Senior Bowl: Baylor's Watkins, Texas A&M's Miller the stars of week

[Tribal Warfare]

Senior Bowl: Baylor's Watkins, Texas A&M's Miller the stars of week

MOBILE, Ala. — Prospects come to the Senior Bowl, in hopes of showing that one special skill that perhaps was hidden by their college scheme and meet NFL coaches and general managers for the first time, hoping to wow scouts and move up draft boards around the league.

Here is a look at the 14 seniors who improved their draft stock the most in practices and interviews this week:


1. Danny Watkins, G, Baylor. Watkins (6-3 1/2, 312) shined this week playing inside at guard and displayed the outstanding hand usage, technique and surprising strength. He will be a great NFL guard and should move into the late first round. Watkins reminds us of Patriots All-Pro G Logan Mankins.

2. Von Miller, OLB, Texas A&M. Miller (6-2 5/8, 237) proved this week that he is an elite prospect who has the explosiveness, speed and athleticism to be an impact player in the NFL. Miller is a lock to go in the top 10 and could go in the top five. He could become a star in a 3-4 scheme, a la Cowboys Pro Bowl OLB DeMarcus Ware.

3. Cameron Jordan, DE, Cal. Jordan (6-4 1/8, 287) showed this week what we War Room scouts had seen all year: He is an explosive player who has the athleticism to defeat blocks easily and the strength to overpower blockers. He locked up a top-15 spot this week.

4. Titus Young, WR, Boise State. Young (5-11 1/4, 174) proved he is an explosive athlete with the athleticism to run good routes and burst to create separation from cornerbacks. He also displayed the hands to make tough catches over the middle and flashed the ability to be a dangerous punt returner.

5. Rodney Hudson, C/G, Florida State. Hudson (6-2 1/4, 291) looked good at the weigh-in and then displayed good strength and blocking technique the whole week. As one scout for an NFL team told us, "Hudson made himself a lot of money this week."

6. D.J. Williams, TE, Arkansas. Williams (6-1 7/8, 236) lacks ideal height and weight, but he proved to be a good prospect who should catch a ton of passes in the NFL. With his athleticism and receiving skills, he reminds us of the Chargers' Antonio Gates and Colts' Dallas Clark.

7. Leonard Hankerson, WR, Miami (Fla.). Hankerson (6-1 5/8, 205) displayed better quickness, agility and route-running skills than what we usually see receivers taller than 6-0. He also showed excellent hands, consistently plucking passes out of the air and away from his body and catching off-target throws.

8. Anthony Castonzo, OT, Boston College. Castonzo (6-7 1/8, 305) pass blocked with good leverage and hand usage to enable him to play strong. In our eyes, he won the battle over Colorado's Nate Solder and now is the top senior offensive tackle in the draft.

9. Ryan Kerrigan, DE, Purdue. Kerrigan (6-3 7/8, 255) lacks great size but showed the strength, ability to play with leverage, technique and competitiveness to be an effective pass rusher and against the run as a defensive end in a 4-3 scheme.

10. Kendric Burney, CB, North Carolina. Burney (5-9, 181) showed better quickness and coverage skills than expected this week. He also proved he can absorb on-field coaching and apply it quickly, often showing improvements from snap-to-snap in practice.

11. Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada. Kaepernick (6-4 5/8, 225) clearly had the strongest arm of the quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl. He still must improve his mechanics, but he was surprisingly accurate and looked comfortable dropping back from under center after playing in a spread-option offense at Nevada.

12. Luke Stocker, TE, Tennessee. Stocker (6-4 7/8, 255) showed much better speed than expected and showed the hands and body control to adjust and make tough catches seem routine. For a player with real questions coming to Mobile, he erased most of those in three practice sessions.

13. Brooks Reed, DE, Arizona. Reed (6-2 1/2, 257) is built well and shows deceptive athleticism. He shows excellent hand usage, technique and smarts to consistently defeat blocks and pressure the quarterback or disrupt running plays.

14. Christian Ballard, DT, Iowa. Ballard (6-4 1/8, 288) displayed the quickness, agility and power to consistently win one-on-one drills. He was very effective at penetrating into the backfield in nearly all team drills. He proved he can play defensive tackle in a 4-3 scheme or defensive end in a 3-4 defense, definitely increasing his draft stock.