Following an exciting first round, we break down the favorite picks, most pleasant and biggest surprises, most under-appreciated pick, worst move and more.
Peyton Manning, Mario Williams, Mike Wallace and Carl Nicks headline an intriguing free agent class that can shift the balance of power this offseason.
The Eagles seemingly came out of nowhere to sign Nnamdi Asomugha as they eye a trip to the Super Bowl.
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Action-packed Day Three of practice here in Mobile. Practice started cloudy and breezy in the low 60s but gradually the sun broke through and the wind died down.
I tried to pay attention to a little of everything today so this summary will be more positional overview and less chronological. I watched the O-line early, then the LBs doing drills I watched yesterday to gauge change, then some QB/WR/CB stuff and the pass rush drill. Those were occurring simultaneously but the coaches did a nice job of unintentionally staggering the reps so that it was possible to catch both and not miss much action. Practice then went to 11's before finishing with special teams.
QBs Russell Wilson--again had serious issues with the snap, some of which is on him and some on the centers. He has an alarming propensity to yank his hands back too quickly and he does not have big hands to begin with, so the target range on the snap is small and execution must be perfect. He also had a couple of handoff issues where he put the ball too low for the back and that caused them to slow a beat. Wilson generally threw the ball nicely with great touch, notably a sideline pass to Gerell Robinson that he beautifully feathered in over the safety and outside the corner, both of whom had solid coverage. He throws the most reliable deep ball of the North QBs. Wilson also wisely threw a ball away when nothing was available, something that brought a mock cheer from the two guys wearing Badger gear a few rows above me.
Kirk Cousins--Another day, another inconsistent performance. He was very sharp early, particularly in the 1-on-1 cover drills and throwing to backs and ends in the LB cover drill. Cousins demonstrated great pace, strong command, and the ability to throw his man open. But he also had some instances where he was indecisive and he doesn't have the rifle to fit the ball into a closing window. Cousins also struggled with sideline routes, requiring the receivers to make excellent catches and fighting to stay inbounds. It was not a question of arm strength but rather proper depth on the throws. He flashed the jets on a broken play run in 11's accelerating away from Bobby Wagner and beating Harrison Smith to the sideline. He's going to be a very tough evaluation for teams.
Kellen Moore--In the same early drills where Cousins shined, Moore was simply awful. I don't know any other way to describe it. In the LB/RB drill he did not complete a single pass and many were not even close, including where the receiver was clearly open. All over my notes I have things like "nice route, Moore bad throw". Moore is a reactive thrower with inadequate arm strength and a long, wonky delivery. Great college winner, not even remotely an NFL quarterback.
RBs Probably the position group I spent the least amount of time on today. I was once again impressed by Isaiah Pead, who proved time and again he can get open. He ran an exceptional wheel route where he really stuck his foot in the ground to sell an out cut and exploded up the field, leaving Donnie Fletcher in his dust. It was also the best practice of the week for Wisconsin FB Bradie Ewing, who showed he could shake coverage in the short area and catch the ball well. Dan Herron did not do so well today. Doug Martin looked pretty good in the receiving drill, showing up Boise teammate Shea McClellin on a wheel route and making a nice catch on a deep throw despite good coverage by Audie Cole.
WRs Got to see a little blocking today, which was very welcomed by the coaches in attendance.
Brian Quick--had his best day of the week by a wide margin. In an agility drill he was so bad on the first rep that the coach stopped him and made him start over. Next two reps he was absolutely perfect, very sharp with his cuts and kept his speed through his changes. On a corner route he crosses Alfonzo Dennard's feet and made him fall down before making a nice effort at a terrible throw. He seemed to do better when the play was more physical. Caught the ball with his hands nicely today.
TJ Graham--really making a name for himself this week, today was no exception. He breezed through the agility drills, planting and cutting hard with no downshifting and no circling. Graham has a nice release from the line and quickly secures the ball tightly with his hands. He showed he can turn and burn after the catch too. He ran right past Leonard Johnson on a go route and nearly made an acrobatic one-handed catch on a poor throw. Reminds me of Steve Smith the Giant before his injury.
