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January 25th, 2011 with
 Tennessee's Luke Stocker. (PHOTO: MAXDENVER.COM) MOBILE, Ala. – Notes from the South team’s practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium here on Tuesday:
- It isn’t that Arkansas tight end D.J. Williams had a bad day; far from it. He’s sufficiently physical on blocks — even though he came in at 15 pounds below his previously listed weight of 251 — caught everything thrown to him and looked the part. But fellow SEC tight end Luke Stocker of Tennessee also grabbed everything thrown to him, and made the catch of the day — a one-handed grab down the middle that saw him absorb a shot from two safeties — and still manage to hold on. Stocker is three inches taller and 19 pounds heavier than Williams but moves nearly as well. If Williams is a second-round prospect, then based on the early returns this week, Stocker could be, too.
- Stocker and Texas A&M Von Miller provided some intriguing one-on-one battles. One of Stocker’s nicest catches came when he cut, crossed and gained a step on Miller, but Miller generally stayed with Stocker step for step on other plays, and got a nice hit on him near the sideline during a seven-on-seven period — although Stocker held on for the catch.
- Baylor defensive tackle Phil Taylor said he’d dropped 23 pounds from his peak weight of 360 during his junior season and that he hoped to lose seven more before the Scouting Combine next month. His 337-pound weight Monday was three below his listed figure heading into this week. He noted after practice Tuesday afternoon that a significant part of his weight loss came from cutting out late-night meals.
- Texas cornerback Curtis Brown didn’t get many takeaways in college, but displayed some quick hands to break up a pair of passes during Tuesday afternoon’s practice. However, he also slipped and let Hawai’i wide receiver Greg Salas get past him for a 50-yard touchdown during a team period at the end of practice. Nevertheless, Brown looks like the steadiest cornerback on the South team.
- Kentucky running back Derrick Locke did a better job keeping his balance when he was hit than he did on Monday, refusing to go down even after he was hit on a screen pass.
- West Virginia running back Noel Devine’s size (160 pounds) will be cause for concern, but his explosiveness became clear Tuesday when he took a screen pass and sprinted 50 yards for a score after shaking a tackler near the line of scrimmage during a team period.
- Louisville running back Bilal Powell hit the hole quicker than any of the other South team running backs and runs with authority. However, his upright running style and awkward moves are still evident.
- Miami defensive end Allen Bailey did a better job getting pressure in one-on-one drills Tuesday than he did the previous day, but showed a habit for being pushed wide, beyond the quarterback and out of the play.
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January 25th, 2011 with
 Marshall's Lee Smith takes down Oregon LB Casey Matthews. (PHOTO: MAXDENVER.COM) MOBILE, Ala. – Notes from the North team’s practice at Ladd-Peebles Stadium on Tuesday:
- Cal defensive end Cameron Jordan is clearly the best player at his position in Mobile. His first step is quick; he has multiple moves at his disposal; he is equally efficient getting outside and moving inside. He will likely be on the Broncos’ radar only if they trade down, since there seems little to no chance of him dropping to the 36th pick barring calamitous circumstances. Nevertheless Jordan, along with Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, could represent strong possibilities if the Broncos can trade down within the top 10.
- Marshall tight end Lee Smith got the hit of the day, sending Oregon linebacker Casey Matthews tumbling to the turf during a one-on-one drill. Later, in a team period, Smith blocked linebackers squarely and authoritatively.
- Michigan State linebacker Greg Jones‘ height at Monday morning weigh-ins was disappointing; he checked in at 5-foot-11 and 7/8. But he was the most active — and polished — linebacker on the North squad and was the most assertive in open-field pursuit. Another linebacker who had some good moments in pursuit was Connecticut’s Lawrence Wilson, who ably blew up a screen pass after shedding two potential blockers.
- Virginia Tech cornerback Rashad Carmichael appears to be the best cornerback on the North roster, even though he estimates he’s only playing at about 80 percent because of an ankle injury for which he received treatment Monday night. Carmichael was encouraged by a Bengals assistant coach to “work those hands,” and then on his next turn forced an incompletion by swatting away the football from Nebraka wide receiver Niles Paul.
