Ill be doing a formal writeup of mine and gridiron giant's observations, including which players the scouts from each team went to talk to when the practice was over. man, there's no substitute for watching the players up close. I hope to publish the notes wed/thr followed by a detailed write up of the game next week. I wish i could hit all of the practices, but i have a day job.feel free to post questions about specific players on the rosters here and ill try to recollect what i noticed the best i can - i did focus on the offensive skill players.
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Just Got Back From East West Shrine Practice (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Bloom
- Start date
Adrian Peterson
Footballguy
As a Canadian - want to know how Andy Fantuz, WR is looking against American defensive backs. Last I saw had him ranked 24th going into this years draft as a WR.
Fantuz is one of the players that I was paying very close attention to - He looked real nervous and dropped a ton of passes in the drills, then when the actual 11 on 11 got going he looked better.I spent some time talking to a scout from the calgary stampeders and he felt Fantuz had little to no shot in the NFL - said Fantuz was not athletic enough and couldnt hang with the physical DBs down here - also that he was dominant in Canada mainly because of his height advantage and that his timed speed was probably in the 4.6s, not 4.5s as rumored. He thought the other Canadian, DL Daniel Federkeil was the more intriguing prospect, although he was really without a home position.
Keep up the good work Bloom.:jealous:I will toss out there right now that one offensive skill player really stood out from the rest - also the only player I had a chance to talk to because I didnt want to take time away from the chance they had to talk to scouts - If you need a WR on your dynasty team, look no further than:
Jonathan Orr, Wisconsin
To my eyes, he was the most impressive player on the field, and by a large margin. I think he has been completely overlooked because of Wisconsin's conservative offense. This kid is going to soar up draft boards, and I fully expect him to carry a late first-early second round grade by the time the draft comes. Ill get into more detail in my more formal writeup, but make a mental note to get this guy in your dynasty leagues. He's already in my top 5 dynasty rookie WR for 2006, and he's probably not done moving up the board yet. I developed a football man crush on this guy watching him today.
Jonathan Orr, Wisconsin
To my eyes, he was the most impressive player on the field, and by a large margin. I think he has been completely overlooked because of Wisconsin's conservative offense. This kid is going to soar up draft boards, and I fully expect him to carry a late first-early second round grade by the time the draft comes. Ill get into more detail in my more formal writeup, but make a mental note to get this guy in your dynasty leagues. He's already in my top 5 dynasty rookie WR for 2006, and he's probably not done moving up the board yet. I developed a football man crush on this guy watching him today.
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Very solid. I believe he was playing more RT with Jabari Levey from south carolina playing LT. Showed real nice upper body strength. I talked to John Murphy, the director of personnel for the game, and he said Whitworth had a chip on his shoulder about the senior bowl (guessing he didnt get an invite).
Hard to say because he's taller than either of them, and possibly just as fast. Off the top of my head, I would say a raw Chad Johnson
Are we looking at a more reliable Chambers here or a lesser Evans?
Yeah.And Brandon Williams, the other Wisconsin WR was also impressive - he's got the Steve Smith/Santana Moss speed merchant spark plug style. Orr's face lit up when I asked him if it helps to have Williams around this week.Another preview - sleeper RB of the day was:
De'Arrius Howard, Arkansas
Built low and extremely powerful and thick in the lower body. ran with authority and showed some lateral moves, seemed to get to the secondary on every run in 11 on 11s. He had a hot start to the year only get to lost in the mix, after being in the shadow of Cedric Cobbs and Matt Jones in his first three years. He was basically a career backup at Arkansas, but he looks to have the size, build, and burst to have a chance to stick at the next level. He reminded me of Michael Turner, but I dont think he has the 5th gear Turner has.
