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.

[Dante84]

I wonder if our man is on this list?

[googlegoogle]

pioli knows all this already.

[Hammock Parties]

Cameron Jordan, Von Miller or Justin Houston sound good to me.

I think that will be our best value at 21 over WR, NT, C.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by ClayWhit

Cameron Jordan, Von Miller or Justin Houston sound good to me.

I think that will be our best value at 21 over WR, NT, C.

I'd be shocked at this point if Von Miller got out of the Top Ten, let alone, Top Five.

Yay for another 5-tech.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

I'd be shocked at this point if Von Miller got out of the Top Ten, let alone, Top Five.

Yay for another 5-tech.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Agree on both counts.

Looking at those names, the only one that stood out as potentially ours was Hankerson.

Although the whole comparison of Watkins to Makins gave me some pause. Either him or George Costanza from BC would be a real sleeper pick. As in put me to sleep.

[Hammock Parties]

Oh, wait, yeah, I guess he's gonna play DL, not LB.

Justin Houston, then.

[spanky 52]

Watkins is 26 years old. He's not going in the first round. Reed could someday be a Chief but he's likely to be a 3rd rounder which would be good value. Given the uncertainty of the CBA and the fact Weigman is old and a FA and Edwards is old and a FA, I think the lst round pick of the Chief's isn't on this list. I'm guessing NT Taylor out of Baylor or C Wisniewski.

[JimBaker488]

Miller appears to be the class of this years 3-4 edge rushers, maybe in a "class by himself". However there's one very large question-mark about him: is he a 3-down guy ?
I've seen him play (on TV, not in person) a couple times this past season, and I was doubtful he'd weigh in the 240s as he was listed on the Aggie roster and he didn't as he came in at 237 at the Senior-Bowl weigh-in and that's very light for an NFL OLB, especially in the 3-4. Bulk him up when he gets in the league ? Well then you might compromise his greatest asset which
is his quickness/burst off of the edge ?

[El Jefe]

[QUOTE=Tribal Warfare;7388881]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:



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.

This is a real kick in my teeth, I have been pining for this guy for a while, oh I digress.

[AndChiefs]

[QUOTE=kcchiefsfanGoJC;7389201]

Originally Posted by 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:



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.

This is a real kick in my teeth, I have been pining for this guy for a while, oh I digress.

I have as well. He's a legit talent.

[ChiefsCountry]

Von Miller is a great player but he doesn't fit the Patriots OLB mode. Too small for them.

[DJ's left nut]

God help me, I'm starting to get intrigued by the idea of Kaepernick in the 2nd.

I know, it's absolutely nuts, but letting him learn behind Cassel for a season or two then installing him as a mobile QB that can save drives with his legs before unleashing a bomb downfield gets me salivating a little bit.

Imagine having a slightly slower Vick with a hell of a lot better head on his shoulders. I think I'd take that chance (and I'd damn sure do it in the 3rd, but I don't think he'd be there by then).

[milkman]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

God help me, I'm starting to get intrigued by the idea of Kaepernick in the 2nd.

I know, it's absolutely nuts, but letting him learn behind Cassel for a season or two then installing him as a mobile QB that can save drives with his legs before unleashing a bomb downfield gets me salivating a little bit.

Imagine having a slightly slower Vick with a hell of a lot better head on his shoulders. I think I'd take that chance (and I'd damn sure do it in the 3rd, but I don't think he'd be there by then).

Haven't seen him play.

I'm curious, though.

With his size and mobility, is there any chance that he could be more of a Ben Roethlisberger type?

[B_Ambuehl]

God help me, I'm starting to get intrigued by the idea of Kaepernick in the 2nd.

Matt Cassel is the KC chiefs starting QB. /Scott Pioli


You can expect another QB at some point but most likely Pioli won't own up to his mistake that openly. Drafting a QB in round 2 or 3 screams "we were wrong" a bit too loud IMO. I'd look for a 3rd day guy who won't be such an obvious replacement. I was hoping Kaepernick would drop that far but now it doesn't look like there's any way that happens.