accuracy and command over the offense stuck out. Jackson often missed low on his passes and failed to put good touch on short passes. Still, after watching him, we have to say he’s showed the raw tools to make it as a NFL QB, and it’s not a stretch to say Jackson has almost as much upside as Reggie McNeal. Jackson showed NFL zip on the out all week, and made two outstanding plays during the game: a touch pass for 66 yards to big stiff Cooper Wallace in stride, and a play that left perhaps the most indelible image of the entire game - Jackson escaping from two unblocked defensive ends without his helmet and still looking downfield to make a play.
Game-Day Surprises
Paul Pinegar, QB, Fresno State
Having seen him in quality performances against K-State in 2004 and USC this last year, we were excited to watch Pinegar against similar talent in the Shrine Game. All week he performed fairly impressively, but the game got off on the wrong foot and Pinegar never recovered. His first throw of the second half was deflected and picked, and he never found a rhythm after that. His receiver fell on that throw, and he didn’t make another bad mistake the rest of the game, but he seemed to wilt after the gaffe. A surprisingly flat performance on the big stage, marked by erratic throws and an absence of the pocket composure he showed all week in practice.
Mike Hass, WR, Oregon State and David Anderson, WR, Colorado State
All week, folks were mixing these two up. At one point, the coaches even called Hass “Anderson.” Both are a little undersized but display excellent fundamentals. They both seemed to offer Stokely or Engram-like promise during practice. Of course, after the game, a lot of folks were talking up Mike Hass and asking “Anderson who?” Hass caught 4 for 107, including a 20+ yard 4th quarter TD catch in which he had to stop on a dime and stutter-step at the back of the endzone to stay inbounds. He made it look easy. Anderson? Catchless.
Jonathan Orr and Brandon Williams, WRs, Wisconsin
We felt these two were the best WRs all week, but Orr got hurt on his first look, although unlike a lot of his practice plays, he was able to come down with the deep ball, albeit out of bounds. Orr also showed heads-up play blocking downfield on Cooper Wallace’s big reception. He receives a very disappointing grade of “incomplete” after the game. For some reason, the coaches kept Williams in the slot the entire game, and as the QBs aren’t comfortable enough in the offense after only a week of practice to make 3 check-downs, he had a very quiet game on the field, except a great adjustment on an underthrown deep ball from Bruce Gradkowski that drew a pass interference penalty (which was nullified by a nearly imperceptible tip). Unfortunately for Williams, he wasn’t as quiet off the field. Clearly frustrated after being ignored, Williams began lashing out first at the refs, then at QB Tarvaris Jackson for throwing incomplete to a covered Colston instead of a wide-open Williams in the endzone. We wish he had kept his composure and quietly asked the coaches for a chance at flanker or split end.
Marques Colston, WR, Hofstra
Colston looked a step slow and not physical enough during practices this week, only to turn it on for the best performance by any East WR during the game. He looked like anything but a raw small school product, with tremendous concentration on one tipped TD, and a huge hail mary catch in a crowd that almost secured the win for the East. Colston showed good burst off the line when given a cushion by the DB, and got better at using his big frame to shield DBs as the game went on. Like Tim Day, he showed a natural knack for squaring to the QB and presenting an easy target. Most impressive on his dramatic hail mary catch was the instinct to go up and get the ball at its highest point. Colston may not go as high as other big WRs in this draft such as New Mexico’s Hank Baskett, Notre Dame’s Maurice Stovall (whose decision to go to the senior bowl got Colston in this game), and Miami of Ohio’s Martin Nance, but in 2 or 3 years, he could easily be as good as any of them.
by Sigmund Bloom and Marc Faletti
Any time you study a week of practice and follow it up by watching a game performance, you look for two things: players who can follow through on the promise (or lack of it) shown during drills and scrimmages, and players who either surprise you by stepping up under the lights or unexpectedly folding under the pressure. One could argue that weeklong consistency is more valuable than a breakout performance or game-time disappointment, or vice versa. We’ll let you decide.
