Senior Bowl Day 3 South Practice Notes: Fales and Christian Jones Impress

Quarterbacks:

Derek Carr, Fresno State:

-Carr continued to be the sharpest quarterback in practice today, though Fales was closely on his heels today. Carr just has looked good in every aspect of the job. The most impressive thing with Carr may be how he just always seems to be talking to his teammates and coaches trying to pick their brain and going over plans.

David Fales, San Jose State:

-Fales had his best practice of the week and showed solid arm strength, but really impressive accuracy. He did a nice job of hitting receivers in stride and allowing them to pick up yards after the catch.

Jimmy Garoppolo, Eastern Illinois:

-Garoppolo didn’t have his greatest practice today. He was off on his throws and this time there was a clear gap between him and Fales. He still has a good shot of being a mid-round pick, but his footwork was a mess today during dropbacks. He fares better in shotgun sets and with quicker throws, where he can showcase his quick decisions and nice release. When asked to go down field on long or intermediate routes his ball placement is off, and today we saw a number of clearly uncatchable balls.

Wide Receivers:

Mike Davis, Texas:

-After a rough first two days, Davis really picked it up today. He still didn’t show perfect hands, but he didn’t have nearly the number of drops, double catches and body catches that we saw in each of the first two practices. He also seemed quicker in and out of his breaks and this helped him get better separation. He still needs to do a better job of working back to the quarterback and going back for the ball, instead of always waiting for it to come to him. Davis got high praise from the Jaguars coaching staff throughout practice.

Jordan Matthews, Vanderbilt:

-Matthews had another good practice, though it probably wasn’t on par with his practices from Monday and Tuesday. He shows great effort on every route and displays a nice catch radius. On one sideline route Matthews caught the ball over his shoulder without breaking stride, which allowed him to easily get the “touchdown” (it was just one-on-one drills). He’s had a real nice week and has gotten a lot of favorable feed back from the Jaguars coaches during drills.

Tight Ends:

Crockett Gilmore, Colorado State:

-Gilmore was an injury replacement and this was his first day of practice, but he made the most of it. Gilmore caught the ball very well throughout practice and ran really nice routes. Despite this being his first work with the quarterbacks he didn’t really have any timing issues with them. Gilmore really shined as a blocker though. He destroyed Adrian Hubbard on three successive plays in 9-on-7 drills. Later in team work he continued his strong inline blocking.

Aaron Lynch, Georgia:

-Lynch continued to have an impressive week, show casing himself as a quality all-around tight end. He did have one bad drop, but overall he caught the ball really well and continues to be a good blocker at the point of attack. He rarely gave any ground and typically blocked his man out of the play.

Offensive Linemen:

Morgan Moses, UVA:

-Moses had another really nice practice, his footwork isn’t the best but he really does a nice job clearing a path. It’s not always the prettiest, but more often than not he gets the job done and protects his quarterback. Moses is ahead in the run blocking department  and looks like a good fit at right tackle.

Travis Swanson, Arkansas:

-Swanson was once again the best center. He shows really nice footwork and a good solid anchor in pass protection. He’s a strong run blocker and on more than one occasion took care of McCullers all by himself.

Gabe Jackson, Miss. State:

-Jackson isn’t “wowing”people, but he’s showing good consistency and has improved with every practice. Jackson shows nice quickness for his size and really good power. He’s at his best run blocking or in the screen game when he can get a full head of steam.

Defensive Linemen:

Daniel McCullers, Tennessee:

-McCullers is inconsistent, but he’s the type of guy who teams are going to take a chance on. His size and frame are very rare, and if you can get him with the right coaching staff he could potentially be a dominant defensive tackle and would be a great fit for the nose. Even when he does  make mistakes though, you can see a solid work ethic as he stuck with a number of plays even when it looked like he was blocked out of them.

Chris Smith, Arkansas:

-Smith is the best pure end on this squad, and does a real nice job countering (when he has to) the offensive lineman and shedding blocks. While you of course want to see the pass rush, the fact that Smith holds his own against the run is very promising. He should be an every down player and is capable of playing either end spot in a 4-3.

Linebackers:

Christian Jones, Florida State:

-Christian Jones has shown great versatility throughout this week of practice, by playing and succeeding at all three linebacker spots and even with his hand in the dirt in pass rush drills. Jones was unstoppable off the edge today and routinely got to the quarterback. While it’s clear he could play any linebacker role in any scheme, it’s likely 3-4 teams are really starting to take notice and will want to use him on the outside.

Defensive Backs:

Keith McGill, Utah:

-There is some question about how fluid he is and whether or not he should move to safety, but the upside is there for McGill. He’s got excellent size and really long arms. He’s been limited reportedly due to a tight hamstring, but when he’s out there he’s a presence. He is an exceptional press corner and completely disrupts the route when he can get his hands on you.

Walt Aikens, Liberty:

-If you had to guess which player was from small school Liberty (without looking at helmets of course) Aikens wouldn’t be near your first choice. He’s had a really good all-around week, running cleanly with receivers and challenging a number of throws. He might not be on the level of Robert Alford who had a strong week a year ago, but he’s close. He is quickly rising up the draft boards and he could sneak into that 3rd round.

Lavelle Westbrooks, Georgia Southern:

-Westbrooks is a raw talent, but he flashed on some big plays today. He showed nice coverage down the field and ran with both Mike Davis and Jordan Matthews stride for stride. He needs to work on his technique and not play too flat footed, but he’s got really nice potential and could end up being a late round steal.