Pats work out 2 more DBs

[pats1]

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/

September 28, 2006
DB tryouts

The Patriots worked out two more defensive backs earlier this week -- Von Hutchins and Lenny Williams.

Hutchins (5-9, 181 pounds) spent part of the last two seasons with the Colts. Williams (5-10, 188) is a first-year player who has been in training camp with the Cowboys.

This is the time of year when the Patriots usually update their emergency lists at each position, and bring players in for tryouts. The team tapped into its emergency list at cornerback on Tuesday, signing Hank Poteat.

The team's defensive backs are banged up, with cornerback Ellis Hobbs (questionable, wrist) and safeties Eugene Wilson (questionable, hamstring) and Artrell Hawkins (questionable, thigh) on this week's injury report.

Other defensive backs to have tryouts with the Patriots in the past few weeks include Lance Schulters, Keion Carpenter, Brent Alexander, Ray Mickens and Raymond Walls.

Posted By: mreiss | Time: 06:58:43 AM

 

[SeanBruschi54]

Von Hutchins looks promising, looks like a Ellis Hobbs a bit.

Versatile defender who can play any position in the secondary … Shifted to cornerback late in his junior year, starting 34 of the 47 games he appeared in … Finished with 225 tackles (139 solos), 1½ sacks, three stops for losses of 19 yards, a fumble recovery, 18 pass deflections and 11 interceptions.

Positives: Has a lean, yet developed frame … Very good athlete with excellent quickness, balance and change-of-direction agility … Very confident in his recovery speed, doing a nice job of mirroring the receivers on deep routes … Shows good acceleration in his back-pedal, showing proper body control through his breaks … Closes on the ball in a hurry and despite his size, is very effective with his press techniques, showing a good feel for the routes … Has the vision to spot the secondary targets when working in the zone, showing a sudden break off three-step throws … Has the leaping ability and timing to compete for the high passes … Very productive making plays on the ball, displaying good anticipation to take proper angles to the pigskin … Shows toughness in run support and willingly hurls his body around to cut down pullers … Stays low in his pads to take down ball carriers on the perimeter.

I read his prospect bio and was easily impressed.

Lenny Williams wasn't that bad either. Take a look.

Positives: Has a lean, angular frame, but shows good body tone, a thin waist, long arms, and defined chest and shoulders … Stays tight with the receiver in the deep half of the zone, using his hands effectively to reroute his opponent … Shows a quick burst coming out of his cuts and does a nice job of planting and driving out of his backpedal … Breaks on the ball sharply, competing for it with aggression … Has impressive range, covering ground quickly when beaten … Makes proper body adjustments going up for the ball and strikes low when delivering his tackles.

4.56 in the 40-yard dash … Bench presses 225 pounds 24 times … 37-inch vertical jump … 10-foot broad jump … 4.26 20-yard shuttle … 12.24 60-yard shuttle … 7.78 three-cone drill.

The bench press really stood out at me. Thats mighty strong for a DB.