He dropped a couple passes early and didn't have a whole lot of running room yesterday. Still think he might be a late round pick because the knock on him will be similar to Adams last year in that he can run away from people when he's got a lane. He didn't show he can make people miss too often and his pass catching skills were never a strength.
It actually boggles my mind that Notre Dame hasn't been able to have a running back who has really been a weapon as a receiver out of the backfield for years.
Granted he did drop a couple of passes in the 1St half but he looked great in the 3rd quarter and scored a Td on an excellent run. I didn't see the 4th.
He got 11 carries but only picked up 39 yards with those carries. That's not great production.
The drops are what the scouts will remember b/c he only had 22 catches in his career at ND. He looked uncomfortable in the passing game from my view.
He's still far from a finished product which is why I am thinking late rounds for him.
The hopeful news is that he was the best rb during practice week. His first few runs he really didn't have a chance and all the rbs looked better in the 2nd half. I think he was thrown only a couple passes and one was literally a 5 yard dart right at him when he didn't have much chance but he didn't show anything in the passing game.
I would agree that he would have to show a lot more leading up to the draft to get to be a 2nd day pick. Most likely, he is a 3rd day guy.
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For instance, Carson Wentz is not the #2 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft without the Senior Bowl.
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These guys get a chance they wouldn't otherwise have to show off their football skills as well as other subjective skills like effort, smarts, leadership etc.
The risk of "bad" critique (as well as injury) is low because the alternative is just a player's film or what other people say about the player versus getting a chance to make a 1st impression in a football setting. The upside potential is more valuable than the downside risk, i.e., Williams isn't going to get downgraded because he only averaged 3.5 yards per carry versus making a very positive impression in practice. Most of the coaches don't even stay for the game.
The game itself is pretty pointless(the tension than your typical all-star game) except for Reese's who gets 2 plus hours of pure promotion. Games rules are pretty limiting, .i.e no blitzing, only 3 or 4 secondary coverage schemes are allowed, limited offensive packages, no shifting/motion etc, so you don't get real game conditions.
Except for the qbs, fewer than 10 of these guys will go in the 1st two days. Lots of unheralded players, smaller schools, lower exposure and guys who aren't going to get invited to the combine. And they do get to show off their football skills in practice setting. which works for guys like Tranquil, Coney and Williams who won't wow at combine type skills but are good football players.
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