NFLPA Collegiate Bowl Immpressions

[Burma]

Hey folks, just got done with rewatching the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. This is not going to be a full analysis or a serious scouting break down of the players.  The game was not worth that much effort. What it will be though is a run down of the guys on the field that stood out. There were a few of them and they were pretty easy to notice given the overall level of average play.  I watched the game and if I noticed something positive,I rewound the play and if it was verified i put a check mark next to the players name. Not super fancy, but after 2 watchings of the game it was consistent.

Offensive line play on both squads was just really terrible. Rotating C, G, OT, and QB on a quarterly basis kept anyone from getting in a grove. Lots of fumbled snaps, lots of communication break downs, and lots of really bad play.  Like Bengals oline play minus Whit and Zeitler.  It was bad.
QB was terrible for both teams, out of 6 guys who played only 1 looked like he knew what he was doing.  

WR and TEs play was nearly impossible to judge as they were being over thrown, hung out, diving for line drive grounders, and not on screen while running most routes to see how they did in that regard. Keith Towbridge from Louisville, did have a quietly productive game.

LBs were on the field. I mean I saw their jerseys, but other than that I got nothing written down for anything that stood out.  No pad cracking, hole filling stuffs, no hip pocket step for step coverage.

CB and FS/SS.  One Safety stood out, 1 CB got a few notes and then a whole bunch of nothing. Which I can't say was the secondaries fault given how terrible the QB play was for both sides.  The opportunities to show their coverage wasn't really there nor was there much screen time of the routes being run/covered.

RB were the star of the show.  More on individuals later, but given how bad the oline play was you really noticed when the Rbs were making guys miss behind the line of scrimmage and finding creases, there were no real "holes", to run through

DE/DT was ok.  5 of the 9 guys I have marks on were on the Dline, only 3 had more than 1 mark.


Player Notes (descending number of marks)

American Squad:


Grover Stewart DT, Albany State, 6'4" 347 lbs



7 marks total.  Division 2 guy who looked more than able to handle the higher level of competition. He was easily the star of the DL for the American squad.  When he played the 0 technique he was matched against the Centers from Clemson or Mississippi State. They could not handle him iso. He consistently drove them straight back with a bull rush or just shed them. Not moved backwards in 1 on 1.  It was very impressive. When he played in a 1 technique it was the same thing. He went against guards from Washington, LSU, Indiana (of PA), and William and Mary College as well as the C. Stewart was able to anchor against the double teams well, and on several occasions he was able to split them or shed one blocker and make the tackle and once split a RG/C combo block for sack. He looked comfortable at the 3 and 5 techniques as well.  His strength and quickness proved to be a tough challenge for all the Oline. He has a very impressive burst for a guy his size, consistently being among the fastest off the ball. Having said all the positives, now the negatives.  When he got his pad level too high he was ineffective.  Blockers were able to get into his chest and stand him up. He did seem to tire quickly. But that is a conditioning issue that can be addressed, and also a result of him holding nothing back on prior plays.


Lorenzo Jerome FS/SS Saint Francis, 5'11" 205 lbs



5 marks.  From Saint Francis, who last saw a player go to the NFL in 1952 Jerome was the MVP of the Collegiate Bowl. He had 2 interceptions off East Carolina's Phillip Nelson, who was head and shoulders better than any other QB on the field.  Both interceptions were the result of a misplaced throw, but Jerome had good coverage and able to capitalize. Jerome looks very comfortable in zone coverage and showed great instincts and awareness through out the day, given the wretched QB play on both sides he was not challenged often. Earned an invite to the Senior Bowl, definitely a guy to watch there as he steps up the competition level again.


National Squad:

Taquan Mizzell  RB, Virginia, 5'9" 194 lbs



5 marks total.  9 carriers, 96 yards, 1 TD. Made multiple guys miss him in the back field.  Found the tiniest crease and was able to hit it and go. As said before the offensive lines were terrible, so I don't mean "holes" they were slim creases . He earned what he got. He showed outstanding vision, very good burst, and a great cut and go. He displayed ample speed to turn the corner, and as the game wore on he started to take a bit of pride in trying to lower the boom on DBs coming up on him.


Keith Towbridge, TE, Louisville; 6'3" 262 lbs



4 Marks. 3 catches for 33 yards. Looked good running routes across the middle and making some tough catches on poorly thrown balls. Look solid as a blocking TE, had a nice play where he blocked down on the DE, handed him off to the OT and slipped out to the flats, where he was promptly over thrown by a mile.  Bad throw, but could have been an east 8 to 12 yards play.


Samson Ebukam, DE, Eastern Washington, 6'1" 248 LBS



4 Marks (almost 6).  Ebukam was an absolute menace to BUY's Andrew Eide who was playing LT for the first half. It was bad, like Cedric Ogbuehi pass blocking bad. He had something like 3 hurries and 2 passes batted down against Eide.  Ebukam has a great burst and showed a very nice dip to turn the corner.  His pass rushing moves were a bit limited, mainly a swim and a swat but they were effective when coupled with his speed and bend, the LT was almost always on his heels just from Ebukam's initial quickness. Michigan's Ben Braden kicked out to LT from LG in the 2nd half and was more effective at slowing Ebukam down, but he still managed to get half a sack and a hurry off Braden.  Ebukam had the hit of the night with an absolutely crushing block on a punt return.  Very fun kid to watch, non stop motor.  Might be able to add another 15 lbs but no clue how that would affect his quickness.


Johnathan Calvin, DE, Mississippi State 6'3" 269 lbs.



2 Marks. Nothing particularly outstanding, just solid. He did have a nice edge rush against Jonah Pirsig, RT, Minnesota in which he beat him for a sack. Did not have the view/chance to see a lot of pass rush moves, had a good motor.  Seemed to be around a lot of plays.


http://collegiate.nflpa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Q4_FULL.pdf
http://www.draftcountdown.com/2017-nflpa-collegiate-bowl-weigh-in-results/
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/nfl-draft-heres-who-shined-at-east-west-shrine-game-nflpa-collegiate-bowl/
http://www.espn.com/blog/san-diego-chargers/post/_/id/19343/safety-lorenzo-jerome-leads-talented-group-at-nflpa-collegiate-bowl

[wolfkaosaun]

I've heard good things about Grover Stewart, so hearing he did well is definitely intriguing to me.

Nice write up, definitely gives more insight to lesser known guys.

[Bengal Dude]

Samson Ebukam will probably be a solid contributor as a 7th-UDFA.