| Some brief thoughts on the Senior Bowl |
| Written by Tony Simmons | |
| Sunday, 27 January 2013 | |
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The Senior Bowl was played yesterday in Mobile, AL, and there were certainly some players and performances that caught my eyes yesterday. The NFL Network normally shows the practices during the week, but I don't think they did this year, or if they did, it was on while I was at work. Either way, I did not get a chance to see any of the practices this year. That being said, let's take a breif look at the game and some players that caught my eye that the Dolphins might have some interest in. Probably the most dominant player in the game was BYU DE Ezekial Anash. He finished the game with 7 tackles, 1 sack and a forced fumble. At 6'5 1/4, 274 lbs, he plays with power, speed and a motor that you love in a player, and was A few other edge rushers that caught my eye was OLB/DE Cornelius Washington of Georgia. He got consistent pressure the entire game and he has the size and speed you like at 6'4, 264 lbs. DE Datone Jones of UCLA was a constant force also and has nice size at 6'4 1/8, 284 lbs. Miami has a need at cornerback and a couple of kids that I like were Blidi Wreh-Wilson of Connecticut, Robert Alford of Southeastern Louisiana, BW Webb of William & Mary. Wilson in particular was impressive to me, as he is a bigger CB at 6'0 5/8, 192 lbs. Good feet, hips and cover skills. Jordan Poyer of Oregon State is also a very solid cornerback. Switching to the offensive side of the ball and the big uglies up front, A couple of offensive lineman stood out to me. Eric Fisher of Central Michigan help cement his place in the top 10 of the draft with a very good week of practice and a solid game. 6'7 1/4, 305 lbs, he has the size you like and probably could stand to add a couple of pounds, he has the looks of a very good OLT. Oklahoma OLT Lane Johnson looked good, as the former TE did a nice job in pass protection in the game. 6'6 1/4, 302 lbs, with very good feet, he could easily fit into the zone blocking scheme the Dolphins employ. A couple of kids I think the Dolphins could have interest in in Round 2 & Round 3 are OG Larry Waterford of Kentucky and OT/OG Kyle Long of Oregon. Waterford is a big, powerful man at 6'3 1/4, 333 lbs, but he has the feet to possibly play in the zone blocking scheme the Dolphins employ. He was a bulldozer in the game yesterday, and would be a kid that can come in and provide instant depth, if not possible win a starting position. Kyle Long is the son of Howie Long, RB is a position were the Dolphins have some depth, but if they do not re-sign Reggie Bush, they could look to bring in a similar style of explosive back as a change up. Oregon Kenyon Barner has the same type of skill set as Bush, but probably is a better inside runner coming out of Oregon. Good out of the backfield in the pass game, and explosive, homerun type speed. He had 7 catches in the game yesterday. Andre Ellington of Clemson is another expolsive RB that fits that bill and Mike Gilllislee of Florida had a nice game and is a very good RB. WR is a definite position of need for the Dolphins, and while the more talented kids are juniors, you have some seniors that looked good and show some flash yesterday. WR Marquise Goodwin of Texas looked good yesterday and has explosive speed. He is the type of receiver that you line up in the slot and isolate him on a nickel CB, and let him go to work with his quickness and speed. Big play kid that looked good out wide as well. Markus Wheaton of Oregon State had a solid game and he also has very good speed. Connor Vernon of Duke looked very good and reminds me of Brian Next big step for the kids now will be the Combine in February. Can't wait.
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