- Rutgers cornerback Joe Lefeged timed his contact well, meeting receivers as the ball came in to avoid a pass-interference infraction. But he also needs to make that contact more authoritatively, as it wasn’t enough to prevent receptions.
- It wasn’t the best of sessions for East Carolina wide receiver Dwayne Harris, who dropped a pass in one-on-one drills and later muffed a punt.
- The best of the three quarterbacks appeared to be Washington’s Jake Locker, who arrived in Mobile trying to make up for a disappointing senior season that saw him tumble from being a potential No. 1 overall pick. Locker did struggle on accuracy when throwing to the sideline, but threw it there with velocity. Iowa’s Matt Stanzi, on the other hand, saw his outside passes flutter, while Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick looks the part at nearly 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, needs some refinement. All three quarterbacks also worked on option pitchouts, curiously enough.
- John Fox’s offenses in Carolina worked best when underrated fullback Brad Hoover was healthy and knocking people out of his way, so I’ve been watching the fullbacks closely in Mobile. Stanford’s Owen Marecic, who is also a linebacker, has worked exclusively at fullback on Tuesday, and while his instincts are sound, he has a ways to go in terms of being able to identify the proper defender to block. However, this is is true of any fullback entering the NFL; the position typically requires a two-to-three-year learning curve, so what you’re looking for here are aggression, instincts and good blocking technique, and Marecic has shown all three of those in spurts early this week.
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January 24th, 2011 with
MOBILE, Ala. – The Broncos’ search for a defensive coordinator has ended.
Monday night, FoxSports.com reported that the Broncos had hired Saints defensive backfield coach Dennis Allen, ending a search that had lasted 11 days since John Fox was announced as the team’s head coach on Jan. 13. The Broncos confirmed the hire on their Twitter feed less than an hour later.
With the hire of Allen, the Broncos now have their sixth defensive coordinator in as many seasons. Only the 1982-87 Buffalo Bills and the 1999-2004 Washington Redskins had as many coordinators in a six-year span.
Allen has been in the NFL for nine seasons, but did not become a primary position coach until 2008, when he became the Saints’ secondary coach after spending two years as their assistant defensive-line coach and four with the Falcons as a defensive assistant/quality-control coach.
His secondary became one of the primary reasons why the Saints won 24 of their 32 regular-season games the last two years. During the last two seasons, the Saints returned a league-high seven interceptions for touchdowns, a total only matched in that span by the Patriots.
Allen also interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles for their defensive coordinator position.
The Saints ran a 4-3 base defense in recent years, so it would come as no surprise if the Broncos ran that alignment, with Fox and Allen both sharing a 4-3 background. However, the Saints sprinkled in some 3-4 looks the last two years.
There are some parallels with Fox’s hire of Allen and his 2002 choice of Jack Del Rio for the Carolina Panthers. Allen is the same age (38) as Del Rio when he joined Carolina, and both have the same number of years as a position coach (three). Both Allen and Del Rio were also hired one year after being position coaches on world championship teams.
In 2002, Fox’s choice paid dividends; the Panthers’ defense soared from 31st in the league to second. They did so well that Del Rio ascended to a head coaching position in Jacksonville a year later.
The Broncos would rather not have to make another coordinator change, but if it’s because the defense can reverse its course in the same way Carolina’s did in 2002, they’d certainly take it.
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January 24th, 2011 with
 South Alabama WR Courtney Smith. (PHOTO: MAXDENVER.COM) FAIRHOPE, Ala. – Field-level notes from the South team’s opening practice of Senior Bowl week on Monday afternoon:
- Given the Broncos’ needs at defensive tackle, I wanted to see what Baylor’s Phil Taylor could do. I wasn’t surprised that he started strongly but tailed off; this is to be expected given that he carries 337 pounds on a 6-foot-3.4 frame, leading to questions about his endurance. In his first round of one-on-one drills, he lost his balance against USC’s Kris O’Dowd, then on the immediate rematch, used a swim move to easily breach the backfield. This inconsistency carried its way through, although he later overwhelmed TCU center Jake Kirkpatrick, pushing him into the backfield even when Kirkpatrick did a good job getting his feet set and his stance squared. Taylor appears to have a little Kris Jenkins in him, and some of the better John Fox defenses have had massive presences like Jenkins or Maake Kemoeatu on the inside, so Taylor’s pre-draft progress is worth monitoring.
