The stars of the 90th East-West Shrine Game were Kentucky defensive end Za’Darius Smith and Miami defensive end Anthony Chickillo.
Smith got his day started with a coverage sack working back toward the line of scrimmage. Shortly later, Smith beat the tackle to the inside to hit the quarterback as he threw for an incompletion on a third down. Smith was then able to hit Cody Fajardo as he threw to cause a severely underthrown ball that was intercepted by Florida Atlantic safety Damian Parms.
Smith had a strong week of practice and finished it off by playing well in the game. He has a nice skill set to develop, but is still raw after playing only two seasons of big-time college football. As a mid-rounder, Smith could be a worthy project.
Chickillo had a decent week and finished it with a nice performance in the Shrine game. In the second quarter, he had an effort sack where he worked off the left end and came around the line before chasing down the quarterback. Chickillo came close to a sack in the third quarter when he beat the right tackle. He used speed to get up and under of the tackle to flush the quarterback out of the pocket and force an incompletion. Throughout the second half, Chickillo finished strong with a lot of pass pressures. The NFL teams that care about the actual game will like what they saw from Chickillo. He’ll probably end up going some time on day three.
In the fourth quarter, Dylan Thompson had a bad overthrow that fell right into Parms for his second interception. After making the catch, Parms seemed to jog through his return and looked like he was showboating after making the reception. They were easy picks, so Parms should make those plays. Parms will probably be an undrafted free agent.
Parms wasn’t the only defensive back to create a takeaway. USC cornerback Josh Shaw played well enough in the East-West to earn a spot in the Senior Bowl. After lining up in off man, Shaw had great coverage on Maryland wide receiver Deon Long running a go route downfield. Shaw was then on Michigan wide receiver Devin Gardner and was beaten for slight separation, but a poor throw by Taylor Kelly allowed Shaw to recover and intercept the pass in the end zone. Shaw is put together very well and has some speed, but in the NFL, his best position could be free safety.
Baylor linebacker Bryce Hager had a strong week of practice and finished well in the game. Hager showed the ability read his keys to get around the football. He could be a sleeper linebacker who ends up being a nice value pick.
LSU defensive end Jermauria Rasco played a lot better in the game than he did during the week of practice. On Monday-Wednesday, Rasco was underwhelming, but he showed up on Saturday. He had a number of quarterback pressures, including a sack in the fourth quarter where he burned the left tackle with a speed rush. Rasco is undersized for defensive end and happens to be a tweener. He looks like a late-rounder or an undrafted free agent.
Two receivers were playing well, but the struggles of the quarterbacks really hurt how much they could standout on Saturday. One of the stars of the week was William & Mary wide receiver Tre’ McBride. In the game, McBride had a nice catch to move the chains. He was running routes well with quickness to get open but the quarterbacks weren’t delivering the ball.
Arizona’s Austin Hill had a leaping reception and showed a nice combination of size and speed. He also was held back by the terrible quarterback play. Hill had injury issues in college, so his Combine medical could be huge, but he was a potential top-100 prospect before the injuries so he could be a steal on day three.
