Notes From The Margin: 2009 Under Armour Senior Bowl Edition, Part Two

January 24th, 2009 by Jason Roberts

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.

Day Four and Five: Thursday and Friday

North Squad

There was a noticeable boost in the confidence of the North squad Thursday morning, as players greeted calmer winds and slightly more seasonal weather (by Mobile standards, at least) with lighthearted spirit and a reinvigorated work ethic. Graham Harrell clearly established himself as a go-to starter for the North, while Rhett Bomar should see increased time as final preparations are made in the last 24 hours prior to Saturday night’s kickoff. Juaquin Iglesias has proven himself the favorite target of all the North’s quarterbacks and ought to have plenty of impressive stats to bolster an already impressive resume once the final gun sounds in this year’s game. Brian Robinskie continued consistently dropping passes as practice began Thursday, but surprised many of those in attendance by making some key grabs in late session scrimmaging. Derrick Williams remains a favorite at inside slot receiver, but will be key for the North on special teams; Robiskie got his shot as a return man as well Thursday, but in Friday’s walkthrough, it was Patrick Chung that joined Williams on kick returns. Kory Sheets was less obvious prominent on Thursday and Friday, with the North working increasingly on exploiting the advantage it should have in its passing game thanks to Harrell and Bomar. Jeremiah Johnson appeared fleeter on his feet as the week progressed; Cedric Peerman saw a few carries each day but will likely remain a third-tier option come Saturday. Ramses Barden of Cal Poly may have been injured Thursday, as it did not appear he took the field during that morning’s practice; Brandon Gibson was much less prominent Thursday as well, but participated in Friday’s walkthrough. Starting lineup at wideout for the North should include Iglesias and fellow Oklahoma Sooners’ receiver, Manuel Johnson, as well as Williams. Continue to watch John Phillips at tight end, while Brandon Pettigrew seems less and less involved in the North’s game plan. Defensively, Zach Follett showed off his coverage skills by picking off a wayward pass late in Thursday morning’s scrimmaging, while the secondary for the North — Macho Harris, Connecticut’s Darius Butler, and Cincinnati’s DeAngelo Smith – proved they should offer the South’s receivers plenty of physical play in pass coverage Saturday. That being said, don’t be surprised if all three find challenges in keeping up with the size and athleticism of the South’s Patrick Turner and Greg Carr; the question isn’t whether Turner and Carr can get open against the three talented defensive backs, but instead ifany of the South’s quarterbacks can throw accurately enough to get them the ball with any sense of consistency.

South Squad

As the North grew in confidence and showed in Friday’s walkthrough a state of relaxation and confidence, the South seemed to falter more and more as the week progressed. Alabama’s John Parker Wilson continued to be the crowd favorite and has, out of the three South’s passers, been throwing with the most consistency. Cullen Harper of Clemson will play second-string, while local boy from Daphne, Alabama, Pat White, should be relegated to situational play under center strictly as a ball carrier. Roll out drills Thursday proved Harper the most accurate of all three players mentioned above; White, in contrast, predictably struggled, overthrowing targets on more than one occasion. Clemson’s James Davis saw a lot of work out of the backfield as the South’s lead rushing option and will get plenty of action on swing-passes out on the edge this weekend. Andre Brown looks to be Davis’ backup at this point; the addition on Thursday of Florida State’s Antone Smith could make that choice less of a certainty, however. The USC Trojans Patrick Turner developed into a go-to option at receiver for the South and will be the squad’s version of Iglesias. Carr ought to be dangerous on the opposite side of Turner, while Mike Thomas will be a versatile option in the slot alongside Shaun Nelson at tight end. Mike Wallace of Mississippi and South Carolina’s Kenny McKinney could be x-factors for the South but certainly seemed to serve more as decoys in the later part of the week than anything else. On defense, Rey Maualuga established himself as a prominent leader for the South, and was extremely vocal in Friday’s walkthrough. Meanwhile Alfonso Smith remained solid in center field, with Michael Hamlin of Clemson and Mississippi State’s Derek Pegues providing sound support in the secondary. Pat McAfee of West Virginia, like Louie Sakoda of the North team, had little problem with kicking the ball either Thursday or Friday and was much more pleased with the results these two days yielded as opposed to the cold and wind of Monday and Tuesday.

Additional Things Heard and Seen:

- NFTM spoke with Sakoda Friday; he mentioned he would be in Tampa on Monday, along with newfound friend, Graham Gano of Florida State, in order to participate in a skills competition apparently sponsored by ESPN. No specific information on the event was available in research we did, but we’ll keep our eyes and ears out. Interesting to note is that Sakoda and Gano met for the first time (according to Sakoda’s parents) at the Home Depot Awards in Orlando last month and currently talk on a daily basis on cell phone or via text message.

- Cedric Peerman of Virginia spoke with NFTM and expressed he had no regrets splitting time with teammate Mikell Simpson, and, in fact, saw Simpson getting the ball as beneficial to his own numbers. Peerman admitted that he “wasn’t Javon Ringer,” and needed to be spelled by Simpson in order to stay fresh and make the most of his 13 to 15 carries a game.

- Max Unger of Oregon says that being from the West Coast makes things a bit “lonely” out here in Mobile, but that he’s made quick friends with other offensive linemen on the North squad. Having fellow Ducks’ Jeremiah Johnson and Patrick Chung certainly didn’t hurthis comfort level either.

- Anthony Hill of North Carolina State told NFTM that he’s feeling good physically after an injury that marred much of his final season with the Wolfpack and is confident in his ability to contribute Saturday. We asked his thoughts on Russell Wilson at quarterback, to which he responded positively. He felt, however, Wilson was in for a heck of a position battle come spring and wasn’t assured a returning role as starter heading into 2009.

- Jeremiah Johnson of Oregon and Keenan Lewis of Oregon State sat together at Friday afternoon’s Meet the Players event at the Mobile Convention Center; when asked if the Civil War rivalry extended to the Senior Bowl and having to sit near each other, each player grinned and mentioned they’d been “boys” since they were young kids.

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