Five thoughts after watching the Senior Bowl a couple times:
1. Mel Kiper has Selvish Capers as one player who could be drafted by Washington in the second round. If that’s the case, I have one word: yikes. Capers did not impress me one bit, neither at right tackle nor at left. Too often he did not stay square to his opponent, which got him in trouble. He’d lunge at times and keep his head down when trying to engage other times. Based on this performance, I would not pick him in the second round — not if you want someone to come in and start. Maybe he looked better during the season.
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2. UMass’ Vladimir Ducasse wasn’t bad. He could take a year or two to develop, but he had more tools to work with and had a couple good punches. However, he occasionally did not stay square as well. But there was more to like with him and overall he was solid. He was the most impressive tackle in the game.
3. There were no other tackles worth mentioning from the Senior Bowl; at least not guys who could help immediately. Virginia Tech’s Ed Wang did little for me; his feet were too slow. Idaho guard Mike Iupati was a disappointment, but also intriguing. Here’s why: He moves very well when going downfield, so he’d be good at getting to the second level and sealing off backside pursuit for cutback runs. That’s a big plus. However, he seemed to hold every other play and too often lost leverage by standing too upright and not using his hands well enough. He always tried to muscle his guy out of the way rather than drive him and that would get him in trouble. But you could see the athleticism.
4. The quarterbacks I liked most were Cincinnati’s Tony Pike and Central Michigan’s Dan LeFevour. Both would take a few seasons to develop, but both had a better combination of poise in the pocket, good arms and enough athletcism. But both have flaws, too. Pike would get crunched in half in the NFL and needs to add about 15 pounds. Their footwork could be more consistent. West Virginia’s Jarrett Brown has a strong arm, but too often looks to run if his first option is removed. Heath Shuler was the same way. So Brown would best be served by staying on the sideline for a couple years before playing. But he does have talent and planted and threw as well as anyone at times.
5. There should be some decent running back choices in the fourth round, if they want to go that route. Oregon’s LeGarrette Blount had some nice powerful runs and made some good cuts. But he he runs a bit too upright and that could hurt him in the NFL. Auburn’s Ben Tate did as well, though he’s about 25 pounds lighter than Blount. Not to mention he does not have character concerns; Blount’s are pretty big. Fresno State’s Lonya Miller is the sort that Mike Shanahan likes: a guy who did not get a lot of carries for whatever reason in his final season (in this case, it was a better teammate ahead of him), but who has talent. Miller ran well during the game. Again, these are not second-round types. The Redskins could address other positions in the first two rounds (quarterback/tackle) and start looking for a back in the fourth. Lots of time to decide.
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