Impressions: LSU vs Florida

Louisiana State University vs University of Florida

Florida Offense:

Tim Tebow, QB, Jr, 6’3 238lbs: Long release. Should’ve had a pass picked off but instead it went for a TD (those things happen). Some guys take a long throwing motion on their deep tosses and throws quickly for short passes. Tebow always has a long release. Quick enough to run a bit in the NFL. Took a delay of game penalty – announcers blame center. Doesn’t seem to make his reads quickly, but does go through them (hasn’t taken off first time his guy is covered). Knows how to take something off his passes, even the corner routes. Throws off his back foot. Normally has a high release, but can drop his release point to make the play. I saw some improvement from a sophomore to a junior – he’ll look to his second read and has improved his touch and accuracy (seems to throw off his back foot less than as a sophomore). However, he still needs more work driving off his leg, has a very long release (Byron Leftwhich), and still doesn’t drop back from center. Still, I saw more this year than last.

Percy Harvin, WR, Jr, 5’11 195lbs: #1 Showed good concentration to catch a tipped pass. Tough to bring down with arm tackles, and knows how to work angles. Too small to do this much in the NFL, much looks like a good scatback, excellent speed and vision. Might have some potential as a 3^rd down back in the NFL. Harvin is definitely stronger and that changes his projection significantly. I’m scared by the lower-body injuries he has sustained thus far in his career, but he has a lot of potential as a Santana-Moss type of player. Great speed, even better acceleration, hands looked good… He could be very good if he can make it through an NFL season.

Louis Murphy, WR, Sr, 6’2 205lbs: #9 Didn’t see him until he caught a long pass at the 2 yard line. The one route I’ve gotten to see, he showed really good acceleration throughout the out-and-go. Great deep speed as well. Looks a little thin out there. I really only saw one catch by Murphy, and he had to leave the game due to a minor injury. Might have some value as a vertical threat but I didn’t see much of an effort by Florida to involve him in the game.

Jason Watkins, OT, rSr, 6’6 310lbs: #77 Got beat on the first run of the game. Was able to mirror Jackson, but got beat by the swim move and Jackson sacked Tebow (had time, but not enough). Is having a tough time with Jackson on runs, lacking the strength. Even when Jackson is taking a break he looks content to stalemate his man. Athletic getting to the second level, but reaches a bit on his blocks (waist-bender). Athletic enough not to get beaten off the snap, but doesn’t sustain his blocks. He doesn’t look to have the aggressiveness of Andre Smith, but he isn’t lacking in that department either in his run blocking. He’s athletic enough to play LT, but might struggle with the physicality of the NFL as his one weakness is pretty big: He doesn’t sustain his blocks well.

Phil Trautwein, OT, rSr, 6’6 310lbs: #75 Didn’t look good on a roll-out, unable to keep his guy from pressuring Tebow. Lacks the speed to play at LT in the NFL, just plain beat in protection. Could possibly play strong tackle. Didn’t pay as much attention to him with the other talent on the field.

Defense:

Brandon Spikes, ILB, Jr, 6’3 245lbs: #51 Doesn’t look all that fast in coverage. Looks faster downhill (hips?). Does a good job with angles near the line of scrimmage. Not a punishing tackler. Doesn’t look all that fast. Picked off his second pass (good instincts) and ran for a TD, but he didn’t look quick doing it. Drew an unsportsmanlike penalty for punting the ball after the TD. I thought before Spikes was faster than he showed today, he looked more like a 34 inside linebacker than he did a guy who can patroll sidelines in the NFL. Despite his looking a tad slow, he did look very instinctive.

LSU Offense:

Herman Johnson, G, rSr, 6’7 362lbs: #79 You expect a big guy like him to be a waist bender, but he does a good job keeping his knees bent. Doesn’t happen often, but he can get overextended. Hasn’t gotten the same sort of push (2^nd quarter so far) that he got against Auburn. For a guy who has impressed me so much with his athleticism, he looks pretty slow on screens. Hands don’t appear as quick as they did against Auburn. Didn’t appear to be drive blocking with the same strength I saw against Auburn. Not a great game for Johnson. I saw him pick up the blitz well and play technically sound football, and he still appeared athletic. I didn’t see him drive blocking like he did against Auburn though. He’s going to give me fits scouting, I can already tell.

Ciron Black, T, rJr, 6’4 328lbs: Looked pretty athletic getting to the 2^nd level. Looks terrible in space though as a pass blocker. Lumbers a little on the screen pass. Has had a lot of trouble late in the game as LSU is in passing mode. He’s just not a tackle, I’m going to start marking him as a guard because there is no way he can play tackle well in the NFL. He’s awkward looking when he mirrors rushers and he has a hard time keeping up with them.