Gerell Robinson--another solid day. Showed the athletic ability to catch throws that aren't right on target. Made a nice sliding sideline catch on one play with the coverage all over him (nice throw by Cousins), and caught another throw on his back hip while going at almost full speed across the middle and the safety on him. Doesn't show he can get great separation and has some roundness to his cuts; coaches made him restart the agility drill twice for getting too wide. Looked great blocking, really sinks his hips and gets into it.
Marvin Jones--best blocker here, he rocked Leonard Johnson on a hit that sounded like Ray Lewis delivered it. Very sharp in agility drills for a bigger guy, really gets low in his cuts. Has to downshift a little but makes them sharply. Got wide open on a play action pass and flowed across the field with his QB nicely, though the ball went elsewhere.
Devier Posey--not his best day. Had a couple of drops on easy throws. Did decent in blocking, more of a dancing bear blocker than an aggressor. His footwork seemed a little off today; looked better in the same drills earlier in the week.
Marvin McNutt--agility drills are his enemy, period. Also had problems in blocking drill, got chucked aside by D'Anton Lynn in the only positive play Lynn has made all week. Did run a nice stop route and extended hands out to catch the ball that was outside his torso.
TEs Best practice of the week for Emil Igwenagu, who got better separation on his routes and looked fluid catching the ball. Brian Linthicum returned to practice and showed no ill effects of whatever kept him out yesterday. Linthicum made a very nice seal block on a stretch run by Doug Martin, a block that Michael Egnew missed on a different rep and caused Lavonte David to get into the backfield for a big loss. Egnew caught the ball well and looked good when split wide with Posey in the slot, burned past Bobby Wagner on a nice clear-out route. He also burned across George Iloka, who could not catch up to him as he continued across and down the field.
The lines Tony Bergstrom--very solid morning, mostly. Dominated Billy Winn in individual drills, generally dictated the action. Looked better on the left side than the right. Stoned Mike Martin on a pass rush rep, steered him wide nicely. Pancaked Shea McClellin in 11's and let him know about it too, but on the very next rep Jack Crawford made a nice swim move and beat him handily for a would-be sack.
Mike Adams--generally solid. Even though he's the tallest guy on the field he is visibly lower in his stance than Mitchell Schwartz or Kelechi Osemele. He really has Vinny Curry's number, didn't give him one crumb of hope and stayed with him as Curry kept trying to get wider on him.
Kevin Zeitler--not his best day, not at all. Got forklifted by Kendall Reyes on one play. Mike Martin bested him on a bull rush as well. Was slow to get to the second level on a run play that allowed Demario Davis a free shot at the runner. It seems the constant positional shuffling is impacting him as he has played every spot but LT this week.
Rishaw Johnson--New Guy Alert! An injury replacement for an injury replacement (Gerhart and Looney), he is big and beefy. Did not snap the ball well and spent the last 10 minutes of practice working with Wilson and Cousins on the exchange with fairly intense coaching instruction. Got turned sideways once by Ta'Amu but generally acquitted himself in run blocking.
Mitchell Schwartz--he has generally impressed me this week. Looks like a competent swing #3 tackle at the next level, but needs to sink his hips better and be more aggressive with his punch.
Mike Brewster--I know the Buckeye fans don't want to hear it any more than I want to write it, but Brewster has been awful. Major issues snapping the ball with all three QBs but esp. Wilson. Fires off the snap with his head down fairly regularly, allowing the defender to easily discard him. Lacks anchor strength even when he gets good pad level.
Alameda Ta'Amu--busted out the spin move today but spun himself right back into Johnson after he already had him beat. Successfully stood up the double team a few times and made a nice play where he knifed through the A gap and got a pressure. Pretty lumbering and won't get more than about 2 sacks per year at the next level but really impresses as a guy that can play the 1-technique or the cocked nose position.
