In some eyes, Nebraska’s Jared Crick is not a first round prospect and indeed is actually seen as overrated. This is a fantastic matchup against a big Wisconsin offensive line. With a good performance here, Crick can start to prove the doubters wrong.
Nebraska also has two prospects that should push for first round slots come April. Cornerback Alfonzo Dennard missed the first three weeks of the season with injury, but returned last week against Wyoming. He matches up against the son of former New York Jet Al Toon, the highly rated Nick Toon. Lavonte David is an undersized linebacker, but in the pass first NFL his stock will be higher than it would have been even four or five years ago.
Former North Carolina State quarterback Russell Wilson has hopes of playing quarterback at the next level despite being shorter than ideal (5’11”). Does he have the skill level to make it, or will he need to change position to make his pro dream a reality?
Nebraska
Jared Crick – defensive tackle – Crick started the game out very well. He got off a block early in the game and made a tackle for loss. However, after that things went downhill fast. He was unblocked on a pass play, but was unable to bring Russell Wilson down. Indeed, other than a tackle on a shovel pass (and even then after a decent gain), he just didn’t make any plays. In the Nebraska defensive scheme against the run he has two gap responsibility. The technique for this is to get your hands on the blocker and depending on which way the play goes, extend your arms, get off the block and hopefully make a play (‘stack and shed’). Crick was just unable to get his hands out and onto his blocker in time. Too many times he let his man into his body and he was then struggling in a big way. A number of times he was driven back three or four yards off the line of scrimmage. This game will be a major hit for his hopes of being a first round pick and he will need to rebound in a big way to stop his fall down draft boards.
Lavonte David – outside linebacker – at 216 lbs, David is an undersized linebacker and rather predictably he had his problems at times getting off blocks. However, he was able to make far more plays than Crick and his stock will probably remain about the same. At his size, it’s clear that getting off blocks is always going to be an issue. Therefore those teams that liked him coming into this game, probably still do. He had two sacks and a tackle for loss, showing he’s a fine athlete. He was better on plays away from him, where he was able to pick his way through traffic and make plays. On plays at him, he struggled to hold up. He’s far better suited going up against the Big XII’s spread offenses than the Big Ten’s power and as such at the next level he’ll be ideal for a team having some wide open offenses in their division.
Alfonzo Dennard – cornerback – Dennard wasn’t particularly tested as Wisconsin only threw the ball 20 times. He played more off coverage than Nebraska usually uses and I’m not sure it’s his strength. On one play with the safety inside, he had his back to the quarterback and when the receiver faked to go in but then ran an out route, he had to turn right around on the play. This meant the receiver was able to separate and comfortably make the catch. He also struggled to keep up with Nick Toon on an out and up. The outside receiver crossed inside and Toon went out and he was unable to get through that traffic to stay tight to Toon. Fortunately for him the pass was overthrown and incomplete. When he was up at the line, he didn’t press his man. In his stance before the play his hands are up, but right after the snap they fall and he’s better placed keeping them up and getting a jam on the receiver. It’s a little unfair to judge him too quickly as he’s just returned from injury. However, he didn’t look dominant and will need to improve.
Wisconsin
Russell Wilson – quarterback – the odds are stacked against Wilson making it as a quarterback at the next level. Every time a short signal caller is having success in the college game, Drew Brees name surfaces. Brees is the exception to the rule though and there haven’t been a great many NFL quarterbacks at 6’0” or under. Wilson is clearly a fine athlete and indeed has the athletic ability to move to another position, perhaps a slot receiver. His accuracy was fairly good, notably on the 46 yard post to Toon for a score. However, he did miss Toon who was open on an out and up. He short hopped a short out route when rolling right and was behind his man a couple of other occasions. That lack of pinpoint accuracy can at least partly be put down to him working with a new group of receivers, but is still of some concern. He’s going to need to play for a team that likes to move the pocket, to enable him to see down the field more effectively. That means he’ll only have half the field to work with, but Cam Newton is working in a half field offense, so I think the days of solely classic pocket and read the whole field quarterbacks in the NFL are gone. He’s going to need to commit to football, a question mark as he could still go back to baseball. He’s unlikely to be a high pick, but certainly if he keeps this level of play up, could push up into the mid rounds. He has more of a chance than ten years ago in the NFL and should a team decide to use an offense to suit his skills, his chances of making it do increase.
Nick Toon – wide receiver – Toon had four receptions on the night, including a 46 yard touchdown. He did a fine job on the play, particularly considering he had the safety to deal with in over the top coverage. He was able to eat up the cushion on the cornerback and actually got beyond him very quickly. He was then basically one on one with the safety, a matchup he should and indeed did win. He faked a corner route, but sharply came back to the post and got himself wide open. My big concern with Toon is his lack of ability to separate. On two other passes, that question mark was on show. On a short slant and a deeper corner route, he made the receptions but had defensive backs draped all over him. The concern at the next level against better players, is simply can he get open? Obviously the nice play on the touchdown shows he is a decent athlete, but the concern does still remain.
Kevin Zeitler – offensive guard – the Badgers had three offensive lineman drafted in April in John Moffitt (Seahawks, three starts so far), Bill Nagy (Cowboys, two starts this year) and Gabe Carimi (started the first two weeks, but currently sidelined with injury). This will only enhance Wisconsin’s reputation in producing top quality offensive lineman for the next level. Zeitler is the next in the production line and quite simply this was the best performance by a guard I’ve seen this year. The first thing to note is that Zeitler is a fine athlete and indeed he looks far more athletic than Moffitt. He was used as a pulling guard on numerous occasions and looked very mobile in the open field. He was even used to pull to his right in pass protection as they moved the pocket with Wilson. On the play he was up against a linebacker, but was able to mirror and hold him up comfortably. As a drive blocker, he was fantastic. He consistently moved people off the line throughout the game. His best play of the game was blocking two defenders at once! He got into the defensive tackle and was able to hold him up with his right hand, while getting his left hand onto Lavonte David and holding him up. He will move up boards in a big way if he continues this level of play.
Aaron Henry – free safety – this position is the toughest to ‘TV scout’ as for much of the time you can’t see deep centre field safeties. Fortunately with ABC’s big game of the week, there were some nice camera views from behind which helped a great deal. Henry had an interception and a pass breakup on the night. His breakup was a fine play, he had over the top coverage and got up nicely, getting his left hand in to knock the ball down. His interception was fairly simple, he had over the top coverage and the ball was thrown right at him. Now on the flip side, he did have a couple of negative plays. On a deep post early in the game, he was struggling to keep up with his man. He put his arm out to slow his man, which was a little dangerous in terms of perhaps getting flagged, but was a step behind on an overthrown ball. He also had some problems on a 28 yard reception by tight end Ben Cotton. He went with the wide receiver on a deep clearing post route and struggled to recover and close on Cotton after the catch. He did make some plays in the run game, notably setting the edge nicely on an option run late in the game. To really push up boards, he’s going to need to show he can cover man to man and this test may have to wait until the Senior Bowl as Wisconsin doesn't ask him to do this much.
Paul Emery - Paul Emery has been following the NFL Draft since the mid 80's and watches over 250 games a year in order to pick out the best ...
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