Texas Vs. The Nation Day Two Practice Report
El Paso remembered that it was hosting a college all-star game this week and gave us a big dose of the same kind of weather that seemed to follow the draft scene from Houston to Mobile. Both practices were marred by rain, and after getting soaked at field level for about an hour, I tossed in the towel and went up to the dry warmth of the press box. The rain did not dampen the intensity of the practices. Already three players -Keyunta Dawson (LB – Texas Tech), Travis Leitko (DE – Notre Dame), and Brent Pousson (OL-McNeese State) - have gotten hurt, and will be replaced by Bo Greer (OL - New Mexico) Jason Jack (DE- Texas A&M) and Joe Ward (DL – UTEP). One of yesterday’s standouts, Junior Taylor (WR-UCLA) got hurt today and was later seen on crutches back at the hotel.
QB: Josh Swogger (Montana) and Justin Rascati (James Madison) continue to look like the class of the QBs here. Swogger looked particularly smooth throwing on the move, and both displayed great accuracy for the second straight day. I got interviews with both, and talked to them for a while after the tape stopped rolling. Swogger has been working with Rich Gannon, and Rascati is most concerned with proving that he’s got arm strength. They are both very humble kids who have the right attitude, and I walked away very impressed. Dalton Bell (West Texas A&M) still puts more mustard on the short stuff than anyone else here (he zinged one right past a DB’s face for a completion), but the deep ball is a lollipop. The deep ball was at least more accurate today. Jeff Smith (Georgetown KY) continues to look like an interesting practice squad project because of his size, but tended to overthrow his receivers today. Sam Hollenbach (Maryland) has not stood out the way I expected him to, being the only QB here to play against top D-I competition this year. His deep ball is pretty (competing with Swogger for the nicest one here), but the throws over the middle are still sailing. Andy Collins (Occidental) looks smooth out there, but doesn’t seem to be at the level of the other QBs here. Swogger and Rascati are the ones to watch – they both would fit in with the QBs I watched in Shrine Game and Senior Bowl practices.
RB/FB: Ramonce Taylor (Texas) showed his gamebreaking ability yet again on some runs where he made some Reggie Bush moves. I got to interview him yesterday and he seems to have his head on straight. Today, Quentin Smith (Rice) took D.D. Terry’s (Sam Houston State) place as the guy that broke consecutive runs to the 3rd level for the Texas team. I still haven’t seen Paul Mosley (Baylor) get too many chances to run inside, which is where I think he’ll do his damage if he can stick in the NFL. On the other side, Justise Hairston (Central Connecticut State) showed a very nice burst, and Justin Vincent (LSU) showed good vision, but it’s tough to run on that Nation D-Line. Gijon Robinson (Missouri Western) continues to impress me as an all-around weapon at FB.
WR/TE: Much like Paul Williams (Fresno St) at the Shrine Game, when Ryan Moore (Miami) really tries, he makes sensational plays. He exhibited fluid moves and fantastic body control today, and he also naturally got position on the DB when the ball was in the air. Moore was much improved from yesterday. Vincent Marshall (Houston) continues to flash the deep speed to get behind a defense. He dropped a few balls because he started to think about running before he secured the ball, but it’s clear that he’s got great hands. Jesse Wendt (Wisconsin-Stout) was no longer timid and started really showed his top notch athleticism and tools. He had one of the plays of the day getting both feet in bounds on a tough sideline catch. Chandler Williams (Florida International) still pops out as a terrific athlete and did a lot better job finishing plays today. He also threw an unsuccessful pass on a reverse. Maurice Price (Charleston Southern) looks like the most crisp, quick WR here. I got to interview him last night – he wants the Colts to win the Super Bowl (Sorry Bears fans). Daniel Robinson (UTEP) and Mike Jefferson (Montana State) continue to struggle, and Robert Johnson (Texas Tech) and James Finley (Oregon) continue to stand out as the best of the Texas WRs. TE Tyler Ecker (Michigan) has really impressed me for the second straight day with his athleticism and pillow soft hands. Desmond Allison (South Dakota) looks more like a big WR than a TE in routes.
OL: Same story as yesterday, Jonathan Palmer (Auburn) and Scott Stephenson (Iowa State) were the standouts for the Nation squad. I interviewed Scott and came away a believer. He didn’t flinch when I asked him about his surgically repaired shoulders. On the Texas side, the Louisville lineman, Renardo Foster and Kurt Quarterman, still look very polished. I expect them to get drafted or stick as priority free agents. Allen Barbre (Missouri Southern) has some of the best footwork of anyone lineman here. Like the four guys I listed above, he seems like he would have fit in at the Shrine Game.
