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2012 East-West Shrine Game: Practice Report

2012 East-West Shrine Game: Wednesday's East Team Practice Report

By Charlie Campbell - @draftcampbell

The East team held its final padded practice of the East-West Shrine Game with a morning session in St. Petersburg, Fl. on Wednesday. It was the second time that the East squad wore pads and had full hitting. Players were not tackling ball-carriers to the ground, as instructed. On a stop, the defender would wrap up and hug the ball carrier before letting go. This practicing technique is done to prevent injuries.

To begin practice, the different players worked in their individual position groups. The defensive linemen did some work with blocking dummies, and it provided some good insight into which players have better quickness and footwork. The standouts in the drills were Miami defensive tackle Micanor Regis, South Carolina's Travian Robertson and West Virginia's Julian Miller. When the bags were brought in, closer some of the other defensive tackles performed better. Baylor's Nick Jean-Baptiste and University of Regina (Canada) tackle Akiem Hicks showed improvement in the short-area bag drills. The 6-foot-4, 324-pound Hicks used his power to win some one-on-ones with bull rushes as well.

One of the top performers in Wednesday's practice was Regis. The Miami product started strong in the run scrimmage nine-on-nine session, continued it into the one-on-ones and finished with a standout team scrimmage. He burst through the line for a run stuff in the nine-on-nine. During the one-on-ones, Regis beat Mississippi State's Quentin Saulsberry among others. In the team scrimmage, he came close to a sack on quarterback Austin Davis when he fired through the gap and almost ran down Davis on a bootleg. Later on, Regis beat guard Rishaw Johnson with a speed rush to get a sack. On an interception return, he laid out a wide receiver with a massive block from the blind side. It was a bit of a cheap shot in an All-Star game setting like the East-West Shrine Game, but it was an impressive block.

The other defensive lineman who stood out on Wednesday was Robertson. He has had an excellent week, and has been a problem for all the offensive linemen. He used a powerful rip move to beat both Saulsberry and Johnson in the one-on-ones. He has a good get off, and he uses that to quickly get under the pads of offensive linemen to gain leverage. Robertson also beat South Florida guard/tackle Jeremiah Warren with a speed rush and showcased some quick hands to shed the block. That came after he blew up Warren to bust up a run in the nine-on-nine scrimmage. This week, Robertson has definitely helped himself, but it leaves one wondering where this performance level was during the 2011 season when he totaled only 2.5 sacks and eight tackles for a loss.

Aside from his losses to Robertson, Warren had a quality practice. He looks much better on the inside at guard compared to playing on the edge. However, he beat Virginia defensive end Matt Conrath in one-on-ones on an edge rush. Warren opened up some holes in the ground game. Tennessee running back Tauren Poole had a solid day running the ball and Warren provided some nice run blocks. Poole juggled a screen pass, but he had some nice runs on sweeps to the perimeter.

The offensive star on Wednesday was Miami tight end Chase Ford. He had a rough day on Monday but has bounced back to perform well over the two most recent practices. In the team scrimmage, Ford was a force. He made a diving catch for a gain of about 20 yards and a touchdown. He -got open running down the seam on that play. He had a nice kick out block on a safety to spring Poole for a big run on an off-tackle run to the left. To conclude practice, Ford made a leaping touchdown catch in the end zone.

In speaking with some scouts, Ford is considered a mid- to late-rounder depending on the team and offense. He clearly struggles as a drive blocker, and does not have the strength to block at the line of scrimmage. At the same time, Ford is a good athlete with some deceptive speed to be a receiving threat. The 6-foot-6, 258-pounder is lean, but has the frame to add more strength and power. He is viewed as a developmental project, but one that could yield some definite rewards.

Another prospect who helped his stock on Wednesday was Duke safety Matt Daniels. He had a nice pass break up by perfectly timing when to slap the ball out of the receiver's hands on a quick slant. Daniels (6-1, 215) dropped an interception when he made a good read and broke on a ball in the middle of the field.

Of all the players on the East squad, there has been one prospect who has stood out across the board as being very physically talented and a potential player at the next level. That player is Coastal Carolina cornerback Josh Norman. Yesterday, we featured him in our write-up of the Tuesday practice after he made an acrobatic interception, and he was even better Wednesday. The 6-foot, 203-pounder has size and athleticism to go along with quickness. He has blanketed receivers all week and shown excellent instincts to get in position to make splash plays. Norman had a few interceptions in the Wednesday practice.

The first one came when the receiver ran the wrong route, and Norman read the quarterback to make a diving interception in the flat. The receiver cut in when he was supposed to go out. Norman got up with the ball and ran down the sideline. Coaches yelled at him to put the ball away, just like they did on an interception return on Tuesday. Norman was screaming in celebration and did a little dance after the play. The showboating may turn evaluators off, but it was a great catch to be proud of.

Norman's second interception came on an overthrown intermediate pass. He broke off his man a ways behind the other intended target and made a second diving catch. He sprung up and raced down the sideline for what probably would have been a touchdown return. He once again was screaming at the end of the play. Of all the prospects on either squad, Norman may have helped himself the most this week. He has been dominant, and could be pushing into the second day of the 2012 NFL Draft.

There were some other prospect performances worth noting on Wednesday. Florida quarterback John Brantely underwhelmed with a couple fumbled snaps and he tripped on a backpedal. Scouts said that California University of Pennsylvania wide receiver Thomas Mayo has hurt his stock this week with dropped passes. Tennessee Chattanooga quarterback B.J. Coleman was improved on Wednesday, but scouts are down on his week overall. Southern Miss quarterback Austin Davis threw an ugly floater into the flat that was picked off by Central Florida linebacker Joshua Linam.