- The most energetic player of all had to be defensive tackle Cedric Thornton of Southern Arkansas. The 6-foot-3.5, 299-pounder lost more confrontations than he won in one-on-one work, but is raw and played to and beyond the whistle on each of his one-on-one drills. I like his spirit, and he had one impressive play where he knocked Florida State interior offensive lineman Rodney Hudson off balance and pushed him well into the backfield. Thornton needs to add some moves to his repertoire, but you have to admire his persistence. At one moment, he gets knocked off his feet — as he did by Alabama offensive lineman James Carpenter — and a second later bounces up, bellowing, “Let’s go again!” I couldn’t help but think of words uttered at the Omega house: “Thank you, sir, may I have another?” But energy can only take him so far. Like many small-school prospects that have come through here, Thornton’s future could be determined by how well he improves from practice to practice.
- Another ball of energy was Texas defensive end Sam Acho, who showed a quick first step on pass-rush situations. But at 6-foot-2.6 and 257 pounds, he struggled against the run. Acho was also much more effective in one-on-one drills from the left side than the right.
- The most impressive receiver — at least in terms of stature — on the South team is South Alabama’s Courtney Smith, a last-minute invitee from the school that plays its home games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, the Senior Bowl’s longtime venue. Smith hasn’t faced anything close to the caliber of competition he’ll see this week; USA only started its program in 2009, and was playing junior colleges and prep schools that year and hasn’t faced an FBS team; that won’t happen until September. Smith towered physically over his fellow receivers, even though his Monday morning measurements — 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds — were somewhat disappointing, given that he was listed at 6-foot-5, 230. He displayed good hands, with his only bobble coming on a low pass across the middle that would have been tough to grab. He looks a bit slow coming off the line of scrimmage, but this proved deceptive, as he still managed to get some separation downfield. Smith is a classic developmental prospect and might be worth a late-round flyer — with the understanding that it might be two or three years before he’s NFL-ready. He also might need to put on 15 pounds if a team sees him as a tight end. Nevertheless, Smith did enough to intrigue and show that his invitation wasn’t just a bone thrown to the hometown school.
- The running back corps on the South team is not the best I’ve seen in my years here. West Virginia’s Noel Devine checked in at just 160 pounds and appears to be a situational back. Kentucky’s Derrick Locke showed some flashes, but needs to do better at keeping his balance. Louisville’s Bilal Powell has some power and did a good job breaking tackles, but looks awkward, almost mechanical, in how he cuts and moves in the open field. The better runners are mostly on the North team.
More to come Tuesday.
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January 24th, 2011 with
 Auburn's Lee Ziemba (right) gets up close with Arizona defensive end Brooks Reed. (PHOTO: MAXDENVER.COM) FAIRHOPE, Ala. – At their core, the Senior Bowl practices are virtually indistinguishable from any other. Players hit, receive coaching, go through drills and repeat their steps. It’s something they’ve all done before.
But not in front of hundreds of NFL, CFL and Arena League scouts and coaches, many of whom took positions in a circle 30 yards in diameter at one end of a high-school stadium here to watch the offensive and defensive linemen for the South team go through one-on-one drills.
Cameras clicked. Pens furiously scribbled notes onto paper.
“On the bus ride over here I was (nervous),” said Auburn offensive tackle Lee Ziemba, who lined up at right guard and right tackle Monday. “But once you put on the shoulder pads and jersey and helmet, it’s just like playing ball; you’ve been doing it for 15 years.”
But it was a little different for Ziemba, a mid-round prospect who started at left tackle for Auburn but was working at right tackle — and occasionally at right guard — during Monday’s session.
“In the one-on-one drills, I learned that I need to accelerate my feet,” Ziemba said. “During pass sets, he (Bills offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris) thought I was carrying my hands a little too low.”
But in general, Ziemba had a good day. When he got his feet set, he appeared to hold his ground better than any other lineman on the South team and looked confident and capable in run blocking.
It’s nothing he hadn’t done before — except that this time, the entire NFL takes notice.
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