Brandon LaFell, WR, rJr, 6’3 210lbs: Hard to tell from my view, but might lack explosion in his routes. Has caught every ball I’ve seen him come near. Has some serious YAC potential. Got separation on a deep route against a speedy Florida secondary, but the pass was poorly thrown. Not a slug at all. Finally saw his first non-catch, a jump ball which was underthrown. Has been great, but doesn’t run a large variety of routes – a lot of flats, slants, ins and outs. Missed a pass behind his back, I’d like to see him catch it though. His route (in patterns) was excellent. Body catches at times, but not too often. A little less impressive as the game went on – had 2 passes he could have caught, but neither was well thrown. He’s quicker than people will give him credit for, but he doesn’t run a full arsenal of routes either. Also put in a lot of situations to make plays.

Demetrius Byrd, WR, Sr, 6’1 200lbs: I question him in the NFL. He just doesn’t seem to get many looks at LSU in the games I’ve seen. 1^st catch in the 2^nd half a short hitch. As I type that, he catches another hitch. Is playing more of a role in the second half. Has shown the hands to catch the ball while getting hit. Gets more involved as the games go on apparently. He’s tough and has good hands, but that is really all I can tell you.

Charles Scott, RB, Jr, 5’11 232lbs: Shows good burst for his size. Didn’t see much of him and he never got the blocking to make plays. In the NFL, he’s not going to outrun people, but he has enough speed to serve as more than a goal-line back.

Defense:

Ricky Jean-Francois, DT, rJr, 6’3 290lbs: Did not play.

Tyson Jackson, DT/DE, rSr, 6’4 295lbs: #93 Shows a decent swim move. I think I saw that against Auburn too. Lacks any kind of closing speed. Didn’t see much here I didn’t see at Auburn. Technically sound for a college player, but is a poor athlete as a 43 end. He stacks well on runs though, which is key for the 34 so I could see him sticking there.

Curtis Taylor, S, rSr, 6’2 207lbs: #27 Looked fast pursuing Harvin on a TD (wasn’t his guy either). Practically invisible. Don’t know if it is because of scheme or himself. Saw him on another Florida TD, almost catching up to Demps (fast as Harvin). He’s got NFL speed. I wish I could see him more in action. I caught him missing a tackle late in the game when Florida was running out the clock but sample size problems with Taylor. He should make more of an impact early on when the games count, though. I did notice again that in coverage he wasn’t beaten deep.

Louisiana State University vs University of Auburn

Louisiana State University vs University of Auburn

LSU Offense:
Herman Johnson, OG, rSr, 6′7 362lbs: Got beat on the 2nd run by Marks, who just blew right past him. Plays through the whistle on runs. Quicker than you’d expect for a big guy. Caught him playing tall on one run. Knee bender. Gets to the 2nd level very quickly for a guy his size. Knee bender. Knee bends most of the time but can play high. Good strength as a pass protector. Knows how to pick up the blitz. Uses his hands really well. Still going strong in the 4th quarter, which was a concern of mine. I’d heard some mixed opinions from people I respect about Johnson. From HOF (no joke) to 4th round talent. I don’t think either is right, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Johnson makes a pro-bowl. He’s a little tall, but he played against a 6′1 DT, about as short as they get, and really had a nice game.

Brandon LaFell, Wr, rJr, 6′3 210lbs: Made a smart play on special teams, downing a punt inside the 1 yard line. Had a step on a post route, but the ball was poorly delivered. Can extend to call the ball. Shows that he can sink his hips in his routes. Works over the middle and will take a hit. Quick feet for a taller wideout, has some YAC potential. Blocking very well, called out twice by the announcers for good blocking on WR screens. Pretty quick for a tall wideout. Another guy who impressed me, he’s quicker than I expected, goes over the middle, has some YAC, and caught everything near him.

Ciron Black, OT, rJR, 6′4 328lbs: Had to lean to handle an edge rush. Uggh. Waste bender. Maybe I came in with too high of expectations, not athletic at all for a tackle. Maybe he can succeed as guard but he’s a project. Doesn’t look very athletic. Ironically, I’d heard good things about Black, but he looked awful. Technique wise, he’s atrocious. Athletically, maybe he has some deep down I didn’t see much.

Demetrius Byrd, WR, Sr, 6′1 200lbs: Has taken some hits early and held onto the football. Caught a TD on a halfback pass, got open for it. Quiet game, hurt his calf with 6 minutes to go in the game. Pretty quiet game for him, but Auburn has a great defense.

