2016 East-West Shrine Game: Tuesday’s East Team Practice Report
By Charlie Campbell –
@draftcampbell
The second East practice of the East-West Shrine was held in St. Petersburg, Florida under sunny skies with abnormally cool temperatures in the low 50s. The East team is being coached by former Patriots offensive coordinator, Notre Dame, and Kansas head coach Charlie Weis. Weis had the players practicing in full pads on Tuesday.
The vast majority of the eyes of the scouts in attendance were focused on the defensive and offensive lines. The players were in full pads and hitting hard, so this was a better gauge compared to the prospects wearing shells yesterday. Overall, the defensive lineman had the better day and a number of them stood out.
Stony Brook defensive end Victor Ochi continued to grab attention. While Ochi is undersized as an edge rusher, he is very fast off the line with some functional upper body strength. Ochi weighed below 250 pounds in the mid 240s, and therefore he is a better fit as a developmental 3-4 outside linebacker. Ochi is on his way to making himself some money this week.
One offensive lineman who has struggled is Michigan State guard Donavon Clark. He was getting pushed into the backfield consistently in the run game scrimmages. Clark (6-4, 325) looks the part, but he is just thick and lacks functional strength. Northwestern defensive end Dean Lowry abused Clark to power into the backfield on one play. South Carolina State defensive tackle Javon Hargrave burned him with a speed rush on a one-on-one rep. Clark doesn’t look draftable.
Hargrave blew by Michigan center Graham Glasgow for a tackle for a loss in the run scrimmage. On a vigorous bull rush, Hargrave pushed down the pocket against N.C. State guard Joseph Thuney for a sack in the one-on-ones. In the team scrimmage, he blew up a screen in the backfield for a loss. It was a very nice practice for Hargrave.
Glasgow had a strong start on Monday, but had a mixed session on Tuesday. He had some tough battles with Boston College defensive tackle Connor Wuijciak to get a draw on some one-on-one reps. Wuijciak didn’t get sacks, but he got penetration into the pocket before Glasgow could hold him up. In the run and team scrimmage sessions Glasgow showed impressive quickness to hit blocks on the second level. He also had a blatant hold on one perimeter run as his hands were outside of the shoulders as he wrestled a tackler away. That play would get called every time in the NFL. Glasgow has some tools but needs development.
Memphis offensive tackle Taylor Fallin struggled on Tuesday. N.C. State defensive end Mike Rose beat him with ease with speed to the outside and inside.
Ole Miss right tackle Fahn Cooper (6-5, 306) was one of the few offensive lineman to impress on Tuesday. He had a great rep in the one-on-ones against Notre Dame defensive end Romeo Okwara. Cooper used his quickness to stop Okwara’s speed rush, and then he rode Okwara around the pocket. That prompted some compliments from long-time offensive line coach Bill Muir (formerly of the Chiefs, Buccaneers, Jets, Eagles, Colts, Lions and Patriots). Cooper has some athleticism with versatile size to play guard or tackle. He could be a valuable backup on game days and guard could be his best spot to compete initially.
The quarterbacks were unimpressive for the second day in a row. Wisconsin’s Joel Stave had some ugly passes in the team scrimmage. None of the trio is really helping themselves this week.
Maryland’s Brandon Ross and Illinois’ Josh Ferguson have both looked good thus far. However, Charlie Weis has been calling more plays for Navy running back Keenan Reynolds. Ross had a long run in the team scrimmage, and Ferguson ripped off a long gain on a screen pass and running back/fullback Marshall’s Devon ‘Rockhead’ Johnson had a long run, but Reynolds got more carries. He had one good run and that prompted Weis to say, “You’re going to be the MVP of the game or we’re getting the s**t kicked out of us.”
Reynolds had a number of Wildcat runs go for nothing as the defense knew what was coming with him in shotgun. On a zone run, Reynolds missed a cut to the inside, and that allowed the defense to snuff it out. Weis corrected him to take the cutback lane rather than trying to out race the defense around the corner. Shortly after that, Reynolds had a fumble. Even though the other runners are more viable NFL prospects, it is understandable that the East-West coaches would like to give the Navy product some time to shine in the Shrine.
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.
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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
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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
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