Pittsburgh’s Aaron Donald stole the show on Day One of Senior Bowl practices (Photo: chicagonow.com)
DraftBrowns.com Staff Writer: Justin Higdon
With weigh-ins soaking up the morning hours, first day practices at the Senior Bowl took place at two separate locations. The South team led off in the early afternoon at Fairhope Stadium, with the North filling the late slot at Ladd Peebles Stadium, the eventual site of the game.
Here’s a quick look at notes from both practice sessions.
With no team drills in place upon my arrival, my first stop was to see the defensive backs in backpedal drills. The smoothest tandem was Oklahoma corner Aaron Colvin and Liberty’s Walt Aikens. Both reacted quickly to locate the ball on each of their reps, with Aikens skying high to make a catch. Georgia Southern DB Lavelle Westbrooks also turned and made an acrobatic, leaping catch during the course of the drill. Afterwards, the defensive backs worked on change of direction skills, and a pair of SEC safeties, Craig Loston of LSU and Kenny Ladler of Vanderbilt looked fluid and disciplined, though Loston later struggled when passes and players to cover were added to the mix. Not what you’d call a great sign.
Over to the linebackers who were working on their drops into coverage. LSU’s Lamin Barrow was noteworthy for his speed, flow, and his thin lower body. Barrow measured at a trim 6’1 1/4” and 229 at the weigh-in, and whatever bulk he has is in his arms and torso. All told though, Barrow had a solid day. BYU linebacker Kyle Van Noy is a favorite of the draft community, and after looking slow initially he recovered and showed well in his coverage drops. He kept his head up and his eyes on the “quarterback” and looked comfortable changing directions. Later, when tested with actual opposition, Van Noy maintained close coverage on Fresno State’s Marcel Jensen, and cut in front of the tight end to break up a pass. Conversely, Alabama’s Adrian Hubbard – he of the unforgiving weigh-in – looked stiff in his drops and couldn’t stop looking back and down at his own feet. It was as if Hubbard didn’t trust his own steps, or perhaps was afraid to step in dog poop. The early returns on the ‘Bama ‘backer have been poor.
The South Team quarterbacks looked to prove that their slight hand measurements will not be an issue, but right off the bat Jimmy Garoppolo struggled to handle simulated snaps from under center. The Eastern Illinois QB also struggled with his timing and ball placement, delivering a couple of short outs behind his intended receivers. San Jose State’s David Fales was the most accurate quarterback for the South, but he delivered a number of wobbly passes and hung one down the right sideline that was intercepted by Florida State safety Terrence Brooks (who, by the way, did a terrific job tracking the pass as it drifted back toward the middle of the field). Derek Carr easily proved to have the best arm of the South’s group, but he too had his struggles. On one play in particular, he fired a ball into the sideline about five to seven yards behind his intended receiver. I’d guess that the two weren’t on the same page, but the pass was so far off it looked as though Carr had thrown it away intentionally. Problem was, this particular drill didn’t involve a pass rush.
The early session involved some spirited battles in coverage. Colvin gave Vanderbilt WR Jordan Matthews all he could handle, staying in his hip pocket to break up a couple of passes. Auburn CB Chris Davis – who is built like a running back – also got physical with Matthews and broke up a pass. Matthews is a talented receiver who should be among the top 30-40 players drafted in May. He arrived in excellent condition, though didn’t need to prove anything this week. But his presence could help earn some of these corners a few extra dollars come spring time. Among the other receivers, Tulane’s Ryan Grant started off by letting a ball go right through his hands, but later made a series of catches in close quarters. His day was a bit of a mixed bag, but all told he lived to fight another day. Interesting sidebar on Grant: he was sporting a jersey with no name and no number, and his helmet was plain white with no logo. It took several minutes to figure out who the mystery man even was. BYU’s Cody Hoffman slipped several times during the course of the action, with one onlooker suggesting that he may have had too much tape on his cleats.
Surprisingly, the most impressive pass catching performance may have come from Coastal Carolina running back Lorenzo Taliaferro. I had not seen a minute of his play this season coming into today, and after he measured in at 6’0 3/8” and 231 pounds this morning, I wasn’t expecting much more than power running. But Taliaferro was out there separating from defenders and catching the ball out in front of his body, and he even made a diving catch near the sideline while keeping both feet in bounds. His apparent versatility has officially piqued my interest going forward.
My last stop at the South practice was to catch a glimpse of the one-on-ones between linemen. Earlier I had seen both Arizona defensive tackle Will Sutton and Tennessee’s Daniel McCullers scolded for playing patty cake with tackling dummies during a gauntlet drill. Once faced with actual offensive linemen, neither were able to sufficiently rebound. Sutton was beaten so easily on one rep that he drew a “Woof” from one of my colleagues. Both Sutton and McCullers were unimpressive at weigh-ins, and it carried over the rest of the day. They were outshone by a pair of lesser-known defensive line teammates – Cal’s Deandre Coleman and Princeton’s Caraun Reid. More impressive than any defender in the drill, was O-lineman Jon Halapio. The Florida guard had battled his way through injuries throughout his senior season, but appeared healthy this afternoon, and dominated most of his one-on-one match ups.
After a navigating post-South practice traffic, I arrived at Ladd Peebles in time to see a handful of North Team running back reps. West Virginia’s Charles Sims broke a long run with a quick cut in the hole to shake the linebacker. David Fluellon of Toledo started by shuffling sideways on the first run I saw, but recovered for a couple of tough runs.
Off in the distance I spied the North QBs lobbing deep balls as the WRs and DBs went one-on-one. Both Stephen Morris and Logan Thomas delivered a couple of well-placed throws, but they were in a comfort zone with zero pressure. I’ll be interested to see both players, and Tajh Boyd, under different circumstances as the week progresses. But for the remainder of this day, I shifted focus to battles between the linemen.
Pittsburgh’s undersized defensive tackle Aaron Donald stole the show. He dominated most of his one-on-one battles with well-regarded Baylor guard Cyril Richardson. Donald won with his quickness, and when Richardson adjusted to that, Donald steamrolled him with power. Donald’s day reminded me of former Michigan lineman Mike Martin’s performance at the Senior Bowl a couple of years ago. Except Donald’s was even better. He drew oohs and ahhs from a number of onlookers in the end zone stands.
A hearty battle developed between Ohio State’s Jack Mewhort and North Carolina defensive end Kareem Martin. Martin has some of the longest arms in attendance this week, but Mewhort was able to keep him at bay with his own length, and just enough of a strength advantage. It has to be encouraging for the Buckeye tackle, who struggled mightily against Vic Beasley and Clemson in the Orange Bowl earlier this month. Others of note include Missouri end Michael Sam who, while he didn’t exactly win many battles, at least showed a willingness to mix up his pass rush approach. And Minnesota’s Ra’Shede Hageman gave poor, overmatched Miami guard Brandon Linder fits. Hageman was simply faster and more powerful, and hopefully gets tested against some better competition as the week goes on.