Day One Nation Practice Report
By Sigmund Bloom
It was a gorgeous day for football in El Paso. We trekked up from the Texas weigh-in at the Hilton Garden Inn to the Sun Bowl, one of the most striking stadiums anywhere in the world – basically carved into a hillside overlooking the city, like a cross between a Greek amphitheatre and an Anasazi cliff dwelling. The Nation players had already warmed up and were ready to go by the time we arrived. They were in shoulder pads and shorts, but there was no lack of intensity. Unlike the Shrine Game or Senior Bowl, there is little media on location and the scouts wait until they get back to the hotel to go after the kids, so there’s little to report in the way of team interest (although the Browns did make a beeline for Scott Stephenson and Maurice Price) Here are my observations:
Justin Rascati, QB, James Madison – Raspy, forceful cadence. Great zip and excellent accuracy on short and intermediate throws. Big windup on deep ball, which is more of touch throw than a rope
Jeff Smith, QB, Georgetown (KY) – Failed to stand out. Greatly overthrew a deep ball
Sam Hollenbach, QB, Maryland – Most forceful snap count of the six QBs, but otherwise failed to stand out. Deep ball over the middle floated
Gary Russell, RB, Minnesota – Looked smooth as a receiver out of the backfield. Like the rest of the RBs, he did not get much in the way of room to run from the offensive line
Justin Vincent, RB, LSU – Showed good vision, but was stifled by a lack of holes to run through
Clifton Dawson, RB, Harvard – Great punch when picking up blitz
Justise Hairston, RB, Central Connecticut State – Showed good vision
Gijon Robinson, FB, Missouri Western – Very athletic and good receiver
Tyrone Timmons, WR, Mississippi Valley State – Presents a good big target to the QB, but doesn’t seem like a natural WR
Maurice Price, WR, Charleston Southern – Very quick in his breaks, often leaving DBs far in his wake. Natural hands catcher. Seemed a little tentative when a safety had a bead on him while the ball was in the air. Good YAC instincts
Jesse Wendt, WR, Wisconsin-Stout – Got behind the defense but looked unnatural catching the ball. One scout called him “timid”. Stiff for such an athletic player
Ryan Moore, WR, Miami – Got pushed around a bit, sometimes seemed lethargic. Good burst for a long legged guy and a fluid athlete. Sometimes body caught the ball instead of using his hands. Flinched but caught a Rascati fireball
Junior Taylor, WR, UCLA – Made some breathtaking adjustments on deep catches, consistently got behind his man. Quick burst of the line. Crisp breaks in routes. Good adjustment to ball in air and YAC instincts
Chandler Williams, WR, Florida International – Clearly athletic enough to get open with ease (validating his combine invite), but seemed to lack the skills to close the deal by catching the ball. Can hang in the air to make a catch
Marcus Freeman, TE, Notre Dame – Showed good hands when given the chance
Desmond Allison, TE, South Dakota – Dropped an easy pass
Tyler Ecker, TE, Michigan – Very soft natural hands, moves well in routes, walls off defender when ball is in the air.
Scott Stephenson, C, Iowa State – One of the two most impressive OL in the practice (with Jonathan Palmer being the other). Sprung out of his stance into good blocking position. Got under Keenan Carter, who came with a reputation as a run stuffer. Stays with play even when he is initially beat and often recovers to stop defender.
Elliot Seifert, OT, Temple – Used Xsavie Jackson’s speed and momentum against him by redirecting him past QB. Played LT.
Erik Robertson, OL, California – Had footwork to sustain block once he got his hands on the defender.
Jonathan Palmer, OL, Auburn – Almost always neutralized his guy and handled Marcus Thomas very well. Absorbed strong punch and stayed with defender. Handled a very nice spin move from Louis Leonard. Gets out of his stance quickly and into pass blocking position. Got to the 2nd level and connected with a defender on running play.
Thed Watson, OT, South Florida – Generally played LT well.
Nation D-Line – Generally dominated the OLine, giving the Nation RBs little chance to show their skills.
