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Jan 26, 2007, 3:30 PM

by Larry Larmeu

Now that both sides have concluded the practices, I figured I would give a list of all of the players who I think helped and hurt their causes this week. I'll start with the North squad.

North
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Positives:

Aundrae Allison - WR - East Carolina - Made some very athletic catches. Seems to adjust well to bad balls. Did drop a few that he should have caught, though.

Drew Stanton - QB - Michigan State - I would say he was the most improved QB from day 1 to day 5. He showed pretty good arm strength and the ability to throw the deep ball. The coaching staff was praising him for his ability to execute the play-action fake.

Rhema McKnight - WR - Notre Dame - I think I only saw him drop 1 ball all week. Seemed to beat everyone who was lined up against him. Doesn't seem like a big play receiver or a burner, but can help you move the chains.

Mason Crosby - K - Colorado - Hit routinely from 50+ with room to spare.

Brian Leonard - RB - Rutgers - Lined up at both tailback and fullback. Showed surprising speed around the edge on a few plays. He appeared to be difficult to bring down, and showed great hands out of the backfield.

Paul Posluszny - LB - Penn State - He is always around the ball. Very smart football player who should succeed in the NFL.

Eric Weddle - DB - Utah - Was a favorite of several of the scouts and media members in attendence. Made some very good plays on the ball and looked to be comfortable both playing in the box as well as back in coverage. I asked Jon Gruden at the press confrence last night if he believed Weddle had the ability to play corner at the next level, and he said that he did and he expected to play him some at corner during the game.

Levi Brown - OT - Penn State - Levi Brown looks like a grizzled vet. If he was wearing a Bucs windsuit you would think he was one of the coaches. He seemed to dominate whoever he was lined up against and the scouts and media crowded around him after every practice.

Jason Hill - WR - Washington State - Caught just about everything that came his way. Impressive in red zone drills.

Amboi Okoye - DL - Nebraska - Lined up at both DE and DT. Impressed just about everyone in attendance. I asked Gruden at one of the press confrences about Okoye's age and he said that if you didn't know that he was 2-3 years younger than all of the other players you wouldn't have any idea because he was playing just as good or better as anyone there. Gruden really seemed to like him a lot.

Adam Carriker - DL - Nebraska - He looks like a "good ol' corn-fed Nebraska country boy." Much more athletic, I think, than most expected. Could play DE or 3-Tech Defensive Tackle in a 4-3, but he will get a lot of looks as a 3-4 DE from the 3-4 teams.


Thomas Clayton - RB - Kansas State - Late addition showed good speed and quickness, as well as the ability to find cutback lanes up the middle. Did struggle at times with his hands, but seemed to get better as the week went on.

Negatives:

Tyler Palko - QB - Pittsburgh - Looked like he was trying too hard to put zip on the ball. When he just let loose and played ball he seemed to be very efficient - sort of a Chad Pennington type player - but in drills he was very deliberate with his motions and threw a lot of balls behind and low to his receivers.

Josh Wilson - CB - Maryland - Very inconsistant. Got beat often in the red zone.

Tony Hunt - RB - Penn State - Hunt is a big running back. He did not show the power you would expect from a guy of his size, though. He runs too upright and doesn't seem to have very good vision. He ran right into the back of his lineman nearly every run up the middle. He doesn't seem to have a lot of quickness, but he did show good straight-line speed on occasion.

Kolby Smith - RB - Louisville - Didn't really impress in the running drills. Seemed to have "alligator arms." Didn't catch anything that wasn't into his body.

David Clowney - WR - Virginia Tech - I don't know if Clowney just doesn't try or if he just isn't up to par with the rest of the players here, but he just looked very lackidasical all week, from stretching down to pass catching. He only caught the ball with his hands when he was behind him or over his head. He often would extend his arms to catch the ball with his hands, only to guide it into his body. He did this so many times we started calling it the "Clown Catch."


South
-----------------

Positives:

David Irons - CB - Auburn - I didn't think David Irons was as impressive as most here. I do think he has helped himself a good deal - mostly because not a lot of people outside of Alabama even knew who he was. Mike Nolan himself said that he had heard a lot about the RB (Kenny) but didn't know anything about the corner (David). He made a lot of plays on the ball early on in the week, knocking down several passes. My problem with him is that he often had his arm around the back of the receiver when doing so, which should be a penalty in an NFL game. He also dropped a couple of sure-thing interceptions. I don't know if the coaches told him anything, but he seemed to be taking less chances later in the week and just focused on covering his man, and he looked very good in that aspect.

Brandon Meriweather - DB - Miami - Meriweather made several big plays this week, including a couple of interceptions and forced fumbles. He was one of the few defensive backs who stood out in a positive way.

Johnnie Lee Higgins - WR - UTEP - Higgins showed good speed, agility, route running and hands. The question about him is his size. He may have trouble getting off of the line in the NFL.

Lorenzo Booker - RB - Florida State - Booker looked like a prototypical 3rd down and change of pace back. He has good quickness and picked up the blitz surprisingly well for a smaller back. He did have problems catching the ball occasionally. Mike Nolan thought he compared favorably with another former FSU RB, Warrick Dunn.

Le'Ron McClain - FB - Alabama - Showed good hands out of the backfield.

Daniel Sepulveda - P - Baylor - Did a good job of having his punts land inside the 20. Uses an end-over-end style to try to get the ball to bounce back into the field of play, rather than into the endzone.

Dwayne Bowe - WR - LSU - In my opinion, Bowe was the star of the entire week. He looked like a big-league player. He used his body to shield off defenders like a pro, earning praise several times from the coaching staff. He showed good hands, route running, leaping ability, and quickness. Depending on how he runs, he could have moved himself into a solid mid-first round spot. I asked Nolan if he thought Bowe was the most NFL-ready player there, and he said that while he feels no one is NFL-ready until they get through their first training camp, he does believe that Bowe can make an impact early and compared him to Saints rookie WR Marques Colston.

Negatives:

Kevin Kolb - QB - Houston - Constantly threw the ball behind recievers. One scout from the Giants said that he didn't feel Kolb had enough arm strength. Looked good scrambling, scoring a TD on one play.

Kevin Payne - CB - UL-Monroe - Seemed like he was beaten on every play.

Aaron Ross - CB - Texas - Made a few plays, but he gave up a touchdown nearly every time in the red zone drills. Needs to be more physical at the line and not give up the inside technique so easily.

Chase Pittman - DE - LSU - Had some nice outside speed rushes, but was pancaked on several occasions. Needs to work on more inside moves. Coach Nolan had him work out in linebacker drills after practice on Thursday. Pittman does have the kind of skills you look for in a 3-4 LB, especially in pass rushing.

Ken Darby - RB - Alabama - Darby had problems catching the ball all week. Was very inconsistant in his runs, making a nice run and following it up with getting stuffed at the line. Has the ability to be a good RB if he can work on his vision and hands. If he can consistantly find the cutback lane he could be dangerous.


Well, that's all I've got for now. For a lot of these guys, it's hard to really tell how well they performed in practice. Once there is a live pass rush it becomes much harder on the QBs and WRs and much easier on the DBs. We'll see how it goes tomorrow at 3PM CST.