Kicking off the Player’s All-Star Classic practices at 11:30, I focused mainly on the quarterbacks, receivers, and defensive backs for the North squad. I wasn’t able to get a great feel for the trench players, backs, or linebackers today, all of which will be my focus tomorrow. Practice was a bit sluggish, but that is to be expected on day 1 and I’m hoping for more contact tomorrow.
The big winners today were Alex Tanney, Marcus Rivers, Clarence Laster, Cyhl Quarles, and Zach Nash.
Quarterbacks
– Right from the start of practice, Matt Blanchard struggled to take the snap from under center. In warm-ups, footwork drills, and 9-on-7’s, if you saw a fumbled snap, you could pretty much bet it was Blanchard. Matt ended up botching double digit snaps. When he was able to secure the snap, you saw a timing quarterback that struggled to drive the football downfield; simply does not have an NFL caliber rifle. Shows polished feet in the quick pass tree and good placement underneath, but I’m very skeptical of his prospects as an NFl guy; more of a CFL, AFL type of guy.
–Alex Tanney on the other hand, flashed some major upside and raw talent. Very sudden with his drops from center, the QB coach for the South praised Tanney for getting good depth from center and liked his pace. Back shoulder sinks ever so slightly in delivering the ball, but overall shows natural arm talent to drive the ball 40-50 yards downfield accurately. Had impressive velocity and zip in the 3 and 5 step passing tree, sticking receivers right on the chest. Gets into trouble with deciphering defenses during his dropback and accuracy plummets when he can’t spin a clean ball. All in all, has great physical tools to work with and should be an intriguing prospect to evaluate as the week progresses. I would consider Tanney, the best QB prospect on the North squad and possibly the South; has the best arm for the North. Threw a head-turning, 40 yard, deep fade to end team drills on a spectacular note. Began to develop nice chemistry with Michael Willie and Marcus Rivers.
–Dominique Davis continued to display the same flaws I pointed out in my offensive preview; film study showed that a majority of Davis’ throws come off his back foot, which is an absolute no-no at the next level. Never consistently snapping his hips to the target, Davis doesn’t fully utilize his very good and athletic skill set. Struggled with depth in his dropbacks all day, and does not look comfortable resetting and relocating targets while contained in the pocket. Looks much improved in the quick pass tree, gets ball out quickly with nice release. Had a hard time early with hitting stationary targets; hot and cold accuracy.
Wide Receivers
-Early in practice, the wide receivers coach was bothered by Derek Moye’s lackadaisical start, but as time wore on, it was evident that Moye was the North’s most polished wideout. Routes are crisp and clean, he gets in and out of breaks with great body control and balance. Drops his hips easily for a taller wideout, and burns his feet quickly to make sharp cuts. Coaches got onto Moye more than once for not finishing, something teams might’ve taken notice of; doesn’t play with a whole lot of passion or fire. One interesting scouting tidbit to note, was how well Moye handled contact downfield; in one instance, he bounced off of a hand check downfield that ultimately left the cornerback lying on the ground.
-The receiver who did himself the most good for the North squad was Marcus Rivers from Buffalo. A big bodied guy, Rivers has to build up to speed and doesn’t show much burst off the line. That being said, Rivers’ ball location and tracking skills are second to none here as he made multiple “wow” receptions. Still developing as a route runner, but understands positioning and utilizes his size effectively to box out corners. Snatched the ball away from his chest with consistency and put his soft hands on display. Caught the football extremely well all day and could be in for a big week here in Arkansas.
-Coming from Victor Cruz’s illustrious shadow today, was UMass wideout Julian Talley. Talley began the day extremely hot, catching just about everything, dropping his well in and out of routes, and planting at the stem with precise cuts. Flashed impressive speed and ball tracking skills on one deep ball throw from Tanney, for which he adjusted to make a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch. From that point forward, Talley’s hands became worse and worse. Suddenly got the case of the “dropsies” and could not recover. I expect another strong start tomorrow for Talley and hopefully he can cap off the day strong.
–Phillip Payne from UNLV, who I wrote on in my preview for the North offense, played up to my expectations today. Still raw in his routes, Payne adjusted to poor throws across the field with solid body control, good vertical leaping ability, and concentration to complete the grab. Not a draftable player in my opinion, but one who could make a practice squad for a year as a developmental receiver before making a 53-man roster.
–Michael Willie from Arizona State, instantly came across as a sudden wideout that needs to play more under control. A bit reckless in his route running, the receivers coach constantly had to remind Willie to stop telling his route. Gives away his route in 1 on 1 matchups and, as Cecil Lammey of Footballguys.com put it, “subtle is not his game”. Showed off a decent pair of hands, and overall is a sudden, quick-twitch, one-speed receiver. Willie will likely get most of his looks from West Coast system teams.
Linebackers
–Zach Nash from Sacramento State made a splash today, impressing talent evaluators with his movement skills, fluidity in space, and ability to adjust to an entirely new position. Nash lacks any feel or instincts at all at linebacker, has a hard time recognizing play-action, and has a long way to go in terms of developing coverage skills. Still, there is a lot to work with and a whole week of evaluations ahead; I look for Nash to only improve as the week progresses.
Defensive Backs
-First off, I would like to note Troy Woolfolk’s absence from the Player’s All-Star Classic. I’m hoping he didn’t injure himself in preparing for the event, but nevertheless Woolfolk equals a no show.
-There isn’t much great NFL talent to see with these corners, but one player who I would give a good, hard look at if I were an NFL team, is Clarence Laster from Southwest Oklahoma State. Going in with zero film study on the guy and not even trying to focus particularly on him, Laster continually jumped out at me during footwork drills, 1-on-1’s, and team. -One of the most competitive defensive backs here, Laster really latches on to his receiver’s hip pocket and shows some physicality with his hands downfield. Very feisty inside corner that could find his niche as a dime or nickel corner in the league. Runs to and from drills, was willing to line up at safety during team, and took to coaching well. I really like his overall foot speed and how physical he is with his hands throughout the route; as a small schooler, its great that Laster started this week off strong.
-Another small schooler that caught my eye was Jeremy Jones from Wayne State. Though he doesn’t have the same competitive fire as Laster, Jones does flash the movement skills and foot speed you look for. Impressed in footwork drills with his feel and confidence in pedaling. Struggled in pass skeleton, allowing himself to fall into poor positioning downfield; could not disguise his lack of recovery speed, as he bit for a few double moves. Worked at both safety and cornerback, and will need to show better instincts, positioning, and route recognition moving forward this week.
–Cyhl Quarles, safety from Wake Forest, certainly looks the part of an NFL’er. Sports a nice, long, tall, yet strong looking frame, and even put on display some quick feet in coverage drills. I wasn’t able to really get a good feel for his instincts, ability to read the eyes of the quarterback, or react to play-action, all three of which will be aspects I will be looking for as the week continues.
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