Yesterday was the last day of practice for Saturday's Under Armour Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL which features three Tigers on the South team coached by the Jacksonville Jaguars' staff: S Michael Hamlin, RB James Davis and QB Cullen Harper. Thursday's practice was in half-pads and included position drills along with live scrimmages featuring the offense going against the defensive in various down and distance situations with liberal substitutions.
All three players wearing Clemson helmets made some very good plays in Thursday's live scrimmage segment. The QB's and RB's as a group received a fair amount of camera time while the DB's received none other than during the live offense vs. defense scrimmages if they were involved in making a play on the ball or the stop. The practice was not all positive for Davis and Harper. There were some things that Jacksonville RB coach Kennedy Pola instructed Davis to improve on and a couple of Harper's throws were off. Let's look at both the areas and plays that were good and the ones that were not so good.
MICHAEL HAMLIN
All three players wearing Clemson helmets made some very good plays in Thursday's live scrimmage segment. The QB's and RB's as a group received a fair amount of camera time while the DB's received none other than during the live offense vs. defense scrimmages if they were involved in making a play on the ball or the stop. The practice was not all positive for Davis and Harper. There were some things that Jacksonville RB coach Kennedy Pola instructed Davis to improve on and a couple of Harper's throws were off. Let's look at both the areas and plays that were good and the ones that were not so good.
MICHAEL HAMLIN
Good: In the live scrimmage on a red zone play made a terrific break on a pass thrown by WVU QB Pat White and knocked it down in the end zone. The play almost certainly would have resulted in a TD otherwise. The announcers/analysts for the NFL network praised Hamlin afterwards, saying that it was an especially difficult play to make because two different routes were being run right in front of him, "hitting him high and low" but he watched the QB's eyes and didn't bite on the other route/receiver.
Good: Hamlin nearly made an interception on a ball that hit FSU WR Greg Carr's hands and popped off but fell just inches short of Michael's outstretched hands as he dove for it.
Not so good: Nothing. Again, television coverage did not feature DB position drills nor any live comments made to Hamlin by the coaches who were "mic'd up". However, I didn't observe a player he was defending even catch a pass.
JAMES DAVIS
Good: In a red zone situation during the live scrimmage, Davis ran a wheel route and was wide open when he caught a pass from Alabama QB John Parker Wilson and took it into the end zone for a TD. Davis also caught a pass from WVU QB White and had several carries in which he looked good. It is hard to say whether he would have broken any long runs on the carries because there was no tackling allowed.
Not so good: In one RB position drill, Jacksonville RB coach told Davis that his "base" at impact when blocking a defender was too wide and therefore he doesn't have any power. He told James that he needed to get a "power step", which I understood to mean that Davis has his legs so far apart at impact that he isn't forcing the defender backward. If he keeps a more narrow stance and steps into the blocker at impact rather than keeping his legs stationary while moving his upper body forward, it would provide more power.
Not so good: On a situational play where the offense faced 2nd and 2 on the defense's 30 yard line, Davis took the pitch 7 yards deep in the backfield from WVU QB White and ran wide to the left for 7 yards but was met by a LB at the line of scrimmage and the play was called dead. Coach Pola can be heard screaming in the background "Get the 1st down, beat him there". After the play, Pola called James over and asked him if he knew the down and distance on the play. James answered "yes" and started to trot off the field when Pola called him back and said that if he was aware of it, then sooner or later he would have to plant his foot in the ground, lower his shoulder and get the 1st.
Not so good: Davis had two other balls thrown his way- both by 'Bama QB Wilson that hit him on the hands but he did not catch either one. The first was a slightly high throw that James had to leap for but it popped up in the air off his hands. The other was also slightly high and James leaped for this one and had it hit his hands again but he fell to the turf and couldn't bring it in. The balls weren't necessarily uncatchable. It was just a situation where if Davis had been 6' 1 instead of 5' 11, he probably makes the catch on both. Had he shown enough vertical jump and balance to haul both in, it would have certainly been impressive to NFL scouts in attendance.
CULLEN HARPER
Good: Cullen Harper threw a TD pass to Southern Miss TE Shawn Nelson on a red zone drill play. Harper threaded the ball between three defenders, one of whom made a break on the ball to try for an interception. The pass definitely was only where only Nelson could catch it and had a lot of velocity on it. On another series in the live scrimmage, he completed a pass to Southern Cal WR Patrick Turner. On a another play in the live scrimmage, Cullen rolled left and made a short completion to a player whose team/name I did not get.
