NEPD Staff Writer: Mike Loyko
This was my first experience covering the Senior Bowl live, and what an experience it was. The whole event is covered so well and everyone is so accessible. It was an experience I will never forget and can’t wait for next year.
As for the actual week of practice and the game, if you have been following us you know who has been doing good and who has struggled a little bit. I can’t stress enough that the Senior Bowl is just one step in the long evaluation process of becoming an NFL player. A player may do great down here or may struggle, but it’s imperative that you go back to the 3-4 years of game tape and reevaluate the players if they surpassed or didn’t live up to your expectations; and that is what I will do next week.
As some of the coaches have said, this isn’t a place where you will get yourself drafted by an NFL team, but an NFL team maybe able to quickly disqualify you based on somethings they see down here. Based on all of that he is a quick list of who helped their stock and who may have hurt their stock with their performances this week.
* In no particular order:
Players who helped their stock:
North Team
Cal Poly CB Asa Jackson
Iowa WR Marvin McNutt
Boise State S George Iloka
Boise State RB Doug Martin
Notre Dame S Harrison Smith
Cincinnati RB Isaiah Pead
Arkansas State MLB Demario Davis
NC St. LB Audie Cole
Utah State LB Bobby Wagner (DMVP)
Virginia OLB/DE Cam Johnson
Washinton OG Senio Kelemete
Michigan DT Mike Martin
Utah OG Tony Bergstrom
Cal OT Mitchell Schwartz
Cincinnati DT Derek Wolfe
Cal WR Marvin Jones
South Team
Oklahoma State QB Brandon Weeden
North Alabama CB Janoris Jenkins
Arkansas WR Joe Adams
Georgia CB Brandon Boykin
Tennessee DE Malik Jackson
Mississippi State RB Vick Ballard
Louisiana-Laf. CB Dwight “Bill” Bentley
Vanderbilt CB Casey Hayward
Alabama TE Brad Smelley
Texas LB Keenan Robinson
Georgia OG/OT Cordy Glenn
Illinois OT Jeff Allen
Florida DT Jaye Howard
Clemson DT Brandon Thompson
LSU S Brandon Taylor
South Carolina S Antonio Allen
Players who hurt their stock:
North Team:
Boise State QB Kellen Moore
Wisconsin QB Russell Wilson
Washington RB Chris Polk
Arizona State WR Gerell Robinson
North Carolina WR Dwight Jones
Boise State DT Billy Winn
Nebraska CB Alfonzo Dennard
South Team
Florida State OT Zebrie Sanders
Arizona QB Nick Foles
San Diego State QB Ryan Lindley
Alabama CB DeQuan Menzie
Texas LB Emmanuel Acho
Texas DT Kheeston Randall
Alabama C/G William Vlachos
Texas A&M WR Jeff Fuller
Tags: 2012 NFL Draft, Senior Bowl
Not to knock the man, but Malik Jackson could never get into the starting lineup at SC so no way he should be a first day pick.Also Nick Foles is a big guy with a lot of talent.Great 4th rounder if he drops that far.Good 3rd rounder to a team with a veteran QB, looking for depth.Cowboys?
No Vinny Curry or Juron Criner? I thought both guys played very well.
I think they performed as Mike and NEPD expected. They were already high on them.
Sorry, “attendance” …I was a bit heated.
I will say this about this draft: it’s weak…very weak, and I’m hoping the Pats move up to gain a nice player (if there is one available) instead of drafting multiple players. I have agreed with their strategy in the past. This year there’s a chance…the new salary cap for rookies makes this more reasonable; although I will be shocked if they do it even under the new rules. BB just seems to feel he can create talent, and who am I to argue this?
Impossible to tell how strong the draft is is until a few years down the track. People were saying 2011 was very weak, and look how that turned out. Homeruns on pretty much the entire first round except for the quarterbacks and a few guys who were injured.
I’m a fan of Mayock…glad the guy is getting his chance and I look forward to his draft info at the combine. BUT(!), he really needs to shut up about players “needing” to be at this game. He’s sounding too much like Dick Vitale when he attacks a players decision to leave school to enter the NBA (only to earn millions, if not tens of millions of dollars).
The list above, and the obvious risks, is proof that not everyone does well with this all-star game.
Bottom line, it’s their right to do what’s best for them at this point. As seniors they should have enough (real) game film to show teams, and the combine is so extensive along with private & school work outs this can be just over-kll; not to mention a risk…football all-star games being sloppy and ridiculous.
These young guys don’t owe The Senior Bowl anything…it’s not a sign that they don’t want to compete if they don’t attend. He keeps stating how Von Miller attended last year; well, Von Miller made his choice, and to me it was a stupid one.
Stick to evaluating talent and stop the preaching about what you (or the people who are paying you to bring up attendane to this foolish game) feel is best for their futures.