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2013 Senior Bowl: Interview Notes From the Top Prospects in Mobile
Written by Eric Galko on Monday, 21 January 2013 22:42.
Tyler WilsonAt the Media Night, it was a frenzy talking to players, grabbing who you can, getting a few minutes (if not seconds) before others swarmed to get the next question in.
I got a chance to talk to 10 players that night, asking them questions that relate to what NFL teams would ask. I tried to cover injuries, character issues, arrests, scheme changes, and testing their football knowledge.
I talked to Tyler Wilson, Zac Dysert, Quinton Patton, Denard Robinson, Aaron Mellete, Kyle Juszczyk, Justin Pugh, Eric Fisher, Hugh Thornton, and Jamie Collins.
Tyler Wilson, QB, Arkansas
The best interview of the day (for me at least, though I know I wasn’t alone) was Arkansas’s Tyler Wilson. The quarterback immediately came off with a confident, focused attitude, and gave off the vibe of a leader who not only understood his abilities/experiences, but also how to interact with people and teammates.
We talked about losing head coach Bobby Petrino first, and he discussed how Petrino had his hand in so many aspects of the team, from administration to the scout team. He discussed just how difficult it was from the team going from such a stable environment to immediately a tough situation for the team. He did speak about how his experience being on a struggling team could help him for who his NFL employeer may be (Chiefs, perhaps?). He discussed how he felt it was important for him to keep his focus and confidence, knowing his lack there would filter through the team.
He discussed how he’s willing to take hits in the game, saying he’s “not getting hit in practice” and that he’s going to get hit “whether it’s a touchdown or an incompletion”. That seemed like an easy answer, but his confidence and honesty about it seemed awfully real to me, a big indicator of him rationalizing that “toughness” attribute he already has. Also, he talked about losing three “really talented guys” at receiver, along with his tight end, saying it was tough to adjust to and feel confident in guys who weren’t familiar with the offense. That’s likely why he was force feeding Cobi Hamilton at times this year.
He addressed his concussion concerns, but said that NFL teams are only really worried about just one, his concussion before the Alabama game which he was forced to sit out of. The other concussion he suffered previously was more of a precautionary reaction, so doctors aren’t concerned about that. Big plus for him.
Finally, he talked about what he’s working on now. He said that he’s focusing on his footwork, taking attention to detail. He said that his velocity and ball spin suffers when he doesn’t have his feet set ideally, and that he’s working on that minor detail, and mastering it, so that one area isn’t an issue at the next level. He seeded awfully aware of the NFL Draft process, what he has to work on, what he can provide to an NFL team, and what’s next in his career.
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