Senior Bowl Sum-up

Doug Martin #22 (Robby Milo/The Arbiter)

The 63rd annual Senior Bowl Saturday in Mobile, Ala. was an opportunity for five former Boise State football players to showcase their versatile talents for NFL scouts and coaches.

Quarterback Kellen Moore started the game in an unfamiliar place—the bench.

The Boise signal-caller came into the game halfway through the second quarter and was never given an opportunity to get into a rhythm. Moore was sacked and forced into an early three and out and on his second possession of the game.

DeVier Posey and Marvin McNutt dropped what were easy touchdown receptions from the quarterback. Moore ended the game with six completions for 50 yards.

The major concerns about Moore are his lack of arm strength and inability to get outside the pocket and extend plays. NFL analyst Charles Davis said he believes Moore can be effective.

“Because of anticipation it looks like he has an arm,” Davis said. “Moore is a guy that coaches will trust to run their offense.”

Moore is predicted to be selected in the late rounds of the upcoming NFL draft.

Tailback Doug Martin made the biggest impact on his draft stock this week, showing NFL coaches what Bronco fans have known for the past three seasons.

“He is the best back at the Senior Bowl,” Davis said.

Martin impressed coaches all week with his pass blocking, pass receiving, kickoff returns, punt coverage and, of course, his ability to run the ball.

In Saturday’s game Martin’s downfield blocking sprung Gerell Robinson for a touchdown.

“He’s a guy who plays with a lot of energy,” Minnesota Viking and North Head Coach Leslie Frazier said. “He seems to have the ability to do just about whatever you ask him to do.”

Martin finished the game with 19 yards rushing on four carries and returned one kick off for 25 yards. The stat line may not stand out, but it was Martin’s versatility that has allowed him to build up momentum and improve his draft stock. At the start of the week Martin was considered among the top 10 tailbacks in the draft, after Saturday’s game there are talks about him being the second tailback taken.

At defensive tackle, Billy Winn intrigued scouts earlier in the week and had some buzz floating around him.

“Billy Winn is a real active defensive tackle,” NFL networks’s Mike Mayock said.

George Iloka had an interception during the week of practice leading up the Senior Bowl, but didn’t stand out on Saturday.

The hometown kid Shea McClellin was moved from his traditional position of outside linebacker/defensive end to inside linebacker.

Playing at any position needed and working with hall of fame linebacker Mike Singletary he showed scouts why he was so valuable to the Broncos’ defense.

“I feel like I’m getting better and better every day,” McClellin said.

The Senior Bowl is just the beginning for many of these young men who have dreams of making an NFL roster.  The North team won the game 23 to 13 but all the seniors who participated benefited from the experience, the five Broncos will work to continue to impress as the evaluation phase continues and the NFL draft approaches.

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Posted by Wyatt Martin on Jan 30 2012. Filed under Sports, Sub Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.