Dispatches from Senior Bowl practice

[kchusker_chris]

I think one or two people mentioned Hagg beingn too high then everyeone else jumped on the wagon and rode it for what it's worth. saved about 80% of the scouts from needing to actually evaluate him.

[cscott2win]

Is this guy related to the Niles Paul that played at Nebraska?

[Heartbeats4Huskers]

Pretty cool website I found with all the players broken down by day with a short blurb. Seems like a lot of sunshine from these guys, but fun to read nonetheless.

North Squad Practice Reports

[GMoose]

Here you go guys, lifted off my Eagles official website, Philadelphiaeagles.com. Hopefully this will allay some of the fears about Hagg doing poorly:

 

"Another guy with unconventional size to impress in the secondary has been Nebraska's Eric Hagg, 6-1 1/2, 206. Hagg has played mostly safety here in Mobile, though he has experience as a corner and, briefly, as a linebacker. Hagg likely won't blow up the combine results, but he's been consistently around the ball during scrimmages and several scouts have mentioned him as a pleasant surprise this week."

Posted by Bo Wulf, who does write ups for the website and I assume is some kind of correspondent. In any case, he's actually there watching the guys so it's good to hear positive news.

That's good to hear about Hagg. He's almost like a Tyrod Taylor of the defense. I'm sure one of those "seek-out" coaches like Belichick could find a spot for such a good athlete.

[jgmdub]

surprised to hear that about Henrey

[knapplc]

surprised to hear that about Henrey

 

There are a lot of reasons why that may have been said about Alex. Maybe he's been having bad practices. Maybe the guy who wrote it didn't actually watch him, and guessed/made something up. Maybe the guy who wrote that has a connection to a team who wants Alex, but wants him later than projected and they're trying to bump him down.

 

Lots of possible reasons, but when draft time comes teams who need a kicker are going to see the words "most accurate kicker in NCAA history" next to Alex Henery's name, and he'll get drafted.

[Blackshirt316]

NFL balls I guess are actually a little different than NCAA balls even though the size and weight is the same. Kickers have said they feel a bit different and have slightly different aerodynamic properties. If Alex hasn't been practicing with an NFL style ball since the end of the season it could take him a little while to get used to it. - I'd hope that he has been... but it wouldn't completely shock me if he hadn't.

 

I'm not sure why they are different, but they seem to be.

[krill]

The NFL also uses a new ball at every kickoff that hasn't been tampered with (k ball). I read somewhere that college balls are more worn, softer and travel further. This is why you don't see a lot of touchbacks in the NFL and field goals are too much of an adventure in cold weather.

[knapplc]

Roy Helu

Nebraska RB Roy Helu, Jr. has had a great week in Mobile and is really helping himself. Today Helu was at it again and I was especially impressed with his patience, power and ability to cut quickly in the hole. Helu ran a few wildcat plays during practice as well so look for that during the game Saturday.

Scott Wright & Shane Hallam - Draft Countdown

 

Eric Hagg

Another player the Chiefs were spotted talking to is S Eric Hagg from Nebraska. He weighs in at 206 pounds and stands 6'1". It appears he'd be a late round draft pick or an undrafted free agent.

Joel Thorman - Arrowhead Pride (Chiefs site)

 

Pierre Allen

Nebraska DE Pierre Allen didn’t stand out. Allen has good lower body strength and used it in 11-on-11’s to drive Kowalski back.

Scott Wright & Shane Hallam - Draft Countdown

 

Alex Henery

Nebraska P Alex Henery struggled to get the necessary hangtime on his punts Thursday, although I did see him strike at least one pro-quality punt. Specialists don't get all that many opportunities to kick in practice here, and they may be working on new techniques, so I try to keep that in mind when assessing the punters and kickers — and all of the players here, for that matter.

Kevin Fishbain - Pro Football Weekly

 

Kicker Josh Jasper was consistent today in getting the ball inside the 5 yard line on kickoffs. He and Alex Henery are the two guys I think should make it as rookies in the NFL.

