At the Dream Bowl, Saturday’s double practices prove to be the best time for scouts to evaluate the talent here. With many NFL and CFL scouts onlooking for both practices, conducting interviews during and afterwards, more potential next level talent reared it’s head than expected.
Hampton’s Miles Grooms, Grambling’s Chester Rogers, Delaware’s Ben Curtis and UNC-Pembroke’s Mike Keck were the standouts on Saturday.
-Early on in Saturday’s practice, it became clear that Hampton DE/OLB Miles Grooms solidified his position as the event’s best prospect. Ample NFL interest followed his pass-rush dominance, winning with his active initial burst, quick feet exchange as he pursued inside handout and adjusting his upper half to consistently force tackles off balance. Assuming he posts a strong NFL Combine/Pro Day workout, Grooms has his sights set on a late-round selection.
-If Grooms was the best player on the field, WR Chester Rogers of Grambling State was the second. Entering the game with lesser expectations, Rogers offered fantastic after-catch quickness, balance to adjust and fight upfield through contact and separation ability off the snap. He’s grown into a player of note for NFL teams.
-Delaware OT Ben Curtis looks the part of an NFL offensive tackle, measuring out well and posting adequate, not great, Combine scores despite no training (and should greatly improve at his pro day). But he struggled with ends like Grooms and UNC-Prembroke Mike Keck (who was a highly productive, highly active defensive end in college), especially in protecting his inside leverage. Scouts that are still here certainly hope he can have a stronger Sunday.
-The two top quarterbacks, Lindenwood’s Jesse Scroggins and Gannon’s Liam Nadler, both earned that status in practice. Neither quarterback has quite found a rhythm with any receiver in particular, but both have displayed the arm talent that NFL scouts wanted to see as a threshold measurement. Scroggins designed rollout placement and Nadler’s deep post/dig placement and velocity stood out for evaluators.
-Our top Canadian-born prospect Southern WR Mike Jones had his fair share of issues with drops, but his vertical speed and separation in the slot stood out. For Canadian scouts in attendance, the fact that he’s Canadian-born opens up a roster spot for another American, so you can be sure he’ll have CFL interest throughout the process.
-Others that stood out: Michigan Tech DT Tanner Agen (strong work, tremendous upper body strength in drills), Albright Kicker Daniel Sobolewski (made two 65 yard field goals in practice), Wagner’s WR Anthony Carrington (vertically impressive and finishing away from his frame in man coverage) and DT Mike Mentor (sunk his hips low and generated pressure on either side of the center), Morehead State WR Justin Cornwall (smaller hands, undersized but a highly impressive mid-field and vertical receiver who finishes in traffic with subtle in-air separation) and SW Oklahoma State CB Trevor Hartfield (gave receivers the most trouble, especially in redzone and team drills).
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