DL: Louis Leonard (Fresno St) disrupted play after play, and Keenan Carter (Virginia) played a much better pad level today and generally pushed his opponent around. Joe Cohen and Marcus Thomas (Florida) combined with Carter and Leonard to make the interior of the Nation line almost unstoppable. I interviewed Thomas and he said the right things about his problems, without sounding rehearsed. Missing the SEC and National Championship games seems to have really woken him up. On the Texas side, Justin Rogers (SMU) really improved his play and beat Barbre a few times. Xsavie Jackson (Missouri) continues to hurtle himself at the QB like a bat out of hell. Jackson’s spin move is NFL quality. Walter Thomas (NW Mississippi JC) still stood out when he did everything right. I interviewed Walter - he’s a very shy kid who probably has no idea how much buzz he is creating.
LB: Taurean Charles (Bethune-Cookman) stood out the way I expected him to today. He had an unbelievable interception and generally moved around the field faster than just about any other LB. I say just about any other because Jay Staggs (UNLV) always seems to come out of nowhere with his relentless high energy play. Cameron Siskowic (Illinois St) made some smart, instinctive reads of run plays as an MLB. Troy Collavo (UTEP) plays with a ton of heart. Antwan Barnes (Florida International) closes as fast as an LB edge rusher as just about anyone I’ve seen the last three weeks.
DB: Watch out for the Nation CBs! Larry Anam (Boston College), John Bowie (Cincinnati), Calvin Bannister (Hampton), and Marcus Hamilton (Virginia) were all very impressive. They played with toughness and smarts, and “trusted what they saw”, which would make Mike Mayock happy. Bowie is showing explosive reactions to WR breaks, Anam is playing some real hardnosed football, Bannister is showing terrific aggression, and Hamilton might have the best instincts of all of them. I talked to Anam for a while after practice, and he really impressed me. He was very concerned about Junior Taylor's injury. He also said he’s just learning to play press coverage. You wouldn’t know it from watching him. On the Texas side, Stephen McCoy (Texas A&M-Kingsville) and Dathon Brown (Texas College) just increased the positive momentum they created with their great play on Monday. Courtney Bryan (New Mexico State) and T.J. Wright (Ohio) looked much better than they did on Monday. All in all, the CBs on both squads are making more plays in practice than the CBs at the Shrine Game/Senior Bowl. Joe Sturdivant (SMU) was among the best safeties of the day, but I honestly did not watch them much because I was captivated by the play of the CBs on both sides.
El Paso remembered that it was hosting a college all-star game this week and gave us a big dose of the same kind of weather that seemed to follow the draft scene from Houston to Mobile. Both practices were marred by rain, and after getting soaked at field level for about an hour, I tossed in the towel and went up to the dry warmth of the press box. The rain did not dampen the intensity of the practices. Already three players -Keyunta Dawson (LB – Texas Tech), Travis Leitko (DE – Notre Dame), and Brent Pousson (OL-McNeese State) - have gotten hurt, and will be replaced by Bo Greer (OL - New Mexico) Jason Jack (DE- Texas A&M) and Joe Ward (DL – UTEP). One of yesterday’s standouts, Junior Taylor (WR-UCLA) got hurt today and was later seen on crutches back at the hotel.
QB: Josh Swogger (Montana) and Justin Rascati (James Madison) continue to look like the class of the QBs here. Swogger looked particularly smooth throwing on the move, and both displayed great accuracy for the second straight day. I got interviews with both, and talked to them for a while after the tape stopped rolling. Swogger has been working with Rich Gannon, and Rascati is most concerned with proving that he’s got arm strength. They are both very humble kids who have the right attitude, and I walked away very impressed. Dalton Bell (West Texas A&M) still puts more mustard on the short stuff than anyone else here (he zinged one right past a DB’s face for a completion), but the deep ball is a lollipop. The deep ball was at least more accurate today. Jeff Smith (Georgetown KY) continues to look like an interesting practice squad project because of his size, but tended to overthrow his receivers today. Sam Hollenbach (Maryland) has not stood out the way I expected him to, being the only QB here to play against top D-I competition this year. His deep ball is pretty (competing with Swogger for the nicest one here), but the throws over the middle are still sailing. Andy Collins (Occidental) looks smooth out there, but doesn’t seem to be at the level of the other QBs here. Swogger and Rascati are the ones to watch – they both would fit in with the QBs I watched in Shrine Game and Senior Bowl practices.
RB/FB: Ramonce Taylor (Texas) showed his gamebreaking ability yet again on some runs where he made some Reggie Bush moves. I got to interview him yesterday and he seems to have his head on straight. Today, Quentin Smith (Rice) took D.D. Terry’s (Sam Houston State) place as the guy that broke consecutive runs to the 3rd level for the Texas team. I still haven’t seen Paul Mosley (Baylor) get too many chances to run inside, which is where I think he’ll do his damage if he can stick in the NFL. On the other side, Justise Hairston (Central Connecticut State) showed a very nice burst, and Justin Vincent (LSU) showed good vision, but it’s tough to run on that Nation D-Line. Gijon Robinson (Missouri Western) continues to impress me as an all-around weapon at FB.
