Some thoughts coming off of Day 2:<\/p>\n
1) It’s amazing how names you’ve never heard of before suddenly emerge as legitimate players after the Senior Bowl practices.\u00a0 One such player is Quinn Meinerz from D3 Wisconsin \u2013Whitewater.\u00a0 Some scouts were comparing him to DK Metcalf who emerged from the Senior Bowl as a top prospect.\u00a0 Metcalf would conduct his post practice interviews shirtless, showing off his cut torso and six pack abs.\u00a0\u00a0 Meinerz is very noticeable for an O lineman in his half shirt showing off his midriff.\u00a0 What a site of his belly hanging over his pants.\u00a0 He looks 6 months pregnant.\u00a0 Don\u2019t laugh \u2026 he is blowing people away here.\u00a0 At RG he completely collapsed the DL to his left for a big gain.\u00a0 He is playing OC too, a position he has never played.\u00a0 In comparison to Tampa Bay starting LG Ali Marpet, who played in this games several years ago, Meinerz is much further advanced.\u00a0 Marpet played at D3 Hobart.<\/p>\n
2) Speaking of Centers, this is the best draft I have seen for quality OC.\u00a0 With the uncertainty of David Andrews (UFA) and the age of backup James Ferentz (32) the Patriots need a Center.\u00a0 Many of these Centers can play up and down the line like Rimington Award winner, Landon Dickerson from Alabama and Ben Cleveland from Georgia.\u00a0 Cleveland weighed in at 354 lbs at 6\u2019 6\u201d with an estimated 40 time under 5.2.\u00a0 Cleveland is cut without an ounce of fat.\u00a0 He could easily move to OT if needed.\u00a0 I\u2019m predicting this will be another draft where you will see the Patriots take three O lineman.<\/p>\n
3) If an NFL team was looking for a FB, Ben Mason 6\u20192\u201d 256 lbs 4.76 (est 40) is your man.\u00a0 He has shown up very well in practice with hard hitting blocks, well run pass patterns and excellent hands.\u00a0 Respected Michigan Defensive Coordinator Don Brown even used him at DE.\u00a0 This leads me to think Mason should switch to ILB.\u00a0 He would be one of the biggest at the position.\u00a0 He would have the height\/weight ratio the Pats like for the position as well as the speed.\u00a0 He likes to bang already and plays special teams.\u00a0 Perhaps a conversion like a former patriot who originally wore number 45?\u00a0 That number would also allow him to play fullback without having to report in.\u00a0 Answer at the end.<\/p>\n
4) Kyle Pitts (TE, Florida) is getting lots of press for his catching ability and speed, while also being criticized for his inability to block.\u00a0 Kenny Yeboah (TE, Ole Miss) is exactly the same thing.\u00a0 They both are WR playing TE.\u00a0 If it’s Travis Kelce you want at the TE position, then these are your guys.\u00a0 On the other hand Hunter Long, (TE, Boston College), has received rave reviews.\u00a0 His blocking has been good and scouts are surprised at his speed.\u00a0 He has consistently been getting open and making the catches.\u00a0 He has helped himself this week.<\/p>\n
5) Michael Carter (RB, North Carolina) had a reputation coming into Senior Bowl week as being an excellent receiver out of the backfield.\u00a0 He has come as advertised.\u00a0 However, the pass blocking drills have exposed his weakness, he cannot pass block.\u00a0 Kylin Hill (RB, Mississippi St) ran for 1350 yards in 2019 and sat out 2020 due to COVID.\u00a0 Hill was at the center of the controversial Mississippi state flag which was the Confederate flag.\u00a0 He had threatened not to play if the flag wasn\u2019t changed.\u00a0 The 5\u201910\u2019, 210 RB has looked good especially in the route running, catching and pass blocking.<\/p>\n
6) Thomas Graham (CB, Oregon) has stuck like glue to receivers down in Mobile.\u00a0 Dwayne Eskeridge has said that Graham has been the toughest DB to play man to man. Graham opted out of 2020 and needed a big week here to re-establish himself.<\/p>\n
7) Aaron Robinson (CB, Central Florida) is a transfer from Alabama that plays primarily the slot corner position.\u00a0 He is 6\u2019 190 lbs and usually bigger than his opponent, but has the quickness and physicality to stay with them.\u00a0 The scouts take on him varies from an early Day 2 selection all the way to late Day 3.\u00a0 He has performed well so far.\u00a0 The game may be the ultimate test for him.<\/p>\n