Derek Wolfe--another solid day, not as dynamic as yesterday but once again showed he can handle himself in space. Has a real innate feel for how to set up his pass rush moves and counterattack; made a great shoulder dip inside move on Senio Kelemente, who got caught leaning outside. Playing his way up draft boards.
Mike Martin--consistently demonstrates he has great raw power. Can dig in his heels and anchor vs. the run. Looks fairly quick with disengaging, knows how to use his hands. He forced Johnson into a bad snap. One NFC West positional coach is very infatuated with him, told me he thinks Martin can start right away.
Cam Johnson--not having much of an impact this week. Pretty hard to make him out during 11's as he is almost always washed out. Did make a nice inside-out dip move that got him past Schwartz on a rep.
Billy Winn--not a good week and this was probably his weakest day. Really lacking base strength and he's not quick enough or adept enough to move out to 3-4 OLB. Winds up on the ground more than any other player, and is often the first one to the dirt too.
Vinny Curry--almost completely one-dimensional; goes wide and tries to get around the outside shoulder of the tackle on every pass rush. Pretty easily stymied when he tries anything else and gets washed out vs. the run. See: Mark Anderson.
LBs Shea McClellin--very hit and miss. Did better in the hitting and agility drill today, looked more confident and fluid with his feet and shoulders. Still a count slow to diagnose the play but he showed he can close quickly to the point of attack. Got pancaked hard on one play where he was standing flat-footed trying to figure out where to go, but two reps later he successfully chucked a half-assed block from Egnew and got to the ball near the sideline. A work in progress but showing promise.
Audie Cole--also did better in the same drills where he wasn't so sharp yesterday, kept his center of gravity lower in agility drills. Was probably the best of the LBs in coverage though he doesn't locate the ball well in the air. He absolutely flattened Dan Herron on a little flare route before the QB could even throw the ball, which really fired up his LB mates.
Bobby Wagner--not real fluid in coverage but he continues to demonstrate good balance in striking the ball carrier and is probably the best here at stripping the football, a major point of emphasis. Reminds me some of Deandre Levy.
Lavonte David--it's very easy to mistake David for a safety because he's smaller than George Iloka. Got beat on just about every coverage rep but stuck with it enough that he could make the play after the catch on most. Made a great read in 11's playing LOLB where he hid behind the DE and exploded outside to make a play for a big loss. Does a good job staying square to his target and striking upward.
DBs Donnie Fletcher--very physical all practice. Easily the best of the corners at getting off blocks and attacking the run, seemed to really enjoy it too. Did a nice job steering Marvin Jones out of bounds on a route in 11s without illegal contact.
George Iloka--fared poorly in 1-on-1 coverage, really has to downshift and loop to change direction. Looked much better in 11's and starting as the deep-field safety. Consistently winds up where the ball is.
Harrison Smith--nice practice, showed good burst. Ran step for step with Chris Polk on a crossing route, broke up a pass to Egnew on another rep. Just missed making a leaping PD on an aforementioned great throw by Wilson. Needs to work on his depth awareness in zone coverage. Runs very upright but has figured out how to manage it when he changes direction.
Trenton Robinson--had a practice to forget. Took real bad angles on a couple of reps that let his responsibility running free down the field. Overran a run that allowed a cutback. At MSU he was a player that thrived on confidence but he has none of that here.
Alfonzo Dennard--as mentioned above he crossed his feet and tumbled in coverage once. Not as effective at jamming as he should be either, gave an outside release to Jones that brought admonition from the coaches. Really looks uncomfortable in zone, not very instinctive about where to go. Not having the kind of week I expected.
Leonard Johnson--terrible day all around. Got thumped in run support drill, wound up on his butt almost every rep. TJ Graham ran past him like he wasn't even there with a 10-yard cushion on a rep. Took poor pursuit angles when asked to chase inside and he doesn't have the speed to compensate.
Asa Jackson--best day of the week for him. Wasn't great at shedding blocks but not from lack of effort. Turned and ran with the receivers nicely in 11's, correctly anticipated and cut off an inside move by Posey on a play where Wilson was clearly looking that way.
Jeff.Risdon@RealGM.com
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