Last night was cool and rainy in Mobile, Alabama, site of the 60th Senior Bowl. While I paid close attention to all the position players in the game it is the running backs that got most of my attention. There were seven pure running backs that played in the game and I will give a recap of how they did along with my thoughts watching them run.
North
Jeremiah Johnson – Oregon (3-22-0): Johnson (left, courtesy of Jason Roberts) was used exclusively as a 3rd down back as he got his rushes on draw plays and added 2-26-1 receiving. While most people agree that Johnson’s future in the NFL will most likely be as the change-of-pace type back it was still interesting to me that the Bengals coaching staff put him in that role without seeing what he can do as a main back. As far as his performance, he did exactly what you would want from your 3rd down back by catching the ball out the backfield and showing good running in space.
Kory Sheets - Purdue (7-32-0): Sheets showed his versatility by carrying the ball 7 times, adding 4 catches and returning kicks. He had some nice holes to run through but what impressed me was his ability to run away from defenders in space despite not having 4.3 forty speed. All anyone needs to see is his beautiful 61-yard kickoff return to see that his on-the-field speed is plenty fast for the NFL. Dare I make the comparison to long-time NFL back Brian Mitchell? On Saturday he surely looked like him.
After a week of preview and review of the current crop of NFL-auditioning college seniors, some things were quite apparent:
Among the quarterbacks appearing in the 60th annual Senior Bowl game in Mobile, Alabama, none of the attendees really stood out as future NFL stars, at least for the moment.
Do not look for a Matt Ryan or a Joe Flacco out of the current crop of prospective NFL QBs…rookies who will immediately start, and, lead their teams to turnaround seasons or playoff appearances.
But, that does not mean that the QBs who participated in the 2009 Senior Bowl were necessarily all duds. Some, like West Virginia QB Pat White (photo, thanks IconSMI), fared better than the pre-game “conventional wisdom” would have one believe. Read the rest of this entry →
2009 Under Armour Senior Bowl Box Score (Final)
NORTH vs SOUTH (Jan 24, 2009 at Mobile, Ala.)
Qtr -Time – Scoring play
1st
04:52 SOUTH – John Parker Wilson 4 yd run (Patrick McAfree kick), 16-80 7:28
2nd
14:03 NORTH – Louie Sakoda 38 yd field goal, 8-32 3:04
09:42- SOUTH – Quinn Johnson 1 yd run (Patrick McAfree kick), 8-68 4:21
01:51 – SOUTH – Andre Brown 1 yd run (Patrick McAfree kick), 8-59 3:35
00:49 – NORTH – Jeremiah Johnson 4 yd pass from Nathan Brown (Louie Sakoda kick), 6-51 1:02
3rd
08:46 – SOUTH – Mike Wallace 39 yd pass from Pat White (Patrick McAfree kick), 3-58 1:40
4th
14:19 – NORTH – Eric Kettani 1 yd run (Jeremiah Johnson rush), 13-50 6:10
08:47 – SOUTH – Peria Jerry 0 yd fumble recovery (Patrick McAfree kick)
RUSHING: NORTH-Cedric Peerman 5-34; Kory Sheets 7-31; Jeremiah Johnson 3-22; Derrick Williams 1-5;
Rhett Bomar 5-1; Eric Kettani 1-1; TEAM 1-minus 3; Nathan Brown 2-minus 18. SOUTH-Rashad Jennings
9-41; James Davis 9-32; Andre Brown 10-31; Pat White 3-31; John Parker Wilson 4-17; Antone Smith
2-7; Quinn Johnson 1-1; TEAM 1-minus 2. PASSING: NORTH-Nathan Brown 9-15-0-92; Graham Harrell 4-13-1-40; Rhett Bomar 6-11-0-75; TEAM
0-1-0-0. SOUTH-John Parker Wilson 7-13-0-56; Pat White 4-10-0-95; Cullen Harper 2-5-0-44. RECEIVING: NORTH-Juaquin Iglesias 6-90; Kory Sheets 4-5; Brian Robiskie 3-47; Jeremiah Johnson 2-26;
Ramses Barden 2-20; Derrick Williams 2-19. SOUTH-Patrick Turner 3-30; Quinn Johnson 3-27; Andre
Brown 2-41; Mike Wallace 2-41; Mike Thomas 1-32; Quan Cosby 1-15; Greg Carr 1-9. INTERCEPTIONS: NORTH-None. SOUTH-Ellis Lankster 1-0.
Day Two and Three here in Mobile for NFTM brought warmer weather, and along with it, a noticeable increase in the intensity of practices for both the North and South squads.The North, in particular, had a late run with the passage of their respective morning sessions Thursday and Friday, and looked well prepared heading into Saturday’s Senior Bowl game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.The South, meanwhile, continued to try and sustain the momentum it showed earlier in the week, but was unable to overcome potential concerns under center with John Parker Wilson, Cullen Harper, and Pat White.Wide receiver and tight end remains a positional strength fort the South, with Patrick Turner of USC and Shawn Nelson of Southern Mississippi taking the lead role as pass catchers for the South.Read the rest of this entry →
Fantasy College Blitz is in Mobile, Alabama to watch the Senior Bowl which is arguably the biggest college all-star game event. This year we decided to get into town a little earlier and catch some of practices and press conference leading up the game on Saturday. I will give you my thoughts on the game in my next article but want to share some of the observations I had from Friday’s practices.
I was especially interested in a small handful of players I followed throughout their college careers so I will start with those players first before moving onto others that stood out (both negative and positive)
Patrick Turner – WR USC
Turner (left) is a man among boys and while Juaquin Iglesias stole the show with his performance it was hard to not be impressed with Turner. He has a chance to be a Brandon Marshall/Terrell Owens type player who slips in the draft because concerns about his attitude and top-end speed but gets to the NFL and has the size and height (6-5, 225) that just abuses smaller cornerbacks.
Javon Ringer – RB Michigan State
Ringer was one of players I was most looking forward to as he has been a favorite of ours for several years. Unfortunately Ringer had a knee scope and was a late scratch for the game. Reports say the procedure was minor and Ringer should be able to work out before the draft.
James Davis – RB Clemson
He didn’t appear to be explosive in his cuts, ran a bit upright and struggled catching the ball. Davis was the most disappointing running back that I watched.
Jeremiah Johnson – Oregon (3-22-0): Johnson (left, courtesy of Jason Roberts) was used exclusively as a 3rd down back as he got his rushes on draw plays and added 2-26-1 receiving. While most people agree that Johnson’s future in the NFL will most likely be as the change-of-pace type back it was still interesting to me that the Bengals coaching staff put him in that role without seeing what he can do as a main back. As far as his performance, he did exactly what you would want from your 3rd down back by catching the ball out the backfield and showing good running in space.
Day Two and Three here in Mobile for NFTM brought warmer weather, and along with it, a noticeable increase in the intensity of practices for both the North and South squads.
