Notes From Team West Practice Monday
January 15th, 2013
Joe was out at the Team West practice yesterday at St. Petersburg High School as the team prepared for the East-West Shrine Game this Saturday at the Fruitdome. Below are notes Joe took during workouts and a light scrimmage in shorts. Joe specifically focused on defensive backs (because that is a major need of the Bucs) along with receivers on the same plays. Joe did not monitor any linemen during the practice, sorry.
Kahlid Wooten, CB, Nevada, 5-11, 200: Torched by Mount Union receiver Jasper Collins up the left sideline.
Aaron Hester, CB, UCLA, 6-2, 195: Has a very quick burst when he turns to keep pace with receivers running down the sideline. Struggled in coverage on short passes as either he gave up too much room for receivers in the flat, or simply couldn’t close on a receiver in the open field.
Dan Buckner, WR, Arizona, 6-4, 211: So tall, he constantly gave the shorter outside linebackers fits as he presented a significant size disadvantage.
Duke Williams, S, Nevada, 6-0, 200: Read one play like a book, fired inside like a rocket to break up a short pass over the middle and nearly had a pick.
Demontre Hurst, CB, Oklahoma, 5-10, 183: Seems to have good fundamentals. Always keeps his shoulders square to the line of scrimmage. Had some trouble with wide receiver Anthony Amos, Middle Tennessee State, down the right sideline due to Amos’ size advantage.
Tyrone Goard, WR, Eastern Kentucky, 6-4, 196: Gave shorter linebackers trouble matching up against his size.
Keith Pough, LB, Howard, 6-3, 238: Had blanket coverage on Kerwynn Williams, RB, Utah State, breaking up a pass. Later he also had a nice break up of a short pass up the right sideline.
Howard Travis, Ohio State, 6-1, 200: Glides smoothly to the ball. Tall. Has some big hops. Very quick feet. Got burned by fellow B1G member Iowa wide receiver Keenan Davis up the left sideline.
Sheldon Price, CB, UCLA, 6-2, 180: Quick feet. On one play, did a fine job of reading and reacting to a pass but couldn’t come up with an interception.
Nigel Malone, CB, Kansas State, 5-10, 180: Kind of small but stocky. Seems pretty quick.
Terry Hawthorne, CB, Illinois, 6-1, 193: Good ball reaction skills. A big corner who looks big enough to play outside linebacker. Good closing speed.
Anthony Amos, WR, Middle Tennessee State, 6-0, 185: Made a good, physical catch in traffic up the right sideline. Later came back on a short pass and leaped and out-battled defenders for a catch over the middle.
Zach Sudfeld, TE, UCLA, 6-7, 255: Consistently able to get open on deep routes over the middle.
January 15th, 2013 at 9:17 am
Schiano likes coaching DB’s and used to coach DB’s. I would like to think he knows what to look for in that regard. That said, I have no doubt that any DB we pick will have Schiano’s fingerprints all over it. I know the decision is Marks, but I think Schiano has a heavy voice in the DB selection(s).
January 15th, 2013 at 9:48 am
Cb Sheldon Price & Safety Duke Williams i could see the Bucs eyeballing
January 15th, 2013 at 9:48 am
Cb Sheldon Price & Safety Duke Williams i could see the Bucs eyeballing
January 15th, 2013 at 9:48 am
Joe, word out of Chicago is that the Bears are down to 2-3 finalist for HC and Sully is not on the list.
January 15th, 2013 at 9:53 am
Joe….Joseph Furia is the UCLA TE…Zach Sudfeld played for N.C. State
January 15th, 2013 at 10:24 am
6’7? Get him.
January 15th, 2013 at 10:43 am
We need tall, faster receivers with all the Calvin Johnsons and Jimmy Grahams in the league
January 15th, 2013 at 10:45 am
*cornerbacks
January 15th, 2013 at 11:02 am
Joe, what is you’re favourite player right now at the Shrine game?
January 15th, 2013 at 12:00 pm
@ShayneGoodfellow…..Scouts on Twitter are saying OLB Gerald Hodges is tearing it up Penn State 6’1 233lbs (4th Rd if available for Bucs would be great.)
January 15th, 2013 at 12:28 pm
I will check Gerald Hodges out on youtube if he has some highlights, if not I will find a scouting report on him. 6’1 233.. pretty sure thats exactly Lavonte’s size haha. If he plays anywhere close to how David plays, lets get this guy.
January 15th, 2013 at 12:30 pm
Mark Dominik is there today too…so i’m sure he’s watching the guy. A scout said “Gerald Hodges is making plays all over the place” (thats the highest praise i’ve read about a player so far)
January 15th, 2013 at 12:32 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFPQNY8zdho
Gerald Hodges highlights
If you guys want to see an awesome play, skip to 2:33 of the video
January 15th, 2013 at 12:35 pm
Hodges is from New Jersey too..so Schiano prolly knows about him…plus Schiano loves Penn State
January 15th, 2013 at 12:40 pm
For anyone that wants a good laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYBx1n8i7U0
That is a Gerald Hodges interview. In a matter of one minute and 50 seconds, I counted this guy saying ” You know ” 26 times hahaha. Definetely needs some work on speaking and doing interviews, but seems like a solid football player.
January 15th, 2013 at 1:29 pm
A Penn State linebacker being talented, tough and fundamentally sound? You don’t say!
January 15th, 2013 at 2:04 pm
Shayne:
As Joe stated above, he is specifically watching defensive backs and an occasional linebacker in pass coverage. The corners that have caught Joe’s eyes as far as having good fundamentals or decent athleticism are Howard Travis, The Ohio State; Demontre Hurst, Oklahoma and Branden Smith, Georgia.
January 15th, 2013 at 2:05 pm
Keep in mind, these guys by definition weren’t good enough to get a Senior Bowl invite.There are a lot of alums on rosters, however.
January 15th, 2013 at 3:22 pm
@ Shayne
That kid’s a linebacker!? he’s so small that I watched up to 1 minute of the video thinking he was a corner back. lol. I have to be honest and say that there is not much talent in this years east west shrine game. out of that game you might only get a couple of players who actually make it in the nfl. It wont keep me from watching though.
January 15th, 2013 at 3:30 pm
@Andrew
Yes he is undersized, but isn’t Lavonte the EXACT same size as him? 6’1 233. I also saw Hodges lay some hard hits in that highlight video. I think the players in the Shrine game have some extra motivation cause they know they are considered not good enough for the senior bowl. It will be interesting to see Joe’s favourite CB’s play, hope they make a bunch of plays and Dominik has his eyes on them. I JUST WANT FREE AGENCY AND THE DRAFT TO COME ALREADY!!
January 15th, 2013 at 3:55 pm
@ Shayne
true, your right. that’s a good point. but there is also a chance he could end up like another previous undersized Lb that we had who went by the name of Geno Hayes. I tend to shy away from undersized LBs because of there tendency to get dominated at the line of scrimmage. but who knows its all a crap shoot. I have to say though, that Hodges kid plays with a lot of heart.
January 15th, 2013 at 7:19 pm
@ Andrew
You also have a good point, that would suck if we drafted this guy and he became the next Geno Hayes.
January 15th, 2013 at 11:47 pm
Great work, Joe!
Media credentials are a great thing, no?
I’m envious.