2016 East-West Shrine Game: Monday’s West Team Practice Report
By Charlie Campbell –
@draftcampbell
The first practice for the West team of the East-West Shrine was held in St. Petersburg, Fla. under sunny skies with temperatures in the 50s. The West team is being coached by former Atlanta Falcons, SMU, and Hawaii head coach June Jones, who had the players practicing in shells: helmets, shoulder pads, and shorts.
This practice was very uneventful as the vast majority of the time. Jones had the players working on install of their playbook and were not going against each other. Thus, very little time was devoted to scrimmaging as a team or conducting one-on-ones. Scouts were unhappy with the practice, as it fell short of typical All-Star game sessions. As a result, there were very little notes that were produced from this practice.
The quarterbacks on the West team are Oregon’s Vernon Adams Jr, Indiana’s Nate Sudfeld, and Western Kentucky’s Brandon Doughty. Of the trio, Sudfeld was the most impressive. Of all the quarterbacks at the East-West Shrine he is the closest to a NFL skill set. Sudfeld is listed at 6-foot-6, 240 pounds but he isn’t that big. Still, he has good size and a quality arm. He threw some nice passes and has some zip on the ball. In the brief seven-on-seven session, Sudfeld had some well thrown passes outside the numbers and distributed the ball well. Sudfeld could end up being the only quarterback in this year’s East-West Shrine who is good enough to be a late-round draft pick.
One of the wide receivers who had a nice gain on a pass from Sudfeld was Illinois’ Geronimo Allison. He is an interesting sleeper prospect to keep an eye on. Allison (6-3, 196) had a nice start as he made some good hands catches with speed to rip off yards after the catch. Scouts say that Allison is a work in progress and he needs to get stronger, but they feel that he has some tools to work with. This could end up being a big week for Allison.
In the backfield, Oregon’s Storm Woods had a good start to the week. Woods (6-0, 207) looks significantly smaller than his listed numbers, but he used his speed and shiftiness to rip off some long gains. During the team scrimmage, he followed his blocks before dodging defenders to make two long runs. He also took a screen pass for a big gain. It wouldn’t be surprising if Woods helps his draft stock this week.
An offensive lineman who had a strong first day in a limited opportunity to see him was Illinois guard Ted Karras. If the Karras’ name is familiar, that is because Ted Karras’ great uncle Alex Karras was a Pro Bowl defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions and one of the stars of the 1980s sitcom Webster. Ted Karras’ father also played for the Washington Redskins before becoming a college coach.
Karras held his own in the one-on-ones and stonewalled some pass-rushers. Karras used athleticism and his hands to sustain a block and ride Virginia tackle David Dean around the pocket. That earned praise from the coaches. On two reps, Karras just tossed Dean down into the turf. Karras did lose a rep to Montana’s Tyron Holmes (6-4, 250) in a speed mismatch. Karras (6-4, 307) could be a nice late-round offensive lineman who could become quality depth before long.
Manitoba defensive end Ebuka Onyemata had a nice start to the week. He beat Nebraska tackle Alex Lewis with speed around the corner and then won on a vigorous bull rush in the rematch. Onyemata caused some conversation from the scouts with those reps. South Carolina defensive end Gerald Dixon Jr. was another pass-rusher who flashed.
A safety who looked pretty good in the seven-on-seven session was Michigan State’s R.J. Williamson. Williamson had close coverage on a deep route downfield, but lost his eye discipline and the receiver ran back toward his quarterback to get open off a scramble. Later, Williamson covered ground to the flat quickly to snuff out a play. It was a nice start to the week for Williamson.
Tuesday and Wednesday’s sessions should provide more scrimmages and one-on-ones to gauge the players, so check for reports from those practices along with post-practice interviews between NFL teams and players.
WalterFootball.com will have more recaps from the East-West Shrine practices on Tuesday and Wednesday 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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