[Brock]

That’s a wrap… Another Senior Bowl is in the books after last week's game capped off activities in Mobile. And while most NFL teams place far more value on what the players do in practice than in the game itself, we still like to watch what the guys can and can‘t do in an actual game setting. That said, there is a lot to be gleaned from watching the guys actually play the game and there is no question there were some real winners and losers in Saturday's 2010 game, although for the most part they appeared to be pretty much the same players who did well in practice.

Top 10 best players overall during the 2010 Senior Bowl game…

1. Michigan DE Brandon Graham
2. Georgia DT Geno Atkins
3. Penn State DT Jared Odrick
4. Missouri LB Sean Weatherspoon
5. North Carolina DE Cam Thomas
6. Utah LB Koa Misi
7. Tennessee DT Dan Williams
8. Florida State CB Patrick Robinson
9. Maryland DB Terrelle Skinner
10. Cincinnati WR Mardy Gilyard

Hononrable mentions: UMass OT Vlad Ducasse, Auburn RB Ben Tate, Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount, Alabama TE Colin Peek, Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour, Vanderbilt OT Thomas Welch, California DE Tyson Aluala, TCU LB Daryl Washington

Defensive line dominates … As they say early in baseball training camp that the pitchers are always way ahead of the hitters (or is it the other way around) the defense generally has a bit of a natural edge in college football all-star games. And that was certainly the case, at least as far the line play went, at this year’s Senior Bowl game where the defensive lines pretty much overwhelmed their counterparts on offense. Michigan DE Brandon Graham, who shined in one-on-one pass rush drills during practice all week, was simply the best player on the field. Again as he did during the week, Graham exploded off the snap, got great leverage as he kept his pads low, used his hands effectively to disengage and showed some nice spin moves as well as a non-stop motor. For good measure, Graham, who had two sacks, a forced fumble and another tackle for loss, also did a solid job defending the run as he was just too quick for the South’s cadre of LTs. On occasion, though, Graham just stood up after the snap and didn’t get any real penetration, while he will also overrun the odd play in his enthusiasm to get to the pocket, but otherwise did nothing to tarnish his overall pass-rush credentials which got a huge boost last week in Mobile.

There was a similar story last Saturday for Penn State DT Jared Odrick who continued to show outstanding interior pass-rush potential in Satuday‘s game. Odrick displayed a very quick first step off the snap as well as an excellent swim move. And while he’s a little rangy for a prototype run-stuffing DT, the 6-5, 300-pound Odrick did a nice job taking on and splitting double teams. For good measure, like his former Big 10 opponent Graham, Odrick also showed a great motor and lateral range as he pursued the ball to the whistle; Odrick, who may have earned some consideration as a 3-4 DE with his play in Mobile, showed good timing get his long arms up into the passing lanes when he didn‘t get to the QB. Georgia DT Geno Atkins also proved to be too quick for the North’s interior offensive line in the Senior Bowl. In particular, Atkins gave star North OG Mike Iupati with an explosive first step along with the functional strength to maintain leverage once he got position and headed up field.

Meanwhile, Tennessee DT Dan Williams didn’t get that much actual up field penetration himself, but proved almost impossible for the North offensive front to get off the point of attack. Williams consistently beat the OL off the snap, showed good balance and short-area lateral range, as well as the strength to hold his spot when double teamed. It was also a good day for North Carolina DT Cam Thomas who didn’t show much in the way of sophisticated pass-rush moves or lateral quickness, but was able to bull-rush his way deep into the pocket on just about every play as he physically overwhelmed the South OGs. And like Penn State’s Odrick, the 6-4, 330-pound Thomas, who heretofore had been thought of as a pure NT, may start to get some serious consideration as a potential 3-4 DE, as well as a more traditional 4-3 DT.

At the same time, DTs Lamarr Houston of Texas and Mike Neal of Purdue also made big plays in the backfield in Saturday’s game, however, other than the occasional both tended to get stuck on the line of scrimmage although it didn’t appear to be from a lack of effort. Indeed, both worked very hard to the whistle, but Neal in particular looked to lack the strength of get off blocks. Same story for Louisiana Tech DT Boo Smith who was a non-factor Saturday in Mobile after a very disappointing week of practice. Then there was Alabama DT Terrence Cody, one of the biggest, both literally and figuratively, stories in Mobile last week. No question Cody was almost impossible to dislodge off the line of scrimmage in Saturday’s game, however, he really didn’t show much in the way of balance or outright strength at the point of attack and ended up being bounced around enough that he seldom was available to find the ball or make a play.

