Here's some Tuesday winners and losers from GBNreport:
- "The best little story of the day just may have been Ole Miss RB/WR Dexter McCluster. Despite being barely 165 pounds, McCluster played mostly RB at Ole Miss, but has been working primarily at WR in Mobile. And while new to the position, McCluster showed real quickness out of his breaks and the speed to outrun DBs while also making several tough catches, although he also dropped a couple of easy ones. Former Ole Miss teammate Shay Hodge was also very crisp in and out of his cuts and showed smooth hands, while Cincinnati WR Mardy Gilyard, who struggled at times on Monday was much improved today as he showed a nice burst coming out of his breaks. Florida WR Riley Cooper, though, may want to rethink his decision this week to give up baseball and concentrate on football as he dropped as many passes as he caught. Fortunately for Cooper, who did make one remarkable one-handed grab, they don‘t flash a big ‘E‘ on the scoreboard for every muff. Meanwhile, hands weren‘t the problem for receivers Dorin ****erson of Pitt, Danario Alexander of Missouri, and Andre Roberts of the Citadel none of whom got much in the way of separation, although the former two were able to outmuscle smaller DBs to make grabs across the middle. "
- The most interesting experiment of the week to date has seen Idaho OG Mike Iupati, who dominated inside, get some reps at LT. Iupati, though, struggled a little in moving laterally on the outside. Meanwhile, it was back to reality for UMass G/T Vlad Ducasse, one of the stars of yesterday’s North practice as he really struggled to stay with quicker D1A athletes. In fact, it was a tough day all-around for the offensive linemen, who to be fair are at a disadvantage in those one-on-one pass drills. Other offensive linemen who appeared to struggle today included Utah G/T Zane Beadles, Tennessee OT Chris Scott and Notre Dame C Eric Olsen. At the same time, though, LSU OT Ciron Black, C/G Jeff Byers of USC, Ole Miss G/T John Jerry and Arizona State OG Shawn Lauvao were solid enough. Black, for example, showed better than expected lateral movement and change of direction skills, although he still looks awfully squat for a LT prospect. "
- "Arguably the most impressive players on either squad today were a pair of North DEs in Brandon Graham of Michigan and Arkansas State’s Alex Carrington. Graham, in particular, dominated one-on-one pass rush drills as he exploded off the snap, got great leverage as he kept his pads low, used his hands effectively to disengage and showed some nice spin moves. Graham who isn’t all that tall or bulky, though still needs to prove he can hold up against the run, but his pass-rush credentials certainly have gotten a boost this week. Meanwhile, the rangy Carrington has been something of a revelation. Not considered to be all that fast, Carrington has shown a better than advertised first step and has used his long arms to knock surprised OTs off balance. Best guy on the field was Michigan DE Brandon Graham who was unblockable in one-on-one pass rush drills. Same story for emerging Arkansas State DE Alex Carrington who showed a nice combination of strength and agility. Cal combo DE/DT Tyson Alualu also was tough to block all day. Alualu lacks natural explosion, but is a high-energy guy who is built low to the ground, gets good leverage and keeps his feet moving. Auburn tweener DE Antonio Coleman also got some real pressure on occasion, but lacks the strength to make much headway if he doesn’t beat his man off the snap."
- "Boise State CB Kyle Wilson had another solid day as he showed has smooth hips with the ability to transition from backpedal to sprint without losing speed. Fellow CBs Syd’quan Thompson of Cal and Devin McCourty have created some of their own this week. Thompson lacks exceptional recovery speed, but is very physical and breaks crisply on everything in front of him, while McCourty has shown good quickness and instincts. It was also a pretty good day for South Florida FS Nate Allen who was able to run with just about every wideout he challenged in press coverage. "
Great Blue North Draft Report