Opposing Views.com

 

Niles Paul

The drills in the red zone had a lot of plays involving the QBs tossing lobs to the corner of the endzone for their receivers. Nebraska WR Niles Paul made a nice leaping grab on a throw from Washington QB Jake Locker, and Ohio State WR Dane Sanzenbacher made a one-handed grab.

Kevin Fishbain - Pro Football Weekly

 

 

 

One thing to note as you read through these dispatches - I think there are a LOT of biases being handed out in lieu of actual player analysis. Jake Locker is a great example. Article after article describes him as struggling, unpolished, lacking accuracy, etc. Then you run across one or two that speak of Locker in glowing terms, as if he's the next Joe Montana. You really have to take these blurbs with a grain of salt. Grabbing a notepad and a stopwatch doesn't automatically make a sports reporter an NFL scout.

 

Remember, these dispatches are for entertainment only.

[kchusker_chris]

and each blurb seems to concentrate on a single play. very few of them are in general terms. "Sanzenbacher w/ a one-handed grab" - "Paul nice leaping grab" - "Allen drives Kowalski back" - etc, etc. I could probably portray a postive OR negative impression of every single player there if I wanted to cherry pick 3 plays for each player.

[Nebula]

Thanks for putting that info together knapp. I had noticed this yesterday, sure sounds like Roy is putting together a nice string of practices there.

 

SI Article, Headline Link Said Helu Shines

 

You're absolutely correct about the legitimacy of these dispatches, though. Every team has an angle, a need, a player they covet who they worry about while keeping one eye fixed on the teams ahead of them in the draft with the same needs. So they release a little gossip into the wind, here and there, "you know, that kid smoked weed his entire college career. His work ethic is abysmal. You know, his hands looked pretty suspect coming out of the backfield, and I gotta say...does he look small in the calves to you?"

 

All kinds of shady information dissemination going on. Like you said, grain of salt. Still, I'll pretend it's all steeped in factual truth when we're getting positive reports about our former players...and then immediately dismiss it as ridiculous when I read that Hagg might go undrafted.

[father5]

anyone ever wondered if niles could have played running back?

At 6'7"? Really?

 

6'1"

 

I think you completely missed his sarcasm...one of the articles had him listed at 6'7

I'm glad you picked up on that haha

 

 

I don't think so. I think it listed him as 6' 7/8. Seven eights of an inch... I think. I initially thought the same though.

[NUance]

anyone ever wondered if niles could have played running back?

Back to your original question, I'm not sure why we never gave Niles a look at RB. He played WR at Omaha North (back when Phillip Bates was QB) and we just kept him at WR. Niles was/is a great athlete. And I think he could have been an FBS caliber RB. But NU was pretty deep at RB when Niles was a frosh. That, and back then it looked like we were going to have greater needs at WR from then on.

[Husker Richard]

anyone ever wondered if niles could have played running back?

Back to your original question, I'm not sure why we never gave Niles a look at RB. He played WR at Omaha North (back when Phillip Bates was QB) and we just kept him at WR. Niles was/is a great athlete. And I think he could have been an FBS caliber RB. But NU was pretty deep at RB when Niles was a frosh. That, and back then it looked like we were going to have greater needs at WR from then on.

 

 

The thought of him having that many opportunities to get his buttery hands on the ball as a RB terrifies me. Glad he stayed at WR.

[NUance]

anyone ever wondered if niles could have played running back?

Back to your original question, I'm not sure why we never gave Niles a look at RB. He played WR at Omaha North (back when Phillip Bates was QB) and we just kept him at WR. Niles was/is a great athlete. And I think he could have been an FBS caliber RB. But NU was pretty deep at RB when Niles was a frosh. That, and back then it looked like we were going to have greater needs at WR from then on.

 

 

The thought of him having that many opportunities to get his buttery hands on the ball as a RB terrifies me. Glad he stayed at WR.

Ha ha! Yeah, but Niles didn't seem to fumble as much on kick off returns. And his fumbles *seemed* worse and were remembered more. Because we lost more of them. Niles fumbles happened out in the secondary, instead of in our own backfield.