Graham’s efforts aside, the Senior Bowl DEs weren’t quite as impressive as their DT counterparts. As he had all week, Cal combo DE/DT Tyson Alualu showed plenty of energy and a non-stop motor and did get some decent leverage on occasion, but also got hung up too often especially when going one-on-one against a TE. Meanwhile, Alex Carrington of Arkansas was able to use his strength and a very effective punch to get some penetration, but didn’t show much in the way of outside explosion or closing speed. Same story for rangy Austen Lane of Murray State, who scored a TD on a recovered fumble, but for the most part appeared to lack both the quick-twitch explosion to get to the edge as well as the upper-body strength to be effective bull-rushing. Meanwhile, Troy tweener Cam Sheffield showed some initial quickness on one play where he forced a fumble on a sack, but for the most part got hung up at the line of scrimmage doing too much head-faking and hand fighting. Sheffield’s Troy teammate Brandon Lang also had a quiet afternoon as he looked a step slow to get to the edge, while USF’s George Selvie was a non-factor.

Linebackers: Normally, all-star formats make it tough for LBs to really stand out but someone forgot to tell this year’s group. Missouri MLB Sean Weatherspoon, for example, had an outstanding day Saturday as he made plays all over the field. Weatherspoon was very light on his feet, did a nice job avoiding the trash and flowing to the ball, and showed good instincts and range. What really had to impress pro scouts, though, were a couple of plays in coverage in which he first stayed with speedy Ole Miss RB, and sometime WR, Dexter McCluster well down field and then turned just in time to braek up a pass in the end zone. Later, Weatherspoon read the QB’s eyes and stepped in front of another pass for a pick to put an exclamation point on the day.

TCU MLB Daryl Washington also impressed with his range and quickness to the ball, although a couple of times he was a little overaggressive going for the big hit and didn’t really wrap. As well, Washington who isn’t very big at under 230 pounds, didn’t really take on blockers at the point of attack, but tended to try and run around them instead. Utah OLB Koa Misi also showed excellent speed, quickness and range in the Senior Bowl. For good measure, Misi also delivered a couple of solid pops, one of which forced a fumble. And like both Weatherspoon, Misi impressed with his ability to slide off blocks and flow t the ball. On the other hand, A.J. Edds wasn’t quite as aggressive defending the run, but showed nice range and flexibility dropping into coverage and was rewarded with a late pick of his own.

And with speed at LB a theme in Mobile, Florida State LB Dekoda Watson also showed plenty of range, good instincts and some big-play ability in the backfield. However, while Watson ran well and covered a lot of ground he wasn’t very physical when taking on blockers and was at his most effective when allowed to run and make plays in space. Miami MLB Darryl Sharpton also covered a lot of ground in the Senior Bowl game and was very aggressive, although he tended to arrive at the play a step or so late; Sharpton also struggled at times getting off blocks and overran a couple of plays, although he also delivered a couple of big hits along the way. For his part, Mississippi State MLB Jamar Chaney was around the ball a lot; indeed he led the Senior Bowl in tackles, however, most of them were too far downfield as he tended to tackle to high and got dragged for extra yardage. Meanwhile, the one LB that really struggled in Mobile was converted South Carolina DE Eric Norwood who couldn’t get off blocks and didn’t show much in the way of instincts for the ball.

Defensive backs: Because there wasn’t a lot of downfield passing by either team, the corners weren’t really tested during the Senior Bowl game. The one CB who was challenged to some degree, though, was Patrick Robinson of Florida State and for the most part he passed the test. Robinson was able to turn and run stride-for-stride with the receiver on a couple of deep routes and almost had a pick when broke crisply on a short pass, although he also conceded some cushion when working in a zone. And while not the most physical tackler, Robinson did get off the ground to make a tackle on a reverse.

No other corner was tested enough to grade, however, each of Perrish Cox of Oklahoma State, Kyle Wilson of Boise State and Rutgers’ Devin McCourty made solid wrap-up open-field tackles. McCourty also provided nice coverage on a deep route over the middle, but didn’t make a very aggressive play on the ball. At the same time, Kentucky CB Trevard Lindley struggled at times; he gave up too much cushion and was unable to find the ball on one of Cincinnati WR Mardy Gilyard’s long gainers when he otherwise was in pretty good position. Lindley also wasn’t very physical forcing the run. Meanwhile, Alabama CB Javier Arenas was also beaten deep when Gilyard just ran by him, although he also broke nicely on an underneath route and also showed an explosive first step that set up a long punt return. USF CB Jerome Murphy was also soft in coverage and was driven 10 yards downfield when he tried to come up in run support.

Southern Cal safety Taylor Mays had to feel a little redemption after picking off a pass in the Senior Bowl, although to be honest the pass was very, very late coming over the middle. The knock on Mays coming into Mobile, of course, had been that while he looked the part, he really hadn’t made many plays on the ball while at USC. In the end, at least for the moment, Mays appeared to stop the bleeding to his rep with a solid game as he also showed some aggression coming up in run support, but did overrun one tackle when he went for the big hit rather than wrap-up. Meanwhile, Nebraska safety Larry Asante did unload on one tackle that forced a fumble, but got caught playing too deep on a South TD pass over the middle late in the first half. Same story for Florida State’s Myron Rolle who looked rusty in the game after spending the past year studying on a Rhodes Scholarship in England. Rolle appeared to be a step late on most plays and like Asante, was slow to react on a TD pass to a TE over the middle.