8) The scouts loved whenever Florida St DT Marvin Wilson came up against Grambling\u2019s OG David Moore.\u00a0 They said it was like two rams locking horns.\u00a0 If Moore stalemated Wilson, as reported, then that was a win for Moore.\u00a0 Wilson has been compared to Aaron Donald for his quickness from the DT spot.\u00a0 \u00a0Moore was voted captain and team MVP.\u00a0 He played on a mediocre Grambling team in 2019.\u00a0 Grambling cancelled to 2020 season due to COVID 19<\/p>\n
9) A player I noticed on film was Josh Palmer (WR, Tennessee).\u00a0 He stands 6\u20191\u201d 220 lbs and runs a 4.47 40.\u00a0 Palmer has 33\u201d arms and large hands too.\u00a0 He consistently beat the DBs off the line and was wide open from what I saw.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t come into the game with big numbers and is a bit unheralded.\u00a0 \u00a0He is also jacked up, but not as big as DK Metcalf.<\/p>\n
10) Shi Smith (WR, South Carolina) is another quick off the line slot receiver.\u00a0 He made a couple of highlight reel catches that definitely got him noticed.<\/p>\n
11) Several Edge players are having outstanding practices.\u00a0 Quincy Roche (Edge, Miami) is beating lineman with strength not just speed.\u00a0 Carlos Basham (Edge, Wake Forest) has it all going on.\u00a0 He had 19.5 sacks and 33.5 tackles for loss in 31 games for the Demon Deacons.\u00a0 However in 2020 his production was stunted to only 5 sacks in 7 games (that is all they played).\u00a0 He was constantly double teamed.\u00a0 He shrunk from the Wake Forest Press guide from 6\u20195\u201d to 6\u20193.3\u201d but his weight is up from 275 to 281.\u00a0 Look for him to have a big game Saturday.\u00a0 Pittsburgh has two Edge players worth mentioning, with Patrick Jones II being the one that\u2019s been impressing me.\u00a0 At 6\u20194\u201d 250 lbs he runs a 4.83 40 but it\u2019s his tremendous first step that impresses.\u00a0 Lets see how he holds up against the run on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Lots of injuries this week \u2026 too many to list, so a lot of players will get extra opportunities to showcase their talent.<\/p>\n
Finally a Patriots related story from Tampa Bay Bucs General Manager Todd Licht, a former Patriots scout.\u00a0 When asked about Brady and the drafting process, He said the Patriots had him ranked as a Third round prospect.\u00a0 Bill really liked him.\u00a0 This reminds me of what Steve Mariucci said during the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about the Brady 7.\u00a0 I\u2019m paraphrasing, the Patriots shouldn\u2019t get all the credit for drafting Brady, they passed on him 5 times like all the rest of us.<\/p>\n
Some additional morsels:<\/p>\n
– Amari Rodgers WR Clemson made several tough catches in short area goal line situations.\u00a0 He is the nephew of college coach Tee Martin, the former Tennessee QB, and one of the Brady 7!<\/p>\n
– Tedy Bruschi originally wore #45 as he made the transition from College DT Pass Rush champion to ILB.<\/p>\n
– Scouts lie \u2013 Tampa Bay Bucs WR Scotty Miller wasn\u2019t invited to the combine.\u00a0 He did a Pro Day and really impressed with his speed.\u00a0 His 40 time was listed at 4.39.\u00a0 The scouts on hand had him at 4.36.<\/p>\n
– On the NFL Network\u2019s coverage all week of the Senior Bowl practices, Carolina Defensive Coordinator Phil Snow was asked if he had found another Jeremy Chinn like they did in last year\u2019s Senior Bowl.\u00a0 He calmly responded, \u201c I wouldn\u2019t tell you if I did\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s amazing how names you’ve never heard of before suddenly emerge as legitimate players after the Senior Bowl practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":34567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22266],"tags":[22280,22270,22289,22272,22273,22286,522,22282,22211,22279,22275,1508,2296,22283,22274,22244,22277,22271,22281,22276,22287,22291,22285,22269,22290,22284,875,22278,22288],"class_list":["post-34564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2021-patriots-draft","tag-aaron-robinson","tag-ali-marpet","tag-amari-rodgers","tag-ben-cleveland","tag-ben-mason","tag-carlos-basham","tag-david-andrews","tag-david-moore","tag-dk-metcalf","tag-dwayne-eskeridge","tag-hunter-long","tag-james-ferentz","tag-jeremy-chinn","tag-josh-palmer","tag-kenny-yeboah","tag-kyle-pitts","tag-kylin-hill","tag-landon-dickerson","tag-marvin-wilson","tag-michael-carter","tag-patrick-jones-ii","tag-phil-snow","tag-quincy-roche","tag-quinn-meinerz","tag-scotty-miller","tag-shi-smith","tag-tedy-bruschi","tag-thomas-graham","tag-todd-licht"],"yoast_head":"\n