Scouts have praised Tennessee Tech wide out Tim Benford. When matched up with safeties in one-on-ones, scouts were saying that the safeties had no chance to stop the speedy Benford. Michigan State wide receiver B.J. Cunningham has performed better as the week has progressed after having had a rough start. He had big gain on an end around with some quality receptions.

Here is a rundown of some of the post-practice interviews between the player and a team that was spending some time talking to the prospect:

Kansas City - Army linebacker Steven Erzinger and South Carolina defensive tackle Travian Robertson

Cleveland - Michigan State wide receiver B.J. Cunningham, Coastal Carolina cornerback Josh Norman and Presbyterian cornerback Justin Bethel Jacksonville - Illinois wide receiver A.J. Jenkins, South Carolina defensive tackle Travian Robertson, Hampton cornerback Micah Pellerin and West Virginia defensive end Julian Miller

Indianapolis - Temple tight end Evan Rodriguez, and Hampton cornerback Micah Pellerin

Philadelphia - Ole Miss offensive tackle Bradley Sowell and California University of Pennsylvania wide receiver Thomas Mayo

Baltimore - Southern Miss offensive tackle Lamarr Holmes and Georgia fullback Bruce Figgins

2012 East-West Shrine Game Recap: Charlie's - 1/22
2012 East-West Shrine Game Recap: Walt's - 1/22
2012 NFL Draft Stock: East West Shrine Practices - 1/21
2012 East-West Shrine Game: Wednesday's East Team Practice Report - 1/19
2012 East-West Shrine Game: Wednesday's West Team Practice Report - 1/19
2012 East-West Shrine Game: Tuesday's East Team Practice Report - 1/18
2012 East-West Shrine Game: Tuesday's West Team Practice Report - 1/18
2012 East-West Shrine Game: Monday's East Team Practice Report - 1/17
2012 East-West Shrine Game: Monday's West Team Practice Report - 1/17

Cristiane 03-23-2012 03:39 am xxx.xxx.xxx.125 (total posts: 1)

You can find NFL picks from different ebwsites. Some sports experts, fans, and aficionados post their top picks in several ebwsites. There are also some ebwsites that post picks chosen by a computer system. Some people prefer those picks chosen by people while others prefer computer-picked teams. The benefit of using NFL picks chosen by fans and experts is that you can be sure that their decisions are based on their knowledge and experience. The disadvantage is that there might be favoritism involved. On the other hand, computer-generated picks are based on numerical data and stats.I get this information from this website .refer to the sourceenjoy it!!!

Mel Kiper 02-01-2012 08:16 pm xxx.xxx.xxx.144 (total posts: 2)

129

Nick Sukay is a great pro prospect, and should be looked at early in the 2012 draft.

Mock Draft Mel Kiper Todd Mcshay Scout's Inc first round Andrew Luck

Nick Sukay 02-01-2012 08:08 pm xxx.xxx.xxx.144 (total posts: 2)

439

The ball fell to me? I'm a play-maker. Give me some credit.

Mike Mayock 01-23-2012 12:00 am xxx.xxx.xxx.111 (total posts: 1)

322

Rofl, I didn't know I clicked on NFL.com to read Mike Mayock's take on the East-West Shrine game. You suck at scouting football players, but hey, it looks like you've got a future in transcribing for REAL NFL talent evaulators!

You get paid for this??? 01-22-2012 08:34 pm xxx.xxx.xxx3.37 (total posts: 1)

Is Mayock aware that you two hacks just repeat everything he says on here?

hey 01-22-2012 08:28 pm xxx.xxx.xxx.218 (total posts: 2)

How did Justin Bethel do?

Chad 01-20-2012 01:40 pm xxx.xxx.xxx3.91 (total posts: 1)

Excellent coverage guys. Draft nerds like me live for this stuff!

One question....Is there no one the Steelers talked to? I know they are pretty private organization. I was thinking they might be looking at 3-4 nose out of Baylor.

Thanks again.

Aj 01-19-2012 12:19 am xxx.xxx.xxx9.68 (total posts: 1)

California university of Pennsylvania? Jokes, jokes..thanks for the great coverage!!

Fusue Vue 01-17-2012 10:46 pm xxx.xxx.xxx.191 (total posts: 1)

Wylie isn't undersized. He's the same weight as Antonio Brown and 1" shorter. And Brown plays outside, too, not strictly slot.

Alonzo 01-17-2012 09:46 pm xxx.xxx.xxx4.86 (total posts: 1)

Dan Persa is like another Jeff Garcia. My guess is Allen was looking more at the o-line and Hurney was looking at d-line.

Wylie is extremely undersized. How many 5-9 sub 190 wide outs are there in the NFL?

TempelTUFF 01-17-2012 07:51 pm xxx.xxx.xxx.230 (total posts: 1)

Desmond Wynn (Rutgers) did not play at Temple (as reported earlier), Derek Dennis did.

Nice overall coverage though!

Brent 01-17-2012 05:13 pm xxx.xxx.xxx72.1 (total posts: 1)

Thank you for the Canadian content. No other media covered them, but I find it interesting to see them against some of the not quite elite US competition.
Well written.

Carl 01-17-2012 05:09 pm xxx.xxx.xxx.143 (total posts: 1)

No name players in this game?

Walter 01-17-2012 04:44 pm xxx.xxx.xxx4.88 (total posts: 1)

We will definitely have tons of Senior Bowl coverage.

Browns Fan 01-17-2012 04:37 pm xxx.xxx.xxx.133 (total posts: 3)

Nice job with the reports Walt

Pages: 1 23

2013 Fantasy Football Rankings - May 23

2013 NBA Mock Draft - May 22

2014 NFL Mock Draft - May 21

Charlie's 2014 NFL Mock Draft - May 20

NFL Picks - Feb. 3

2012 East-West Shrine Game: Practice Report

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