WR/TE: Much like Paul Williams (Fresno St) at the Shrine Game, when Ryan Moore (Miami) really tries, he makes sensational plays. He exhibited fluid moves and fantastic body control today, and he also naturally got position on the DB when the ball was in the air. Moore was much improved from yesterday. Vincent Marshall (Houston) continues to flash the deep speed to get behind a defense. He dropped a few balls because he started to think about running before he secured the ball, but it’s clear that he’s got great hands. Jesse Wendt (Wisconsin-Stout) was no longer timid and started really showed his top notch athleticism and tools. He had one of the plays of the day getting both feet in bounds on a tough sideline catch. Chandler Williams (Florida International) still pops out as a terrific athlete and did a lot better job finishing plays today. He also threw an unsuccessful pass on a reverse. Maurice Price (Charleston Southern) looks like the most crisp, quick WR here. I got to interview him last night – he wants the Colts to win the Super Bowl (Sorry Bears fans). Daniel Robinson (UTEP) and Mike Jefferson (Montana State) continue to struggle, and Robert Johnson (Texas Tech) and James Finley (Oregon) continue to stand out as the best of the Texas WRs. TE Tyler Ecker (Michigan) has really impressed me for the second straight day with his athleticism and pillow soft hands. Desmond Allison (South Dakota) looks more like a big WR than a TE in routes.
OL: Same story as yesterday, Jonathan Palmer (Auburn) and Scott Stephenson (Iowa State) were the standouts for the Nation squad. I interviewed Scott and came away a believer. He didn’t flinch when I asked him about his surgically repaired shoulders. On the Texas side, the Louisville lineman, Renardo Foster and Kurt Quarterman, still look very polished. I expect them to get drafted or stick as priority free agents. Allen Barbre (Missouri Southern) has some of the best footwork of anyone lineman here. Like the four guys I listed above, he seems like he would have fit in at the Shrine Game.
DL: Louis Leonard (Fresno St) disrupted play after play, and Keenan Carter (Virginia) played a much better pad level today and generally pushed his opponent around. Joe Cohen and Marcus Thomas (Florida) combined with Carter and Leonard to make the interior of the Nation line almost unstoppable. I interviewed Thomas and he said the right things about his problems, without sounding rehearsed. Missing the SEC and National Championship games seems to have really woken him up. On the Texas side, Justin Rogers (SMU) really improved his play and beat Barbre a few times. Xsavie Jackson (Missouri) continues to hurtle himself at the QB like a bat out of hell. Jackson’s spin move is NFL quality. Walter Thomas (NW Mississippi JC) still stood out when he did everything right. I interviewed Walter - he’s a very shy kid who probably has no idea how much buzz he is creating.
LB: Taurean Charles (Bethune-Cookman) stood out the way I expected him to today. He had an unbelievable interception and generally moved around the field faster than just about any other LB. I say just about any other because Jay Staggs (UNLV) always seems to come out of nowhere with his relentless high energy play. Cameron Siskowic (Illinois St) made some smart, instinctive reads of run plays as an MLB. Troy Collavo (UTEP) plays with a ton of heart. Antwan Barnes (Florida International) closes as fast as an LB edge rusher as just about anyone I’ve seen the last three weeks.
DB: Watch out for the Nation CBs! Larry Anam (Boston College), John Bowie (Cincinnati), Calvin Bannister (Hampton), and Marcus Hamilton (Virginia) were all very impressive. They played with toughness and smarts, and “trusted what they saw”, which would make Mike Mayock happy. Bowie is showing explosive reactions to WR breaks, Anam is playing some real hardnosed football, Bannister is showing terrific aggression, and Hamilton might have the best instincts of all of them. I talked to Anam for a while after practice, and he really impressed me. He was very concerned about Junior Taylor's injury. He also said he’s just learning to play press coverage. You wouldn’t know it from watching him. On the Texas side, Stephen McCoy (Texas A&M-Kingsville) and Dathon Brown (Texas College) just increased the positive momentum they created with their great play on Monday. Courtney Bryan (New Mexico State) and T.J. Wright (Ohio) looked much better than they did on Monday. All in all, the CBs on both squads are making more plays in practice than the CBs at the Shrine Game/Senior Bowl. Joe Sturdivant (SMU) was among the best safeties of the day, but I honestly did not watch them much because I was captivated by the play of the CBs on both sides.
