A pair of receivers stood out this morning; Kevin Curtis
and Bobby Wade. Curtis is a natural
receiver that caught everything thrown his way and dove all over the field to
make the reception. His route
running skills are outstanding as is his sense of timing; the problem is speed
or lack thereof. Bobby Wade also
had a solid pass catching session in the morning.
One player that turned heads was Mike Pinkard, who filled
in for the injured LJ Smith. Pinkard
immediately became the best tight end for either team when he stepped on the
field yesterday. His athleticism is
apparent and he was solid as a pass catcher or blocker.
Another replacement that did reasonably well was Tully
Banta-Cain who replaced a pair of injured defensive ends for the North (Terrance
Martin and Calvin Pace). Banta-Cain
looked relatively effective on short notice and at the end of the session was
pulled aside by the Texans coaching staff who put him through a battery of
linebacker drills to assess if the Cal defensive end can play outside linebacker
in a three-four scheme.
One who past that acid test was Chris Kelsay as the former
NU defensive end spent much of the morning standing up over tackle and had a
fine practice.
A trio of linebackers picked up the pace today as Angelo
Crowell, Gerald Hayes all looked solid with Hayes and Crowell
having their best sessions of the week.
Running back Larry Johnson returned from the stomach flu
and did an exceptional job carrying the ball and catching it while Artose Pinner
also ran well.
None of the quarterbacks stood out; Kyle Boller was very
indecisive during scrimmage, Dave Ragone looks as though he’s still suffering
from the cabin fever left over from his senior season and Seneca Wallace needs
to put some touch on his throws rather than try to impress people by continuing
to fire the ball in there.
Finally a pair of corners were beaten unmercifully all
morning and saw their draft rankings dip. DeJaun
Groce was beaten several times for touchdowns but he had an MVP day compared to
Shane Walton who never turned back to the pass and was the favorite cornerback
to throw to during practice for the North quarterbacks.
------Tony Pauline- TFY Draft Preview