De'Arrius Howard, Arkansas
Built low and extremely powerful and thick in the lower body. ran with authority and showed some lateral moves, seemed to get to the secondary on every run in 11 on 11s. He had a hot start to the year only get to lost in the mix, after being in the shadow of Cedric Cobbs and Matt Jones in his first three years. He was basically a career backup at Arkansas, but he looks to have the size, build, and burst to have a chance to stick at the next level. He reminded me of Michael Turner, but I dont think he has the 5th gear Turner has.
Leroy Hoard
Footballguy
It's taken a while, but Chris Chambers came out of this same conservative offense and he has averaged close to 1000 yards & 10 TDs on a run based offense the last 3 years. Orr may have even more potential.
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JaxBill
Footballguy
Here's a link to the rosters:http://www.shrinegame.com/rosters.php
What about RB Leon Washington from FSU and QB Paul Pinegar from the other FSU?
Washington's hands were extremely impressive, and his compact frame and powerful lower body seemed to generate good drive on his runs. He had a very spotty year and we probably haven't seen the best of him.Pinegar was the only the QB that impressed me at all. He made all the throws and seemed very precise in his footwork and generally comfortable.
a lot of this will be repeated in my writeup.
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Kleck.
Footballguy
Fast, but not nearly as quick. Orr was also double covered more and did often draw safety coverage away from Williams. Stocco didn't help help Orr much out either by strugglingto get him the long ball. He does have great height and ability to go up for the ball which will help, but he will need to learn how to run routes. IMO, that is his biggest weakness he has. A more reliable Chambers or Evans? Not even close. Not now. I'd say he is closer to a style like Chris Henry than Chad Johnson.Hard to say because he's taller than either of them, and possibly just as fast. Off the top of my head, I would say a raw Chad Johnson
Kevin Ashcraft
Footballguy
Two guys I am interested in Bloom.....1. Marques Colston, WR from Hofstra. Love his size and think he could be a 4-5th round pick. Is he just a guy with a great WR frame or could he be a steal for someone.2. Nate Salley, S OH ST. Lookin @ KC from him as a SS @ 6'3. If yous aw much of him, how was his toughness and tackling ability?Thanks!
No tackling, so cant comment on that.Colston - looked stiff to me at first, but in 11 on 11 drills, made a real nice play on a deep ball, very fluid and a natural hands catch. The Cowboys talked to him for a while.
Salley - all i saw was him getting beat by the quicker/shorter WRs, but as a SS prospect this is probably expected.
Jason Wood
Zoo York
To NFL Draft Scout's credit, they've been on him as a 1st rounder for months.I did know this going in and wanted to see who was off on their assessment, NDS, or the sites that had orr in the 15-20 range, so I might have been set up to notice him - however, he did 2 or 3 things that just jumped out at you during the practice and would have gotten your attention even if he was an unheralded kid from fargo barber college. I think at least 3 teams scouts waited around to talk to him - He seemed to be more in demand than any other player from the east team after the practice. I talked to him briefly and he's a real humble quiet kid who seems like he's just doing his job out there.
homebrumiester
Footballguy
ConstruxBoy
Kate's Daddy
Bloom,How often are there collisions with all those little cars on the field and do they wear seatbelts?TIA.
well its hard to get the skinny from NFL scouts, they gave us the cold shoulder when we tried to chat with them.I will say that Williams small area quicks held up against the DBs in practice and as I said before, he definitely seems to be in the Steve Smith/Santana Moss mold, although without the elite top end speed. he did make a sick one handed catch on the sidelines and showed the willingness to go up in the air and leave himself vulnerable - nate salley laid a big hit (going for the ball) on him one time he did that. on the one deep route i watched, gerrick mcphearson (maryland) stayed with him, but mcphearson runs in the 4.2s. Greg Jennings from western michigan is a similar style WR to williams, and i think Williams was more impressive.
Henderson was absolutely uncoverable in the drills where the LBs covered the RBs. the west Lb coach was giving the LBs props just for forcing taurean out of bounds only 3 yards up field - conceding that there was no way to stop him from catching the pass. Henderson really looked somewhat mortal on bread and butter running plays, but looked a lot better on draws and delays. I think he will have trouble adjusting to the smaller gaps in pro style offenses - the gaps in Texas Tech's offense were HUGE.
