It is that time of year again for the NFL Draft.  Of course, the NFL is currently locked out and there is a possibility of no pro football this season.  However, all that will be on the back-burner on April 28-30th.  That is when fans of all teams will be given the hope that the players drafted will lead their teams to the promise land.  Let’s take a look at my first mock draft of the season.  Bear in mind that I will be updating this consistently up until the draft.

1. Carolina Panthers: Cam Newton, QB, Auburn – There are a lot of signs that say the Panthers might not select Newton 1st overall but no player is standing out as the clear cut #1.  This leads me to think they will pick more from a business standpoint.  Therefore, Newton is the player that will create the most excitement.

2. Denver Broncos: Marcell Dareus, DT, Alabama – As every day passes, it is starting to become more and more clear that Dareus is the Broncos pick here.  Patrick Patterson is a player that makes sense for the Broncos and certainly talented enough to go this high, but NFL teams don’t select CBs in the Top 2.

3. Buffalo Bills: Von Miller, DE/OLB, Texas A&M – The Bills are an interesting team as most people assume they are a lock to draft a QB here.  While it seems like the Newton is the QB the Bills would take, Blaine Gabbert isn’t.  I don’t believe the Bills are desperate enough to take Gabbert.  They aren’t in love with him, especially with all the needs on the defensive side of the ball.  Chan Gailey coached Miller, who was an absolute beast during the Senior Bowl week. Read the rest of this entry →

QB Christian Ponder needs to be more consistent if he wants NFL playing time.

On the full day of practice in pads, we saw the Buffalo Bills coaching staff cut the South team’s practice short by thirty minutes. They worked primarily on red zone offense/defense and a little bit on punt returning. There was nothing really to report on the special teams portion of the practice as it was very brief. The red zone drills, however, brought about a couple of interesting observations.

None of the quarterbacks looked great today. Then again, they didn’t look poor either. Florida State’s Christian Ponder looked sharp be threading a perfect pass between two defenders to Hawaii wide receiver Greg Salas for a score. The very next play, Ponder threw a near-interception to the safety due to making a poor read. TCU’s Andy Dalton did the same thing. He threw a couple of short passes to USC’s Ronald Johnson to get the team near the goal line, but then almost threw an interception on a fade route in the back right corner. Primarily working in a shotgun based offense, I noticed that Dalton dropped the handoff under center a couple of times. This reminded me of last year’s Tim Tebow issues. If Dalton is drafted, his ball handling skills will be a focus for his coaches. Alabama’s Greg McElroy used several check downs in his session and when he had his shot for the score, Ronald Johnson and Salas collided with each other in the end zone leaving McElroy with no one to throw to, so he just ran up the middle for the score. McElroy never tried a pass over 5 yards, so he kept it short and accurate. Read the rest of this entry →

Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick (right, Icon SMI) expects to adjust from the pistol formation to the NFL easily.

Washington QB Jake Locker wants to play for the team that wants him most.

Florida State QB Christian Ponder might compete for Natalie Portman.

Florida State OL Rodney Hudson knows that the Seminoles will compete for a national title soon.

Senior Bowl 20110127 QB.mp3

Jeremy Shory interviews each of them from Mobile, AL 2011 Under Armour Senior Bowl.

RB DeMarco Murray showed that he wants to be featured on Sundays.

Today was the last real day of practice as tomorrow will be just be a short walk-through.  Essentially, the players had one last chance to impress.  In this article, I am going to share my thoughts on the North Squad based on my observations the last few days.  The most impressive player for me has to be running back DeMarco Murray (Oklahoma), who appears to be a three-down back showing a great combination of speed and power which extremely soft hands.  Murray will continue to fight the label as an injury-prone back after being banged up his four years in college.  This will likely scare some teams.  However, he looks like a back with some nice upside which could pay a big rewards to a team if he slides into the third round.  Hear our audio interview with Murray here.

Other observations… Read the rest of this entry →

Oklahoma Sooner RB DeMarco Murray (right, Icon SMI)works hard and does yoga to manage injuries.

Georgia Tech RB Anthony Allen like Alabama QB Greg McChicken and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Ohio State WR Dane Sanzenbacher gives much props to his Buckeye WR coach who now leads the Golden Flashes, Darell Hazell.

Jeremy Shory interviews each of them from Mobile, AL 2011 Under Armour Senior Bowl

Senior Bowl 2011 MurrayAllenSanzenbacher.mp3