Today I had the wonderful experience of observing a Shrine Game practice, specifically, that of the West Team. If you want to peruse the full roster of the West team (and the East team), click here. Obviously I wasn't able to track every player, and honestly it was hard enough to keep up with the few players I was targeting from the get-go. So sample size is certainly an issue. If I watch a player catch 4 passes all day and he drops one, that's a bad drop percentage. Is that indicative of his hands, or just bad luck? I can't really tell you, simply because my sample size is so limited. If I was at every practice and had film experience with these guys, I could give you a better idea of things like that. But I don't, so you'll just have to take that limitation into consideration when reading these notes.
Now that my disclaimer is out of the way, here's the handful of players I came into practice wanting to focus on:
#82 WR Junior Hemingway, Michigan
#4 WR Jarius Wright, Arkansas
#97 DT DaJohn Harris, University of Southern California
#2 SS Duke Ihenacho, San Jose State University
#28 CB Shaun Prater, Iowa
Junior Hemingway (WR, Michigan) was the guy I was most familiar with, and truthfully, he was the only name I had heard of on the entire West roster before today. I expected him to excel today, but he didn't exactly wow me. Hemingway is very average off of the line in my opinion. The defense ran strictly off-coverage, so I don't know how he is at breaking a jam, but he has very average acceleration. His top-end speed isn't much better. He does, however, have a decent frame (6-1, 222) and he was one of the few WRs who were large enough to catch high throws on the run. From my perspective in the stands, Hemingway looked like arguably the tallest WR of the bunch, which says a lot about the size of the WRs on the West team. Overall, I was not very impressed with Hemingway. I'd project him as strictly a possession guy, but he doesn't have the elite frame that you'd want a possession WR to have. Not too impressed with Hemingway overall.
Jarius Wright (WR, Arkansas) was quite a noticeable contrast from Hemingway. He is significantly smaller (5-10, 180) and dramatically quicker. His acceleration is very good, and he is a natural route runner. He pops off the line quickly and runs with purpose. Even though his top-end speed is noticeably impressive, he generally gets open with technique. His cuts are sudden and precise, and as a result he is able to create space. DBs can be on his hip one second, and then the next they look completely lost and Wright is catching a ball and turning upfield 3 or 4 yards in front of them. My new Twitter idol, @JoshNorris, was apparently on the field and close enough to hear the coaches, and he Tweeted that coaches were praising Wright on his routes every time he took the field. I read this early on in the day and kept a closer eye from that point on, and the praise was absolutely deserved. The more I watched Wright, the more I liked him. His small stature is an issue, for sure. But he is an ideal slot guy who can work underneath with short routes while also having the ability to turn on the burners and get downfield. Good hands too, he caught everything thrown his way all day. Eddie Royal is a natural comparison here. Almost identical size and speed.
DaJohn Harris (DT, University of Southern California) looks the part for sure. His frame (6-4, 310) is similar to Kevin Williams, but his speed is more like that of B.J. Raji. Obviously not a great size/speed combination there, but he flashed at times today. He was generally good in run support, and at times he is able to "make a mess" as I like to call it. He is inconsistent though. On one play, he'll be driving a double team into the backfield and destroying the running lane, and on another play, he'll be getting pancaked by a single man. In desperate need of a coach who can instill consistent use of proper technique. Very strong, but is not able to always take advantage of it. All of that said, there was one play where he absolutely whipped the OG at the line and made quick contact with the QB. So like I said, he shows flashes at times, but then he disappears other times. Unfortunately for him, starting OGs in the NFL won't get whipped like some of these Shrine Game were today. Unless he gets his technique down, he will be a non-factor in the NFL. Closest comparison I can think of is Marcus Spears.
Duke Ihenacho (SS, San Jose State University) is a guy who I didn't watch as much as I would've liked. I watched him for a little bit in DB drills but lost track of him in the team drills. Safety is hard to evaluate already, but in a limited-contact practice, it's even harder. All of the Safeties played CB at times, but like I said I kind of dropped the ball on my evaluation of him in team drills. From what I saw though, he wasn't great in coverage. In the DB drills, he didn't show very good hands but had a great-looking vertical leap. For a guy without great size (6-0, 205), he sure isn't very fast. Wish I could see how he does in run defense, because that's his only real hope in my opinion. No NFL comparison because I just don't know Safeties well enough, but his size and speed combo is similar to guys like Abram Elam and Roman Harper.
Shaun Prater (CB, Iowa) was impressive from what I saw of him. He was a very disciplined cover man who displayed great route-reading ability. There was one play in particular where the WR ran a hook-and-go, and Prater read it perfectly. He didn't jump whatsoever, and he immediately began tracking the ball in the air to attempt an INT. The QB smartly overthrew it in a throw-away fashion, but if he hadn't, Prater would've had a very easy INT. In team drills, he lined up in the slot on one play and executed zone coverage really well. He read the QB's eyes and made a very quick break on the ball for a whap. From what I saw today, he is a smart and instinctive player. He also isn't afraid to get physical, either. His frame (5-10, 185) isn't imposing, but is solid and he uses it well. This is not a great comp but he kind of gives me a Cortland Finnegan vibe. I'm not saying he'll be that good or that much of a jerk, but for some reason Finnegan pops into my mind when trying to think of an NFL comp. Liked what I saw of Prater for sure.
The rest of my observations will be covered in Pt. 2.
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