Senior Bowl
January 28th, 2010 | NFL
By John Thornton- How many of you are watching the Senior Bowl practices on the NFL Network? I have watched most of the practices and listened to most of the commentary. Some of it is like watching paint dry, and some of it is pretty good. The thing you have to remember is that NFL people don’t expect these players to light it up this week. These young guys have no idea what it is like to be a pro or practice with the tempo of a pro player. This is the first time that coaches actually get to see these players. Scouts and “some” GMs have been watching these college guys all year, now the coaches will get to see the guys that may end up on their teams. The thing I find funny is that people keep saying that after every catch, deep pass, or INT, it’s being reported that guys are moving up or down the draft board. Team draft boards won’t be set until April. There is a whole body of work to look at here. It is true that some guys can help their stock this week, but if you had a bad senior year in college and a good week at the Senior Bowl, that bad year will override everything. But all in all, I think it’s interesting to watch. The drills I like to watch are the pass rush drills and the run block drills that the DL and OL do at the start of practice. That’s probably the best way to judge the players. You can’t fake that. Either you can do it or you can’t. And I love it when the cameras cut to the crowd and shows NFL coaches either yawning, talking on their cell phones, or texting. Shows you what they are thinking…
8 Responses to Senior Bowl
cory
January 28th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Ive seen a little of it. I just mainly listen to commentators talk about the players and their takes on them. Like u say u cant tell much about players by watching one practice. When you say “some” GMs have been watching and studying these college players all year, I have a feeling Mr. Brown is not in this group lol. I also like watching the lineman drills and after seeing some of those DT’s and DE’s get some pressure it makes me want one of them to come the Bengals way.
jj
January 28th, 2010 at 11:21 am
I’ve been watching it but there is probably only 5 minutes of good practice tape that they actually show.
I love hearing Maylock and Corey’s analysis but I can hear that after. I wish they would show more footage of the actual practice and less of the analysts (And Tebow).
Doug
January 28th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
I completely share your sentiments JT that this week at Senior Bowl isn’t going to over shadow a player’s body of work in college, but it is a good opportunity for the coaches to get acquainted with the players in the draft pool.
Do you have an opinion on Paul Daugherty’s opining about the criticsm being leveled against Tim Tebow and the general sentiment he (Daughtery) that NFL personnel types make things sound more complicated than what they are? In my humble opinion, it’s not about the 40 time or the bench press but about the ability to play football, physically and mentally and that part takes research to evaluate and not simple numbers, but the numbers are cool to look at no doubt.
JT
January 28th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
I think people are taking shots at Tebow becuse this is the first time can say something negative about him. But the concerns are legit. Things happen in the NFL so fast that if you have any kind of hitch throwing the ball, it will lead to losses. SOme guys have funny ways of throwing the ball, but Tebows are dufferent. Leftwich had a winding throwing motion, but Tebows is even worse. Deep balls arent his problem, its when you throw to the flats and deep outs, DBs will pick those off. I think its a tmatter of how teams will use him, if they can come up with a way to design the offense for him. Vince Young throws sidearm, but can make every throw. But he also has an offense that suits him.
JT
January 28th, 2010 at 6:07 pm
good point
Ron E
January 29th, 2010 at 9:07 am
I don’t understand why these big schools don’t teach guys proper throwing mechanics. Sure, they want to win, and sure they may not run a pro-style offense, but basic stuff like this has to be addressed. You go to a school like Florida, it’s a disservice to their players, and one on a short list of reasons another school could use to persuade a recruit from Florida. Tebow had plenty of time to work on it since he started out as a gimmick play QB at first. You have to wonder if he was unable to change.
jGoods
January 30th, 2010 at 12:17 am
I watch every minute of it. I DVR this and the Scouting combine. Then i’ll watch it a few times after, take notes and form my own scouting reports and evaluations to see how far off I am. I keep my scouting reports and mock drafts from about 4 years ago when I started doing this, and its fun to see what I thought of current NFL players before they were drafted.
Jason
February 5th, 2010 at 7:49 am
JT,
Do you really think the Bengals would go after T.O., or is this just chad being chad?
Do you think he’s even worth consideration?
I’m really torn over T.O., I cant stand his attitude and his ridiculous antics, but I do think he has some left in the tank. But, i’d rather get younger than get older.