Days 3 & 4 Notes on North Squad Defense

Kendric Bruney, CB-

Bruney saved the best for last but it was pretty impressive as he was jumping every route during Thursday’s practice. He flashed skills of an elite corner and really improved his draft stock these last few days.

Jalil Brown, CB-

Brown showed some rawness to his game, but has the makings of a starting corner back. He is a great coverage guy, but he doesn’t have the instincts yet of a top corner.

Quinton Carter, S-

There weren’t many opportunities for Carter (or any safety to shine) in not hitting drills, but I liked what I saw in Carter. He took good pursuit angles, showed good athleticism, and adjusts to the ball well.

Eric Hagg, S-

Hagg didn’t do well in coverage, but that is somewhat to be expected as he is more of an in the box type of safety. He has the skills to be a strong safety at the next level, but he isn’t a complete player.

Casey Matthews, LB-

Matthews had an up and down week, and looked better in the team drills than the individual workouts. He struggled some in the blitzing drills and coverage drills one-on-one. While his instincts are the biggest key for his success, he didn’t possess great skills.

Greg Jones, LB-

Jones measured in shorter than most expected, and didn’t have a great overall week, but he flashed at times in coverage and blitzing drills.

Mark Herzlich, LB-

You can’t help but root for Herzlich, but he isn’t at where he needs to be to be looked at as a starter. His dedication and work ethic were on display this week and I think he will find a job in the NFL.

Mason Foster, LB-

I expected more things out of Foster this week and was a bit disappointed that he didn’t have a better set of practices. Now it isn’t that Foster was downright bad in practice, but rather that he was just ordinary. He still has a lot of upside, but he really didn’t flash much this week.

Ian Williams, DT-

I didn’t expect much out of Williams this week, but he pleasantly surprised. He showed a good bit of power and a much quicker first step than I remember. Williams looks to be a solid run stuffing tackle at the next level.

Ryan Kerrigan, DE/OLB-

It was a mixed bag for Kerrigan this week as he flashed elite pass rushing skills at times, but also was controlled a number of times. While it would have been nice to see better than a sink or swim type of week, but he showed enough skills to believe that he will constantly be an 8-10 sack guy.

Sione Fua, DT-

Fua had a pretty good week, and showed that he could anchor against the best interior linemen of the North squad. He doesn’t get much penetration or pass rush, but he is a very good run defender.

Jeremy Beal, OLB/DE-

Beal is a good pass rusher, who shows good speed off the edge and should be a rush linebacker at the next level. Beal was exposed against the run, and really couldn’t counter when linemen got their hands on him.

Christian Ballard, DT/DE-

Ballard looked pretty impressive each day, and really showed great bull rush and penetration into the backfield. While I think he fits into all systems, I think he needs to be used in an attacking front. Read and react will take away from his greatest skill set.

Cameron Jordan, DE/DT-

Jordan continued his fantastic week, and was utterly dominate. There wasn’t a single offensive lineman that could consistently stop Jordan. There really isn’t enough good things you could say about Jordan this week, and he proved himself to be an elite lineman.