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Evilgrin 72
Distributor of Pain
Awesome, awesome stuff, Bloom.Couple questions coming at you from the Steelers standpoint (what else?) :Any D-Lineman there that fit the mold for the Steelers' 3-4? I know they absolutely love tall, strong, high motor guys on the edges - size-wise, there are maybe 3 guys there that fit the nold : Barry Cofield, Johnny Jolly (what a name for a D-lineman) - and a guy I really like - Steve Fifita from Utah. Any of them making any hay at all?Also, how about centers? I don't see many of the top C prospects names there, any the Steelers might look at in the later rounds?Finally, what about Jaxson Appel? If memory serves, he was once a very higly reagrded DB prospect - seems the bloom is off the rose a bit (no pun intended) - where do you see him going?
Evilgrin 72
Distributor of Pain
He already answered this, over the course of 2-3 posts.
The (Grid)Iron Giant
Footballguy
Well, thanks to Bloom I got media access to the game/practices as well and went down to the practice with Bloom yesterday. Good times!Clearly, Wisconsin is (somehow) a WR factory as Orr and Williams tore it up. As Bloom noted, Orr was the star of the day. Williams seemed even a bit more explosive, though he was more impressive in cut-and-catch drills than the real game situations. That said, Williams took a monster hit across the middle and held onto the ball. Fearless and tough + explosive = sick value in the late 2nd/early 3rd. We both watched the early WR drills when Fantuz couldn't hold onto the ball, but while Bloom went to look at the linemen, I saw some contact catch drills (meaning the coaches bump, grab, hug, and slap the player while he tries to catch), and suddenly Fantuz caught everything thrown his way. He seemed to like the phsyical contact more, which could be a good sign. But if his 40 time is too low, it probably won't matter.I don't know how much we're supposed to say before we do a proper write-up, but it was exciting to see which teams sprinted for which guy first, to see which scouts has players highlighted/noted on their secret sheets, and to nearly get hit by the ball on the field like 4 times. Talk about up close and personal.Our detailed report will be chalk full of hotness.
Fla\/\/ed
Footballguy
You bet he was reliable in college. He was banged up quite a bit and I don't think he can be an everydown back. Of course, I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so what do I know.Don't tell Michigan he's slow!He may only be 5'6", but weighing in at 200lbs he has proven to be very reliable.
The (Grid)Iron Giant
Footballguy
Some more highlights off the top of my head:Gerrick McPherson (CB, Maryland) has a tiny frame but is built like a tank in the upper body. He's alsot he fastest guy in the Shrine game, maybe in the draft (4.2ish). He easily stayed with the afore-mentioned explosive Wisc. WR Brandon Williams on a pump and go, breaking up the pass with authority. When fellow Badger WR Orr did a hip-fake to the outside and then cut in on a 10-yard slant, though, McPherson was faked out of his shoes. Ouch. My sense is that he's a little too aggressive right now, but will work out once his technique sharpens up. Meanwhile, again, Orr has sick moves.If UCLA QB Drew Olson had Manute Bol at WR, he'd be set. Dude couldn't keep the ball down. At one point he overthrew 4 straight guys, including TE David Thomas on a simple out pattern. Olsen just seemed jittery, too. Not loving him.I think we're sitting on our sleeper TE until the article comes out, but boy do we have one for those of you in the TE-favored leagues.Best teammates:-Leon Washington, who was clearly already best friends with all the other skill guys by the start of practice.-Tommy Jackson, who was yelling, trash-talking, and pumping up his D on literally every play during 11-on-11.-LBs Brandon Hoyte and Justin London, who were helping teammates with the plays multiple times.Man, so much to talk about...
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Lord of the Rings
Footballguy
Geez. So much for taking a couple weeks off from fantasy football before diving back into dynasty prep work. Great stuff here guys! Thanks for ruining my "vacation." 