Consistent Performers
De’Arrius Howard, RB, Arkansas
What can we say that hasn’t already been said? We don’t know, but we’ll try to find something. His first scoring run showed surprising speed to the outside, beating the entire West team to the right pylon. His third scoring run showed elusiveness on a LB-freezing shoulder dip and power to ram through multiple unblocked defenders while crossing the goal line. He showed great patience and set up his lead blockers, riding in the hip pocket of Ohio State OG Rob Sims on more than one big run. He finished every run with authority, punishing tacklers and pushing them backwards consistently, and as they noted on ESPN2, he would’ve been the MVP had it not been for McNeal’s heroics. Howard even picked up pass rushers on multiple occasions. Also, don’t be fooled by his somewhat pedestrian 4 yards per carry average. It should really have been 5; the first play of the game was a terrible screen pass they credited as a rush for an 8 yard loss. Additionally, the stop on the crucial goal line play to end the game was more of an amazing individual play by UCLA ILB Justin London, pushing the pulling guard (Jason Spitz of Louisville) right into Howard’s path, than any failing on Howard’s part. McNeal overshadowed this gem, but make no mistake, this game cinched what his practice performance made clear: Howard can handle the load if given a shot in the NFL. We stand firm on our strong recommendation to get your hands on this diamond in the rough in your dynasty rookie draft.
Drew Olson, QB, UCLA
Harrumph. Let’s see, he had precisely 2 good throws during the game. One came while scrambling under pressure, the other on a designed rollout to a wide open David Thomas. Any time Olson stayed in the pocket, however, he either floated a softie (sound familiar?) or crumpled like tissue paper when a defender sneezed near him. He was inaccurate with no zip all week, and unless you’re willing to roll Olsen out on 100% of your pass plays, the game served as confirmation of what practice already told us: give him a miss.
Brett Basanez, QB, Northwestern
We can’t agree on whether Basanez or Olson disappointed the most, and while Basanez had a few big plays in the box score, most of them were saves by his wideouts, including Colston catching a hail mary ball that Basanez couldn’t even get into the endzone. Basanez missed on passes about every way a QB can, and seemed to lack confidence all game just like he did all week. We will say that if you are drafting a QB to be a hard count specialist, then Brett is your man.
Leon Washington, RB, FSU
In many ways, Leon Washington appeared as a man among boys during practice. He has a veteran’s body and seems very advanced as a pass catcher, particularly in the target radius he gives his QBs. During the game itself, Washington regularly caught balls that were poorly thrown high, low, right, and left, and he managed to tuck and turn himself upfield in one fluid, instant move. Washington showed solid acceleration in his straight line running, and a great pass rush pickup one on one on a DE. He’s a prototype 3rd down back that can step in and play NFL quality football right away, and has decent power finishing runs for a guy on the small side. He doesn’t quite have the moves or speed to the outside to be an every-down back, but guys like Dom Davis and Mewelde Moore have surprised recently by defying these kinds of limitations to get feature back workloads.
Taurean Henderson, RB, Texas Tech
As we noted in our Wednesday report, Henderson seemed to improve between the tackles after Monday’s disappointing performance. During the game, Coach Franchione went out of his way to run Henderson up the middle and gave him several goal line carries, as well. Most of the time, Henderson did more than you’d expect from a guy his size with the ball, including a TD run in which he dragged two linemen across with him. Do we think he’s an every-down guy? Maybe not. But as we projected earlier in the week, he can run a great draw, catches well, and can help a team as a runner in spot duty. If he continues to show the knack for using his quick feet and excellent cutting ability to be effective running inside, there’s an outside chance he could put it all together. We might even list him ahead of Leon Washington for potential fantasy impact. (For our fantasy rankings coming out of the game, stay tuned.)
Tim Day, TE, Oregon
All week in practice, Day showed the ability to use his big frame to shield defenders and make an easy target for his QB. His tools are not elite in any single area, but he’s quick, fluid, and athletic enough to be a solid pass receiving TE in the NFL. Saturday’s performance for Day was no different, as he sat down in space nicely and squared up to the QB on two receptions. He also caught Reggie McNeal’s quacker for a TD with defenders hanging all over him in the back of the end zone.
DonTrell Moore, RB, New Mexico
Despite having size very similar to Henderson and Washington, Moore did not show any of the power, burst, or moves they did in practice, and he didn’t step it up on Saturday. Moore went down on first contact too easily, and almost never moved tackling defenders backwards when they hit him. He did demonstrate good vision on his TD run, but vision alone will not equal success at the next level – Moore needs to be faster, stronger, and more elusive than he showed this week to make it on Sundays. All of this analysis has an asterisk that should be kept in mind – Moore tore his ACL about a year ago and is still in the two year window of recovery, so the burst, moves, and power could definitely be improved in a year on that alone.