Brett Helms, C, rSr, 6′2 282lbs: Got manhandled for a sack, lacked strength. Good quickness and seals well. Never going to be a dominant drive blocker, just not strong enough. Excellent technique. If he was 300lbs, I’d say he’d be a great player. But the word is that 282 might be generous, either way he doesn’t look very big and his lack of functional strength hurt him.

Charles Scott, RB, Jr, 5′11 232lbs: Fights yard for every yard. Shows paitence waiting for the hole to improve. Decent burst. Negative. Better than decent. Had an open shot on the QB for a sack but missed (QB made a nice move). Falls forward. Body catcher, haven’t seen bobbles or drops. I’m really impressed with his vision and burst, and he has a knack for falling over. If he declares, I’d expect him to go day 1 if his 40 time matches his game speed.

LSU Defense:

Tyson Jackson, DE, rSr, 6′4 295lbs: #93 Flashed good strength as a DE. On the 2nd pass he looked surprisingly quick off the snap. Made a good read on the QB keeper, getting a TFL on the play. Looked slow rushing on a 7-step drop by the QB. Was given an open lane on a pass, but didn’t show good closing speed. Thin calves. Just not very fast, even when there aren’t people in his way. Been a sure tackler through the 1st half (has been making a lot of plays). Flashed a decent swim move. Not fast enough for be a 43 DE, but might find a place as an end in a 3-4 alignment. Plays with effort and smarts and size. Just not fast.

Curtis Taylor, SS, rSr, 6′2 208lbs: #27 Ping-ponged when put in the box (can’t get through trash). Almost made a nice play on a deep route with busted cornerback coverage, but somehow missed the catch and allowed the WR to make it (may not look the ball in). Looks just a tad small. Plays smart, doesn’t blow assignments. Not elite speed, but pretty good. Seems more of a coverage guy, but hasn’t had the chance to make many tackles. Need to see more of him. He looked like a smart coverage player, but I want to see him against the run some more.

Ricky Jean Fracois, DT, rJR, 6′3 290lbs: #90 Gets off the snap as fast as Jackson, which is impressive for a DT even though Jackson is actually heavier. Blew back a guard with his leg strength on a run aimed in his direction. On and off game. He didn’t dominate like against OSU in the BCS Championship, but he’s athletic and surprisingly strong for his rather light weight.

Auburn Offense:

Brad Lester, RB, Sr, 5′11 198lbs: Has a very effective spin move. Quick. Tough runner. Like of reminds me of Kenny Irons. Fumbled. Runs hard, uses his legs to fall forward (traditional Auburn back). Went out for the game with a scary injury, but it looks minor. Knee injury of some sort, but no ligament damage. If he can add some weight while keeping his quickness, I’d be interested. He has the leg drive that is so impressive, and he’s quick enough to play. But 10lbs in his legs would help him inside the tackles.

Ben Tate, RB, Jr, 5′11 215lbs: #44 Looks bigger than 215. Not a speedster, but shows enough speed to get around the corner and turn upfield. Can’t get any blocking. Hard to tell because he seemed to get hit as he got the handoff quite a bit against this great LSU defense. Looked tough and a little slower than I expected.

Auburn Defense:

Sen’Derrick Marks, DT, rJr, 6′1 295lbs: Blew up the 2nd pass play and the 2nd run in the game. Quick off the snap. Putting on a clinic. Saw him flash leverage on a run. Looked quick stunting. Makes plays in bunches. I can’t tell you how impressed I was by Marks, having not really been familiar with him before. He seems disruptive.

Antonio Coleman, LB/DE (34LB?), rJr, 6′2 252lbs: Maybe a couple of nice plays in a row. Fought through some trash to make a tackle at or behin the LOS, then pursued the QB well on a busted pass. Looks like a 34 LB, rather than a DE.

Impressions: Virginia vs Southern California

University of Southern California vs University of Virginia. I mainly was looking for Eugene Monroe and Taylor Mays, but the USC offense so thoroughly dominated that I didn’t catch as much of either as I would have liked.

USC Offense:

QB Mark Sanchez, rJr, 6′3 220lbs: Made a poor read on his first throw over the middle, allowed 2 different Virginia players to make a play on the ball. Shows the ability to avoid the rush. Knows how to take something off the ball. Looks terrible executing play action. Mobile, but isn’t a runner. Looks to pass even while he is running. Runs a lot of bootlegs and other plays to get him out of the pocket. For a guy with such a big arm, throws a lot of checkdown passes. Tossed a pick when he went behind his WR, who deflected it into the air. Almost never was pressured. Threw a lot of balls that were deflected.

