East-West Shrine Game Thoughts

I just got home from the East-West Shrine Game, where I met up with CK and I also met Imaginary Moderator of Phinzmania. Great guys, just as nice in person as they are via the internet.

There were various prospects that stood out in this game and others that didn't. One of the guys that stood out was left tackle Rodger Saffold of Indiana. A very good player that has a lot of room to fill out but he's strong, has quick hands and really does well getting out to the flats to throw blocks. I was impressed with his game and he absolutely stonewalled Jan Jorgensen, the BYU defensive end who is not impressive IMO.

Moreover, Hawai'i center John Estes was a very strong blocker all around during the game. His pass protection was strong, as he did not get knocked back really at all by various defensive tackles such as Mike Neal of Purdue and Terrell Troup of UCF. In the run game, he blew up a tackle that escapes me right now and he created a great lane up the middle. Later, he walled off Mike Neal on a roll out and just overall did really nice job in the game I felt.

Kam Chancellor is a guy I've criticized a lot in the past. My main concern has always been his COD skills and they weren't tested today. He played single high safety all game and had the play in front of him, which is his strength. He delivered three or four killshots from what I remember and he also made some nice plays laterally. He has a fantastic closing burst IMO. He also had a nice open field tackle against a tight end, I think it was Richard Dickson.

Arizona's Devin Ross I thought had an OK game. He wasn't fantastic but he was OK. He gave up a pass along the sideline to Blair White, who was great, and then had a pass interference down the right sideline again. He just wasn't very effective today. He had times where he was a blanket such as when he went up against Naaman Roosevelt and Freddie Barnes but he had other times where he just didn't look the part. Well that's why he's a top 90 pick and not 45,right?

Penn State's Andrew Quarless had a quality game. He was strong in run block and he had a couple nice catches. He had one where he caught on a roll out IIRC and then went thorugh a couple defenders, falling forward and picking up the yards. On another, he had a one hand grab which was very impressive and displayed quality concentration. To finish the game, he had the touchdown in the back of the end zone at it's peak and brought both feet in. If he wasn't immature in his early years, he'd go pretty high IMO.

Blair White was reminiscent of Brian Hartline out there. Made the comparison a few times whilst watching the game. Stiff athlete but has quick feet and really does a nice job running routes. He gets open, he's got the head and shoulder use to get open.

Texas Tech's Jamar Wall played a quality game. He had a couple plays where he didn't give up anything and then had a couple where he was asked to make a play and did just that. One was a double move by Freddie Barnes and Wall closed on the ball, which was thrown short, and nearly had an interception. Later in the game, he showed a good closing burst and broke up the pass to Blair White.

Kyle Calloway of Iowa played RT this afternoon and played pretty well. He does get high when he gets out his kickslide but he's got good hand use and keeps on fighting. He was matched up against Jeffrey Fitzgerald, who also had a strong game, and he did fairly well. He was strong in the run game, which wasn't really surprising as it's one of his strong suits.

Greg Hardy played a strong game today. Thought he did really good job of stack and shedding blocks. He held up blocks a few times and held his ground. He also managed to dip his shoulder and apply pressure from the backside a couple times. You just wonder how much of his 279 pounds is fat. He had a couple plays where he didn't show great arm strength.

Mike Kafka did really nice job executing the offense. The Northwestern quarterback showed a quick release consistently and was accurate. He didn't make any mistakes from what I recall and did a nice job leading the offense down the field. I thought it was telling that he was in the game late, and not Daryll Clark.

BYU's tight end Dennis Pitta had a good game, showing YAC ability and good hands. He ran a couple nice routes and really was effective. I thought he did well.

Van Eskridge was quality at safety. Wasn't asked to do a lot but was disciplined and read the game well.

I felt Andre Dixon ran hard. He finished runs and broke some tackles.

A few other guys that I remember standing out were Oregon State's OLB Keaton Kristick, Utah's Robert Johnson and Utah's Sly Sylvester. All three guys showed something good in this game. Kristic did a good job jamming tight ends and had one big blow IIRC. Johnson and Sylvester were both disciplined and Sylvester blew up a couple plays if I remember correctly.

Some of the duds that I noticed were Willie Young of NC State. He's just not impressive at all and I've been saying it for a year now. Great body, great build but just doesn't do anything on the field.

UCONN's Lindsey Witten is in the same boat as Young. Great looking athlete, has the long arms but just isn't effective. Gets dominated at the POA IMO.

Buffalo's Naaman Roosevelt was awful today. Ran some really bad routes and didn't do anything other than one block that I remember. Just poor day from him.

Justin Woodall was quality in the box but wasn't pretty to watch when he was asked to turn and run. He showed stiffness in his hips that rivals Kam Chancellor's.

Miami's Javarris James I thought didn't do anything well. He's only good for the cutback lane and that was neutralized today. He got his foot caught in the dirt a couple times in the game and then had a couple other carries where he simply didn't do enough.

Alterraun Verner of UCLA was alright at best IMO. Really wasn't the ballhawk I expected and never stood out. He gave up a catch to Blair White on the left sideline when they were in man coverage IIRC.

Penn State's Daryll Clark was not in sync today. Just was not executing the offense and had a few throws that were one hoppers.

Jan Jorgensen of BYU just flat out struggled today. He got dominated by Rodger Saffold every time I looked at him.

There were other guys who I didn't see enough of such as Dmitri Nance and Kevin Hasam really. O'Brien Schofield didn't look bad but wasn't great either. I would have liked to see more from him. I don't remember seeing Joe Pawalek of Baylor much. Not a lot of Ben Staggs either.

Last, I want to say that Freddie Barnes had an inconsistent game. Through the first three quarters, I thought he ran routes very poorly and did not create separation. However, he finished the game strong where he had a couple come back routes and an out route in which he did well.

 

I'm not sure yet. I think he could have success in a Tampa 2 scheme, that keeps the ball in front of him. I just don't want to see him having to turn and run consistently. When he does that, it's awful. I've seen him have to do that with tight ends at VT and it was not pretty.

 

I'm still not sure. I can see where you're going with this and it makes a lot of sense but I'm still not sure where he fits. I know some have viewed him as an OLB but I don't see that. I think he has a place at safety, the question is which scheme and which spot.

 

Thanks man, appreciate the kind words.

I felt he played a pretty good game. Throughout the first three quarters, he blanketed his man but his man wasn't even impressive at all. He was matched up with Naaman Roosevelt and Freddie Barnes, who ran some awful routes. In the fourth quarter, he was finally matched up with Blair White and he did do a nice job for the most part. I did like Wall's footwork and hips throughout the game though. I thought his footwork was quality from what I remember at least.

I didn't see a lot of him, tbh. With the rotating defensive line and various amounts of players coming in and out, it was tough to gauge who was on the DL at all times. I did notice a couple plays and he had a nice run stuff IIRC and another play he got walled off.