Not so good: NFL Network announcers/analysts criticized Harper for throwing a ball high and late to FSU WR Greg Carr. It was a curl route and Cullen was slightly late with the ball, taking a three step drop instead of two but Carr had dropped every ball thrown to him previusly in the scrimmage and he is 6' 5 and can jump. Even the announcers were criticizing him later in the game when he dropped another pass from WVU QB White, so I don't know if you can pin all of this incompetion on Harper but he was in fact a little late with the throw.
Not so good: On the next series after his TD pass, Harper threw an incompletion that appeared to be very low and way behind the Southern Cal receiver who reached down and back for it. What was curious to me is whether there was some confusion on the play about just who the intended receiver was. There was another receiver running across the field who it looked like Harper was trying to hit because the ball went about five feet in front of him but the player didn't even make an attempt to catch the ball. It may have been a bad throw either way.
The Senior Bowl game takes place on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the NFL Network. Here's wishing Hamlin, Davis and Harper the best of luck in the game. Hopefully they will impress the NFL scouts in attendance with their play.
Good: Hamlin nearly made an interception on a ball that hit FSU WR Greg Carr's hands and popped off but fell just inches short of Michael's outstretched hands as he dove for it.
Not so good: Nothing. Again, television coverage did not feature DB position drills nor any live comments made to Hamlin by the coaches who were "mic'd up". However, I didn't observe a player he was defending even catch a pass.
JAMES DAVIS
Good: In a red zone situation during the live scrimmage, Davis ran a wheel route and was wide open when he caught a pass from Alabama QB John Parker Wilson and took it into the end zone for a TD. Davis also caught a pass from WVU QB White and had several carries in which he looked good. It is hard to say whether he would have broken any long runs on the carries because there was no tackling allowed.
Not so good: In one RB position drill, Jacksonville RB coach told Davis that his "base" at impact when blocking a defender was too wide and therefore he doesn't have any power. He told James that he needed to get a "power step", which I understood to mean that Davis has his legs so far apart at impact that he isn't forcing the defender backward. If he keeps a more narrow stance and steps into the blocker at impact rather than keeping his legs stationary while moving his upper body forward, it would provide more power.
Not so good: On a situational play where the offense faced 2nd and 2 on the defense's 30 yard line, Davis took the pitch 7 yards deep in the backfield from WVU QB White and ran wide to the left for 7 yards but was met by a LB at the line of scrimmage and the play was called dead. Coach Pola can be heard screaming in the background "Get the 1st down, beat him there". After the play, Pola called James over and asked him if he knew the down and distance on the play. James answered "yes" and started to trot off the field when Pola called him back and said that if he was aware of it, then sooner or later he would have to plant his foot in the ground, lower his shoulder and get the 1st.
Not so good: Davis had two other balls thrown his way- both by 'Bama QB Wilson that hit him on the hands but he did not catch either one. The first was a slightly high throw that James had to leap for but it popped up in the air off his hands. The other was also slightly high and James leaped for this one and had it hit his hands again but he fell to the turf and couldn't bring it in. The balls weren't necessarily uncatchable. It was just a situation where if Davis had been 6' 1 instead of 5' 11, he probably makes the catch on both. Had he shown enough vertical jump and balance to haul both in, it would have certainly been impressive to NFL scouts in attendance.
CULLEN HARPER
Good: Cullen Harper threw a TD pass to Southern Miss TE Shawn Nelson on a red zone drill play. Harper threaded the ball between three defenders, one of whom made a break on the ball to try for an interception. The pass definitely was only where only Nelson could catch it and had a lot of velocity on it. On another series in the live scrimmage, he completed a pass to Southern Cal WR Patrick Turner. On a another play in the live scrimmage, Cullen rolled left and made a short completion to a player whose team/name I did not get.
Not so good: NFL Network announcers/analysts criticized Harper for throwing a ball high and late to FSU WR Greg Carr. It was a curl route and Cullen was slightly late with the ball, taking a three step drop instead of two but Carr had dropped every ball thrown to him previusly in the scrimmage and he is 6' 5 and can jump. Even the announcers were criticizing him later in the game when he dropped another pass from WVU QB White, so I don't know if you can pin all of this incompetion on Harper but he was in fact a little late with the throw.
Not so good: On the next series after his TD pass, Harper threw an incompletion that appeared to be very low and way behind the Southern Cal receiver who reached down and back for it. What was curious to me is whether there was some confusion on the play about just who the intended receiver was. There was another receiver running across the field who it looked like Harper was trying to hit because the ball went about five feet in front of him but the player didn't even make an attempt to catch the ball. It may have been a bad throw either way.
The Senior Bowl game takes place on Saturday, Jan. 24, at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the NFL Network. Here's wishing Hamlin, Davis and Harper the best of luck in the game. Hopefully they will impress the NFL scouts in attendance with their play.
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