Nebraska LB Dillard struggles at Thursday's Senior Bowl practice

GSG

GSG

Assistant Coach
By Tim Griffin
It wasn't the best of days for Nebraska linebacker Phillip Dillard at Thursday's Senior Bowl practice in Mobile, Ala.

The Scouts Inc. reporters at the scene for ESPN.com didn't paint the brighest of pictures for Dillard after watching him in the North team practice with helmets and shorts.

Here's their report:

"Dillard's lack of athletic ability really showed up on Day 4, since players were in shorts and helmets, Dillard's ability to be physical between the tackles was negated. He looked tight during drills and struggled to make sudden changes of direction, and he also lacked good closing burst and straight-line speed during drills. Dillard struggled to stay with running backs in coverage during 7-on-7 drills (he was consistently two or three steps behind), and he showed a lack of natural ball skills. In pads, Dillard can mix it up inside, but we saw on Day 4 that his athletic limitations likely will drop him into the later rounds."
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Rest of the article here

 
and that is why some NFL teams continue to suck. The question should be, Can he play in a game? I dont care how great you are in shorts and helmets. What does he do when full pads are on?

 
fro daddy said:
and that is why some NFL teams continue to suck. The question should be, Can he play in a game? I dont care how great you are in shorts and helmets. What does he do when full pads are on?
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:yeah

That was my feeling too. In the comments section over on ESPN some Iowa Hawkeye douche claims its because he doesn't have Suh in front of him and how he "can't wait" for next year. I guess he thinks that just because Suh is gone our D will drop back to 2007 levels.

 
fro daddy said:
and that is why some NFL teams continue to suck. The question should be, Can he play in a game? I dont care how great you are in shorts and helmets. What does he do when full pads are on?
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great point fro daddy. its how you play in games. and i would say dillard showed he was a gamer this year.

 
I guess this doesnt really suprise me. Its not like he was a superstar LB. He was good but not great, and once surrounded by other potential pro's he probably looks average.

 
ESPY said:
GSG5545 said:
In pads, Dillard can mix it up inside, but we saw on Day 4 that his athletic limitations likely will drop him into the later rounds."
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Rest of the article here
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That's why they play the game Kiffin. If pro scouts base their perspective on Dillard simply from practices, then they're idiots. Whoever gets Dillard, even if it's in the late rounds, will reap a generous reward.
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Possibly. Yet, I wonder how much of Dillard's performance this year was simply knowing our system rather than making real-time decisions.

 
Everything hinges on a players performance in shorts and a helment, also his 40-time is a key indicator of future sucess.

- signed Al Davis

:moreinteresting

 
billdozer15 said:
I guess this doesnt really suprise me. Its not like he was a superstar LB. He was good but not great, and once surrounded by other potential pro's he probably looks average.
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I'd probably argue that he was better than just good this year. He made outstanding plays in space and showed some serious speed in coverage.

 
I guess it all hinges on your definition of good and great. I would say Brandon Spikes, Travis Lewis, Pat Angerer are great. Jesse Smith at Iowa State is good and i would say Phil Dill is on par with him. Not taking anything away from Phil because he did play well this year. But as I stated previously when he gets together with a group of other potential pros he isnt going to stand out, he is somewhere in the middle.

 
WVhuskerXX said:
If drafted into the right situation I feel that Dillard will be an impact player in the league.
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I dont agree that he will be an impact player. He can be a very solid and good player, but impact linebackers are few and far between. Dillard is solid, but there are probably atleast 10 LB's in the draft this year that are more solid in shorts/hats & full pads than Dillard is. Hell Weatherspoon is the #2 OLB on most boards and I dont think he is an impact player in the NFL. He has a chance to be good, but I dont think he is a huge difference maker

 
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In other news I heard that Asante has been doing fairly well. Supposedly he lit someone up over the middle on tuesday and now is projected to be taken late second round.

 
mitch7 said:
In other news I heard that Asante has been doing fairly well. Supposedly he lit someone up over the middle on tuesday and now is projected to be taken late second round.
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He did, but it was in a non-contact, 7 on 7 drill and got a good talking too by the coaches. It was pretty funny. The look on his face after he did it was priceless.

But from what I had seen and what the commentators were saying is that he struggles in drills, but plays really well in 11 on 11.

 
fro daddy said:
mitch7 said:
In other news I heard that Asante has been doing fairly well. Supposedly he lit someone up over the middle on tuesday and now is projected to be taken late second round.
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He did, but it was in a non-contact, 7 on 7 drill and got a good talking too by the coaches. It was pretty funny. The look on his face after he did it was priceless.

But from what I had seen and what the commentators were saying is that he struggles in drills, but plays really well in 11 on 11.
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That does sound like something Asante would do :facepalm: He just can't resist a hit when it presents itself

 
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