As we already know, the UConn Huskies football team sent five players to represent them in the East-West Shrine Game to be played this Saturday, January 22nd, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, FL. They are fullback Anthony Sherman, offensive guard Zach Hurd, and linebackers Scott Lutrus, Lawrence Wilson and Greg Lloyd Jr.
All five are there to help themselves out for the upcoming 2011 NFL Draft to be held April 28-30.
Here’s what Scouts, Inc (Day 1, Day 2 both ESPN Insider links) had to say about Hurd, Lloyd and Sherman after the first two days of practices:
Connecticut OG Zach Hurd (ESPN Insider link) is lining up at center, which is a good thing for him and shows his versatility. He looked good in the 9-on-7s (a running drill) and did a nice job blocking, but he was not nearly as quick getting set in the 1-on-1s. It looks like snapping the ball slowed him down a little. He had a hard time getting set, and the defensive linemen were already into their moves before he could get set. He struggled in pass-protection drills, but again, we think it had more to do with snapping then ball than his ability. It’s not that he can’t do it, it looks like he just needs more reps at center and snapping the ball.
Inside linebackers Akeem Dent out of Georgia and Greg Lloyd (ESPN Insider link) out of Connecticut are filling hard, but they are playing too high and allowing blockers to get into them easily.
Connecticut FB Anthony Sherman (ESPN Insider link) is not a great athlete, but he’s running hard inside and catching the ball well.
It’s a little surprising to see Hurd playing center which isn’t obviously his natural position. Obviously, the NFL scouts believe he may help teams out by playing center but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see him move back to offensive guard.
As far as Lloyd is concerned, it’s not a big shock to hear he’s struggling a little. He saw very little game action for the Huskies in 2010 and probably would have been better served redshirting and coming back. But that isn’t the case and he’ll have to work his tail off to get noticed.
With Sherman, not a surprise there either. He played hard all four years at UConn at fullback and on special teams. My guess is that he’ll get a shot in the NFL on special teams with someone.
I’ll check in again on Friday to see what Scouts, Inc has had to say about any of the UConn players over the course of the next two days.
If you would like to watch the East/West Shrine Game on Saturday at 4 p.m., you’ll need to get the NFL Network on your cable or satellite provider.
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