Keenan Carter, DT, Virginia – Played too high at times, but bowled over Eric Graham on one particularly impressive rush
Marcus Thomas, DT, Florida – Excellent quickness and power coming out of the three point stance. Made some of the lesser OL look like they were playing with their feet in wet cement. Changed direction and reacted to a play while being blocked. Looked swift for a DT in backside pursuit, keeping up with Justin Vincent as he stretched a run play wide
Louis Leonard, DT, Fresno St – Consistently got a good push. Showed a good swim
move. Threw Derrick Markray down like a rag doll. Uses handfighting well to get free of OL
Joe Cohen, DT, Florida – Plagued by offsides (at least 3 or 4 of them – heard him muttering about a “silent count” on the sidelines), but got a great jump and penetration when he wasn’t committing penalties.
Xsavie Jackson, DE, Missouri – Hurtles himself at QB – made a spin move at full speed while still pushing forward. Very fast rushing off of edge
LeMarcus Rowell, LB, Jacksonville State – Closed with the speed of a safety
Antwan Barnes, LB, Florida International – Great speed on blitz
Cameron Siskowic, LB, Illinois St – Didn’t bite on fake reverse and ate up the ball-carrier.
Jay Staggs, LB/S, UNLV – Flew into play but bounced off of Justise Hairston
Brendan Hill, S/LB, Virginia Tech –Jumped a route on a Justin Rascati pass and intercepted it, getting the D fired up
Marcus Paschal, S, Iowa – Closed well while the ball was in the air
Calvin Bannister, DB, Hampton – Closed extremely fast once he broke on the ball
Marcus Hamilton, CB, Virginia – Made good reads and reactions, trusting what he saw
John Bowie, CB, Cincinnati – Physical for a track guy, made great breaks on the ball while it was in the air. Generally provided great coverage and got coaches fired up.
Top 5 Players
1) Junior Taylor, WR, UCLA
2) Jonathan Palmer, OL, Auburn
3) John Bowie, CB, Cincinnati
4) Scott Stephenson, C, Iowa State
5) Marcus Thomas, DT, Florida
For more information, go to http://texasvsthenation.cstv.com/ . The game will be telecast Friday February 2 on CSTV at 10 pm EST/7 pm PST.
By Sigmund Bloom
It was a gorgeous day for football in El Paso. We trekked up from the Texas weigh-in at the Hilton Garden Inn to the Sun Bowl, one of the most striking stadiums anywhere in the world – basically carved into a hillside overlooking the city, like a cross between a Greek amphitheatre and an Anasazi cliff dwelling. The Nation players had already warmed up and were ready to go by the time we arrived. They were in shoulder pads and shorts, but there was no lack of intensity. Unlike the Shrine Game or Senior Bowl, there is little media on location and the scouts wait until they get back to the hotel to go after the kids, so there’s little to report in the way of team interest (although the Browns did make a beeline for Scott Stephenson and Maurice Price) Here are my observations:
Justin Rascati, QB, James Madison – Raspy, forceful cadence. Great zip and excellent accuracy on short and intermediate throws. Big windup on deep ball, which is more of touch throw than a rope
Jeff Smith, QB, Georgetown (KY) – Failed to stand out. Greatly overthrew a deep ball
Sam Hollenbach, QB, Maryland – Most forceful snap count of the six QBs, but otherwise failed to stand out. Deep ball over the middle floated
Gary Russell, RB, Minnesota – Looked smooth as a receiver out of the backfield. Like the rest of the RBs, he did not get much in the way of room to run from the offensive line
Justin Vincent, RB, LSU – Showed good vision, but was stifled by a lack of holes to run through
Clifton Dawson, RB, Harvard – Great punch when picking up blitz
Justise Hairston, RB, Central Connecticut State – Showed good vision
Gijon Robinson, FB, Missouri Western – Very athletic and good receiver
Tyrone Timmons, WR, Mississippi Valley State – Presents a good big target to the QB, but doesn’t seem like a natural WR
Maurice Price, WR, Charleston Southern – Very quick in his breaks, often leaving DBs far in his wake. Natural hands catcher. Seemed a little tentative when a safety had a bead on him while the ball was in the air. Good YAC instincts
Jesse Wendt, WR, Wisconsin-Stout – Got behind the defense but looked unnatural catching the ball. One scout called him “timid”. Stiff for such an athletic player
Ryan Moore, WR, Miami – Got pushed around a bit, sometimes seemed lethargic. Good burst for a long legged guy and a fluid athlete. Sometimes body caught the ball instead of using his hands. Flinched but caught a Rascati fireball
Junior Taylor, WR, UCLA – Made some breathtaking adjustments on deep catches, consistently got behind his man. Quick burst of the line. Crisp breaks in routes. Good adjustment to ball in air and YAC instincts
Chandler Williams, WR, Florida International – Clearly athletic enough to get open with ease (validating his combine invite), but seemed to lack the skills to close the deal by catching the ball. Can hang in the air to make a catch
Marcus Freeman, TE, Notre Dame – Showed good hands when given the chance
Desmond Allison, TE, South Dakota – Dropped an easy pass
Tyler Ecker, TE, Michigan – Very soft natural hands, moves well in routes, walls off defender when ball is in the air.