Patrick Turner, WR, Sr, 6′5 220: Showed effort on the first play I caught him, blocking. Splits time (listed as a “co-starter”). Hasn’t been jammed early. Looks like he shows good effort as a blocker. Made a nice TD reception while being hit, running a post. Not real strong, but uses his long arms in his blocking. When he has nobody jamming him, has a fair bit of explosion off the line.

USC Defense:

Ray Maualuga, ILB, Sr, 6′2 260lbs: Looks the part. Rolls downhill. One of the most secure tacklers I’ve seen so far this year. Has a reputation for big hits, didn’t catch it. Had a big day getting to the quarterback and looked very good on blitzes. Doesn’t change directions too well (might have a weakness on counters, though against the USC defense a counter play is suicidal for 99% of the teams in the nation).

Brian Cushing, OLB, Sr, 6′3 255lbs: Made a great deflection in coverage. Looks like he could put his hand down if he needs to. One of the reasons I liked him.

Taylor Mays, S, Jr, 6′3 230lbs: I caught him jogging on a run to the opposite direction… I don’t like that. Lines up so deep at safety. Doesn’t have a chance to make plays. Has a big frame, but not good at fighting off OTs. I don’t expect safeties to. A little late providing help on a deep toss. I’ve seen him before and been very impressed with his speed, but I didn’t see that today. The biggest thing I noticed was how far deep he lines up – often 10 yards futher downfield than Keith Ellison, the other safety. Had 1 pick fall out of his hands and another one taken away by his teammate.

Keith Ellison, S, Sr, 6′1 226lbs: Downhill player. Sure tackler, looks like a small linebacker. He might be able to play as a Cato-June type in a tampa-2. Isn’t as fast as I’d like my safeties to be, but he might have that weakness minimized in the right scheme. Otherwise a good play.

Fili Moala, DT, rSr, 6′5 295lbs: Despite his relatively thin build – he looks almost like a 3-4 DE – he has tremendous strength, pushing aside guards with ease. He’s 23 years old and seems like he should be so much bigger, but I have to wonder if he is putting in the work needed to get bigger.

Virginia Offense:

Eugene Monroe, LT, 6′5 320lbs: Made two false starts in a row early on. Perhaps a little rattled. Big upper body, a little smaller in the lower body than I want. Take a few pounds from his gut and put it in his legs and I’d be happier, his midsection weakens him vs the bull rush. Shows good awareness of assignments, catching the blitz well. Not a slug upfield by any means, but doesn’t burst past the line of traffic like Andre Smith. Doesn’t seem like, through one half, he’s been challenged in pass protection. When he has been attacked, he’s protected very well. Uses his hands well, delivering a nice jolt. Caught him on a run not playing through the whistle, and might have prevented his back from having a nice cutback lane. Good knee bend. Stronger upper body than I expected. Now, I spent a lot of time prior to this game looking at Andre Smith, and so I was really disappointed in Monroe’s effort. He looked lazy out there, and Smith looks the opposite, so more scouting is needed. He is a better pass-protector but really needs to play through the whistle on running plays.

John Phillips, TE, Sr, 6′6 258lbs: Has a lankier frame that could use more weight. Fumbled one pass, dropped another. Decent blocker, but unsurprisngly struggled against these linebackers. I wasn’t impressed.

Cedric Pearman, RB, Sr, 5′9 208lbs: Stocky build. Returns kicks. Shows effort to block on special teams – could someday do that if he’s not the return-threat. Strong runner who doesn’t shy from contact. Falls forward. I like this kid as a 7th rounder or UDFA type.
Virginia Defense:

Clint Sintim, LB/DE, Sr, 6′3 254lbs: The first time I noticed him, he bit on the fake-reverse and allowed the runner to find a huge hole. Looked quicker than I expected, but I don’t know if he has the burst to put his hand down. Need more scouting, as USC’s backs often had huge holes to work with.

Antonio Appleby, ILB, Sr, 6′3 250lbs: Doesn’t look very quick out there, no doubt outclassed a bit by USC’s speed at halfback. Wraps up well. Plays much smarter ball than Sintim.

Impressions: USC vs OSU

September 13th, 2008 Impressions of University of Southern California vs Ohio State University.

Ohio State:

WR Brian Robiskie – 6′2 200lbs

Good frame. I consider 6′2 200lbs to be a little less than ideal, but his build looks very strong in the upper body. Lacks muscle in the butt and legs, but given his strong upper body he should be able to add weight (could surprise after combine training). I’d rather take a chance on a receiver building lower body strength than upper body. Showed good concentration holding onto the ball on a couple of plays, including one where he took a tough hit and held on. Looks quick rather than fast. Looked above-average the few times I saw him involved in a running play. Overall, I was impressed by his build (looks bigger than last year) and his concentration (has had minor drop problems before), even though he had a quiet game.

