2016 East-West Shrine Game: Practice Report

2016 East-West Shrine Game: Wednesday’s West Team Practice Report

By Charlie Campbell – @draftcampbell

The third practice for the West team of the East-West Shrine was held in St. Petersburg, Fla. under sunny skies with temperatures in the 60s. The West team is being coached by former Atlanta Falcons, SMU, and Hawaii head coach June Jones. Jones had the players in shells (shorts, helmets, shoulder pads, no leg pads), which was bizarre.

I’ve been attending East-West and Senior Bowl practices for 7-8 years now and can’t recall seeing players in shells on the third day of practice. Usually, only the first day is in shells with the next two being full pads, making it the most valuable for scouting players. The negative of shells is that it creates less-physical practices and the line play in particular suffers for evaluation purposes.

The star of this practice was Illinois wide receiver Geronimo Allison. He was on fire, absolutely torching defensive backs from start to finish. Allison has had a good week, but he killed it on Wednesday. In the team scrimmage, he got his dominant day started with a nice reception on an out route that he broke downfield for a long run after the catch. Shortly later, he burned a corner and safety on a deep post for a touchdown from about midfield. He then showed his possession skills with a short reception on a slant in traffic.

In the red zone period from the 20-yard line, Allison ran a short crossing route and exploded through the defense for a score. When the ball was moved closer, he had about a 10-yard touchdown pass on a slant after getting quick separation.

Sources say they really like Allison’s skill set. He has quickness for a 6-foot-3 receiver and runs good routes. Allison also has big, soft hands. He is very good at attacking the football away from his body and locking it in. The quickness and those route-running skills could be seen in his red-zone scores. He also has length and height. The one issue that sources say Allison needs to improve is strength. Going to an NFL strength and conditioning program should remedy that. Allison had a strong week of practice, and this session really put a cap on it. He made himself some money in Mobile.

Western Kentucky quarterback Brandon Doughty had some rough practices the first two days, but he was better on Wednesday. Doughty doesn’t have a NFL arm, but he had some accurate passes in the short part of the field.

Indiana’s Nate Sudfeld has been the top quarterback at the East-West Shrine and has the best skill set of the signal-caller. He threw a nice deep ball to Utah State receiver Hunter Sharp who beat Arizona State’s Lloyd Carrington for the bomb touchdown. Sudfeld hooked up with Stanford’s Devon Cajuste for a nice gain on an out route against Utah’s Tevin Carter. Sudfeld also had a lowlight when he put a poorly placed ball up for grabs that was intercepted by Colorado’s Ken Crawley. Sudfeld has size and arm strength, but must improve his accuracy. He’s a late-round project for the NFL.

Arizona offensive tackle Lene Maiava flashed on some plays. He did get beat for a sack by Kentucky’s CJ Johnson, but Maiava showed some quick feet to take away some speed rushes around the corner. Maiava is a sleeper who could be developed into something.

Kentucky’s CJ Johnson had a nice practice. He flashed some impressive speed and power to dispatch Nebraska’s Alex Lewis on a one-on-one rep.

Minnesota linebacker De’Vondre Campbell had a good practice. He was physical in the ground game and showed nice awareness on some screen passes. He leveled a back on one of those plays.

As we stated yesterday, Stanford wide receiver Devon Cajuste is an interesting prospect. Cajuste (6-4, 227) is a big receiver who can make some big plays vertically. If Cajuste could add some weight and be a receiving tight end, that would be exciting. However, that is said every year for big receivers who are too slow for the next level, and it doesn’t pan out. However, I ran that idea by a few team sources and they were thinking the same thing, and they feel it would be worth a try. Movement tight ends are rarely called on to block, so this theory could have some legs. Cajuste would be wise to push for trying tight end when he interviews with teams.

WalterFootball.com has more recaps from the East-West Shrine practices on Monday and Tuesday along with a run-down of the post-practice team interviews. Follow @walterfootball for updates.



2016 East-West Shrine Game Recap - 1/23
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Interview with Geronimo Allison - 1/21
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Wednesday's West Team Practice Report - 1/20
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Wednesday's West Team Interviews - 1/20
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Wednesday's East Team Practice Report - 1/20
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Wednesday's East Team Interviews - 1/20
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Interview with Donovan Smith - 1/20
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Interview with Jamie Byrd - 1/20
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Tuesday's West Team Practice Report - 1/19
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Tuesday's West Team Interviews - 1/19
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Tuesday's East Team Practice Report - 1/19
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Tuesday's East Team Interviews - 1/19
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Monday's West Team Practice Report - 1/18
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Monday's East Team Practice Report - 1/18
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Monday's West Team Interviews - 1/18
2016 East-West Shrine Game: Monday's East Team Interviews - 1/18

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