If Favre comes back, he better stick it out for a full season whether he starts, is a back-up, or gets benched several games into the season.
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This week is the annual Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, which provides the best context for which to judge the draft status of many players. The game itself is almost incidental as the real action and drama takes place during the practice sessions and drills during the week. Here’s what to look for:
1. A chance for big fish in small ponds to swim in the ocean. Guys like Newberry College T Heath Benedict, Houston WR Donnie Avery, Bowling Green OL Kory Lichtensteiger, and Delaware QB Joe Flacco get a chance to show what they can do against the big boys. In the past few years, the Senior Bowl practice week has served as a launching pad for small-school talents like Jacoby Jones, Roddy White, and Demarcus Ware. One thing that scouts and personnel people are focusing on is how quickly these small-schoolers get up to speed and how well they fit in with their more prominent new teammates. Flacco and Tulane RB Matt Forte have each been the best performers at their positions in the first couple of practices, which is undoubtedly opening some eyes and changing some draft boards.
2. The individual battles in the position drills matter. For scouts, there’s nothing better than seeing two guys competing one on one in drills and watching who comes out on top. Two years ago, D’Brickashaw Ferguson dominated every DE who lined up across from him, save one guy. That guy was Darrell Tapp, an undersized but extremely quick rusher who had experience playing Da Brick. Tapp parlayed that into a much higher draft spot than anticipated, which he’s proven he deserved. The passing drills between WR's and CB's is often fascinating and quite dramatic. Take Kansas St. WR Jordy Nelson twice throwing BC CB Dejuan Tribble to the ground when Tribble tried to jam him at the line, or every WR on the North squad trying to change their spots in line to avoid facing Indiana CB Tracy Porter.
3. The “lesser” teammates. These are the less-heralded players from the big-time football schools (USC, LSU, Ohio State, etc.), who come down to Ladd-Peebles Stadium and often outshine the bigger names. DT Sedrick Ellis of USC is a great example this year. He’s already highly rated, but Ellis tended to get lost amidst all the Trojan talent. Not in Mobile, where if you ask anyone who has seen more than 5 minutes of practices, they’ll tell you Ellis is the best player in Mobile. Some guys who have been in this category recently include Jason Campbell, Nick Mangold, and Victor Abiamiri. Cal WR Lavelle Hawkins, OSU OL Kirk Barton, and LSU CB Chevis Jackson are all showing well early on this year, despite being far from the most marquee representatives from their schools.
4. The action in the stands. The Senior Bowl serves as a de facto convention for GMs, scouts, coaches, and draft-affiliated media. Having been to the Combine in Indy the past few years, one of the most common refrains I’ve heard there is “remember what we talked about in Mobile”. This is where teams often float names of who from their roster is available, trying to gauge value, and the foundation of draft-day trades is often a discussion over drinks at the hotel bar or in the third row of the stands (although not this year--it’s too cold and wet). One front office guy I just talked to informed me two different teams approached him about a player widely rumored (and the rumors are true!) to be available, trying to feel out what he wanted in return and who might be available from those other teams. If you’re like me and find the business aspect of the NFL fascinating, this week is simply priceless.
What the scouts and coaches are looking for specifically varies from team to team. One NFC team actually likes to see guys fail and how they respond to it. An AFC South director of scouting told me they are looking for consistency of performance and fundamentals. Some guys focus on how well guys fit in when surrounded by NFL talent and not on a college campus and the maturity of the players. It’s important how the players respond to the NFL coaching and stress of being constantly evaluated by hundreds of critical eyes.
With this week being so important and influential, I’m holding off releasing the latest version of my mock draft until after the Senior Bowl. The Top 103 will also be updated once all the info from the week is processed and evaluated.