Scott Stephenson, C, Iowa State – One of the two most impressive OL in the practice (with Jonathan Palmer being the other). Sprung out of his stance into good blocking position. Got under Keenan Carter, who came with a reputation as a run stuffer. Stays with play even when he is initially beat and often recovers to stop defender.
Elliot Seifert, OT, Temple – Used Xsavie Jackson’s speed and momentum against him by redirecting him past QB. Played LT.
Erik Robertson, OL, California – Had footwork to sustain block once he got his hands on the defender.
Jonathan Palmer, OL, Auburn – Almost always neutralized his guy and handled Marcus Thomas very well. Absorbed strong punch and stayed with defender. Handled a very nice spin move from Louis Leonard. Gets out of his stance quickly and into pass blocking position. Got to the 2nd level and connected with a defender on running play.
Thed Watson, OT, South Florida – Generally played LT well.
Nation D-Line – Generally dominated the OLine, giving the Nation RBs little chance to show their skills.
Keenan Carter, DT, Virginia – Played too high at times, but bowled over Eric Graham on one particularly impressive rush
Marcus Thomas, DT, Florida – Excellent quickness and power coming out of the three point stance. Made some of the lesser OL look like they were playing with their feet in wet cement. Changed direction and reacted to a play while being blocked. Looked swift for a DT in backside pursuit, keeping up with Justin Vincent as he stretched a run play wide
Louis Leonard, DT, Fresno St – Consistently got a good push. Showed a good swim
move. Threw Derrick Markray down like a rag doll. Uses handfighting well to get free of OL
Joe Cohen, DT, Florida – Plagued by offsides (at least 3 or 4 of them – heard him muttering about a “silent count” on the sidelines), but got a great jump and penetration when he wasn’t committing penalties.
Xsavie Jackson, DE, Missouri – Hurtles himself at QB – made a spin move at full speed while still pushing forward. Very fast rushing off of edge
LeMarcus Rowell, LB, Jacksonville State – Closed with the speed of a safety
Antwan Barnes, LB, Florida International – Great speed on blitz
Cameron Siskowic, LB, Illinois St – Didn’t bite on fake reverse and ate up the ball-carrier.
Jay Staggs, LB/S, UNLV – Flew into play but bounced off of Justise Hairston
Brendan Hill, S/LB, Virginia Tech –Jumped a route on a Justin Rascati pass and intercepted it, getting the D fired up
Marcus Paschal, S, Iowa – Closed well while the ball was in the air
Calvin Bannister, DB, Hampton – Closed extremely fast once he broke on the ball
Marcus Hamilton, CB, Virginia – Made good reads and reactions, trusting what he saw
John Bowie, CB, Cincinnati – Physical for a track guy, made great breaks on the ball while it was in the air. Generally provided great coverage and got coaches fired up.
Top 5 Players
1) Junior Taylor, WR, UCLA
2) Jonathan Palmer, OL, Auburn
3) John Bowie, CB, Cincinnati
4) Scott Stephenson, C, Iowa State
5) Marcus Thomas, DT, Florida
For more information, go to http://texasvsthenation.cstv.com/ . The game will be telecast Friday February 2 on CSTV at 10 pm EST/7 pm PST.