Andy Fantuz, WR, Western Ontario
Fantuz did not demonstrate the athleticism to stick in the NFL during practices, and was almost non-existent during the game. He got pushed off his routes all week by DBs that were clearly more physical than any he had encountered before. Fantuz may make it to a training camp, but we believe that this week cinched his standing as a marginal NFL prospect at best. If we were Andy’s agent, we would tell him to follow the more fruitful career path of a 1st round pick in the CFL.
Tarvaris Jackson, QB, Alabama St
One word sticks out when we reflect on Jackson’s week – intriguing. Just like in practice, Jackson’s lack of accuracy and command over the offense stuck out. Jackson often missed low on his passes and failed to put good touch on short passes. Still, after watching him, we have to say he’s showed the raw tools to make it as a NFL QB, and it’s not a stretch to say Jackson has almost as much upside as Reggie McNeal. Jackson showed NFL zip on the out all week, and made two outstanding plays during the game: a touch pass for 66 yards to big stiff Cooper Wallace in stride, and a play that left perhaps the most indelible image of the entire game - Jackson escaping from two unblocked defensive ends without his helmet and still looking downfield to make a play.
Game-Day Surprises
Paul Pinegar, QB, Fresno State
Having seen him in quality performances against K-State in 2004 and USC this last year, we were excited to watch Pinegar against similar talent in the Shrine Game. All week he performed fairly impressively, but the game got off on the wrong foot and Pinegar never recovered. His first throw of the second half was deflected and picked, and he never found a rhythm after that. His receiver fell on that throw, and he didn’t make another bad mistake the rest of the game, but he seemed to wilt after the gaffe. A surprisingly flat performance on the big stage, marked by erratic throws and an absence of the pocket composure he showed all week in practice.
Mike Hass, WR, Oregon State and David Anderson, WR, Colorado State
All week, folks were mixing these two up. At one point, the coaches even called Hass “Anderson.” Both are a little undersized but display excellent fundamentals. They both seemed to offer Stokely or Engram-like promise during practice. Of course, after the game, a lot of folks were talking up Mike Hass and asking “Anderson who?” Hass caught 4 for 107, including a 20+ yard 4th quarter TD catch in which he had to stop on a dime and stutter-step at the back of the endzone to stay inbounds. He made it look easy. Anderson? Catchless.
Jonathan Orr and Brandon Williams, WRs, Wisconsin
We felt these two were the best WRs all week, but Orr got hurt on his first look, although unlike a lot of his practice plays, he was able to come down with the deep ball, albeit out of bounds. Orr also showed heads-up play blocking downfield on Cooper Wallace’s big reception. He receives a very disappointing grade of “incomplete” after the game. For some reason, the coaches kept Williams in the slot the entire game, and as the QBs aren’t comfortable enough in the offense after only a week of practice to make 3 check-downs, he had a very quiet game on the field, except a great adjustment on an underthrown deep ball from Bruce Gradkowski that drew a pass interference penalty (which was nullified by a nearly imperceptible tip). Unfortunately for Williams, he wasn’t as quiet off the field. Clearly frustrated after being ignored, Williams began lashing out first at the refs, then at QB Tarvaris Jackson for throwing incomplete to a covered Colston instead of a wide-open Williams in the endzone. We wish he had kept his composure and quietly asked the coaches for a chance at flanker or split end.
Marques Colston, WR, Hofstra
Colston looked a step slow and not physical enough during practices this week, only to turn it on for the best performance by any East WR during the game. He looked like anything but a raw small school product, with tremendous concentration on one tipped TD, and a huge hail mary catch in a crowd that almost secured the win for the East. Colston showed good burst off the line when given a cushion by the DB, and got better at using his big frame to shield DBs as the game went on. Like Tim Day, he showed a natural knack for squaring to the QB and presenting an easy target. Most impressive on his dramatic hail mary catch was the instinct to go up and get the ball at its highest point. Colston may not go as high as other big WRs in this draft such as New Mexico’s Hank Baskett, Notre Dame’s Maurice Stovall (whose decision to go to the senior bowl got Colston in this game), and Miami of Ohio’s Martin Nance, but in 2 or 3 years, he could easily be as good as any of them.
(dynasty dots)