QB Todd Boeckman – 6′4 244lbs.

244lbs? He doesn’t look that big, though by no means is his size an issue. Throwing motion is sound. Needs to work on using his back foot to generate more power. Reminds me a little of a smaller Erik Ainge (formerly of Tennessee. Drafted by the New York Jets in ‘08) in that he didn’t seem to have a cannon arm and had streaky mechanics and thus streaky accuracy. I project both as career backup types. Missed open guys. Generally a good reader of defenses but threw into coverage a few times. He was running for his life on a lot of plays though. Still, you’d want a senior quarterback to demonstrate a little more poise in the pocket. Overall, a negative impression, though I’d never been a big Boeckman fan.

OL Alex Boone – 6′7 312lbs.

Terrible seems a little harsh. How about “Not starting-caliber in the NFL”. Sluggish hand-punch. Was consistently failing with his hands despite a mammoth reach. Not especially quick out of his stance. Looked awkward on two occasions where he was blocking in the open field. Most importantly, was consistently beaten around the edge. We’ve seen it the past two championship games as well. Alex Boone is simply not able to handle speed rushers on the edge. The problem is, everyone in the NFL is a speed rusher. His best prospects might be as a guard (I’m not sure he’d survive as a RT either), but at 6′7 he’s going to have leverage problems. He isn’t without some positives: He’s tall, good frame, mammoth reach. Strong. But he’s probably not quick enough with his feet to mirror ends in the NFL.

LB Marcus Freeman – 6′1 238lbs.

Supposed to be fast but was torched by FB Stanley Havili for a touchdown. Otherwise, he made a few tackles but seemed to struggle the most against RB CJ Gable and RB Joe McKnight. I saw the athleticism that has made him a national prospect, but I didn’t like what I saw him do in this game. Inconclusive to be sure, but not a positive showing.

LB James Lauranitis – 6′2 240lbs.

He was gameplanned a little bit. I saw USC release it’s center or left guard on him constantly in the running game. Definitely trying to make Lauranitis use his strength to disengage from blocks, which he struggled to do. That said, he is by far the best tackler of the linebackers, using good form and more importantly stopping the runner. Has a reputation for good coverage, but didn’t get proper depth in his zone on one play that ended up being a USC touchdown to WR Damien Williams. Had Lauranitis dropped a few more steps, it would have been knocked down or picked off. Overall, I saw a couple of concerns, but I was impressed by his physical talent (more instinctive against the run, more athletic) and tackling ability. Need to see him in a closer game. Still promising.

CB Malcolm Jenkins – 6′0 200lbs

Great frame for a corner. Not afraid to tackle running backs, and did it pretty well too. In coverage, more physical than fast. Pure speed looks good but is not elite. He plays a little like Packers CB Al Harris, though Jenkins is faster than Harris is today, don’t worry. More concerned with if he has elite speed, but he has enough to start in the NFL. Smooth backpedal and has good hips. Need to see more as he wasn’t targeted much. Overall not a bad game… rarely targeted, though I believe he picked up a pass interference on a short route. Did a good job on Patrick Turner.

USC:

QB Mark Sanchez – 6′3 225lbs.

Wasn’t a fan of his going into this season. Saw a lot of improvement though. Good athleticism to escape the pocket, good build for the position. Decent height. Great arm, though he could really use some better deep targets. Fit the ball into a tight space on a post route, was impressed. Accuracy has greatly improved and he doesn’t loom so anxious behind center. Still a couple of flaws I don’t see going away soon. Footwork is usually good (awkward on play-action fakes to his left), but he holds the ball low, exposing him to fumbles on unexpected hits. Very low release point, but it’s quick. Still see some David Carr in him though, but I maintain Carr would’ve done fine if he hadn’t had the talent sacked out of him in Houston. Overall, I saw a lot to like. Looks like a quarterback rather than a mobile guy with a cannon arm.

WR Patrick Turner – 6′5 220lbs.

While I saw some things in Turner that I liked, I’m really concerned with his pro prospects. Malcolm Jenkins didn’t struggle with him much, even with the game being a USC blowout. Had trouble with Jenkins’ physical play, usually needing two moves to get off the line. As a wideout who will be earning his living in the red zone and short field, he needs to either gain enough quickness that he can escape the press (unlikely) or enough strength that he can run through it (possible). I saw great hands though, an awareness for the chains, and a desire to block well. I like him as a player, but I’m afraid that his skill-set is more along the lines of project than early pick.