I saw Marty Magid, the agent for Keith Jackson (DT-Arkansas), who I talked to when he had Antwan Burton in last year's game. He's also representing Jon Beason (LB-Miami), and we hope to get Beason for an extended interview on the audible. Magid also has Sam Olajubutu (LB-Arkansas) in this year's game and clued me in on a new signee, junior DT from NW Mississippi C.C., Walter Thomas. Marty said he runs 4.8 at somewhere around 6'6" 340 - I'm interested to hear how his workouts go.

The teams combined for this practice, and they broke into two groups where each team had one complete unit - East Offense against West Defense and West Offense against East Defense. I went to watch East Offense against West Defense and Cecil watched the West Offense against East Defense. Just then I ran into Marty again, this time with Keith Jackson, the great Eagles TE, and Keith graciously gave me a few minutes of his time. The audio will be on the Audible with the rest of our interviews and practice reports - Keith was a jovial, warm guy, and he talked to me for a few minutes after I stopped recording. I said his son surprised me with his quickness at times, suggesting he might even work as a one-gapper at times instead of a nose tackle, which is what he looks like, but Keith insisted that his son was a nose tackle all the way. He laughed telling the story of a teenage Keith Jr. thinking he was going to be a QB or RB, and Dad asking him to put his hand on the ground, then telling him "That's your position!".

A passing drill of just QB/RB/WR vs. LB/DB was the first telling stretch of the day. It's the passing fantasy skill positions with the effect of the line stripped away, which is good because sometimes the OL doesn't give the QBs time to make throws in 11 on 11, which in turn covers up what you might see if they threw to the WRs and TEs. 11 on 11s, which really turned up the volume and emotion, followed the passing drill before the practice came to a close.

David Ball (UNH) seemed nervous dropping three balls early on. I'm starting to think our enthusiasm for him Monday was based more on him being a fundamentally sound WR who can just turn it on instantly outclassing players who needed to get "warmed up" more than anything else. By the end of these three days, Ball was probably the 3rd best WR on the East despite being near the top on day one. He made a few sprawling catches, showing his body control and displayed those natural hands once he got over the drops. I interviewed Ball on Monday.

Jacoby Jones (Lane College) kept up his momentum from day two. Jones was physical, fighting through jams without slowing down in this drill, catching nearly everything, and showing good athleticism, RAC ability, and speed throughout the drill. The quickness he displayed in his routes left DBs reeling and grasping at air. In the 11 on 11, he made a diving catch at the sidelines with Tyron Brackenridge (Wash St) draped all over him, and sprung up telling Tyron "That's a Catch! That's a Catch!" Brackenridge barked something like "You Crazy!" back at him. The heat was definitely turned up today. Jones also showed acumen fielding punts, a skill that I did not know he possessed. Jones also showed good knee bend going down to get a low pass instead of bending at the waist, which allowed him to catch a ball just above the ground with ease and stay on his feet. Cecil interviewed Jones earlier this week. John Murphy, from the Shrine Game selection committee (and one of the guys that introduced the world to Marques Colston at last year's game), gave me an estimate of where Jones draft stock is right now. You might be surprised. Tune in to the Audible to hear it.

Jayson Swain (Tennessee) continued to be a notch below the rest of the East class in athletic ability and executing his routes. Brackenridge, who struggled in coverage all week, jumped an out route of Swain, and picked off a Drew Tate pass that would have been an easy TD the other way in a game. Swain has not seemed especially quick, fast, or consistent. He did limp off the field on Monday only to return to practice later, so he might just be hurt. I interviewed Swain after Monday's practice.

Syvelle Newton (South Carolina) is an impressive athlete at WR. Newton showed great quickness and toughness all week, and his hands and routes improved as the week went on. He's a raw QB to WR (with some safety in there too) convert, and he's one to stash away both for fantasy and an NFL team. I interviewed Newton after practice today, and he is hungry and ready to do whatever it takes to make a team, saying he'd play at any skill position on either side of the ball. Newton made a sensational spin move to elude a defender during 11 on 11s.

Steve Breaston (Michigan) was the most outstanding player of the day at any position. This is a good place for me to confess that I have expectations of players coming into these practices. I've watched a lot of these guys, and read up on all of them. My preconceived notion about Breaston was that his main value was going to be as a top notch return specialist, and his possible upside of a slot WR was a bonus because he never caught my eye in Wolverine games this year - I was too busy pictured Mario Manningham as a future stud in the NFL. Cecil reminded me early on in the week that Breaston was once hyped as one of the best WRs in the country. Today, he played like it. Breaston made at least 3 or 4 diving grabs (catching passes from Drew Tate 1/3 of the time can cause that). He had exceptional quicks, enough so that a few of the breaks in his routes drew oohs and aahs from the crowd. He showed great ability to improvise running after the catch. He caught a deep fade over the shoulder. He was in the zone for most of the practice. I wanted to talk to Steve after this clinic he put on but could not catch him after practice today. Hedid not stand out to me this year, but he stood out today and took a big step up in my book, maybe just my unfairly low expectations being corrected.

So, a couple more sideline anecdotes about conversations I had during these drills. I talked to a Bengals scout. I have a fascination with the WR4 position for dynasty leagues because 1) Houshmandzadeh gets hurt and 2) Henry gets in trouble. Tab Perry seemed to really be coming along before hurting his hip. I asked the scout about Perry's hip, and he said the team is still waiting to find out how he'll be when he comes back. Not encouraging months after the accident if true. The scout emphatically said yes when I asked if the team would then pursue Kelley Washington in his free agent year. I had to ask if they were going to change their scouting philosophy after the numerous arrests. He said, "we're paid to win games, not build character. Would you rather have Chris Henry playing for you, or against you?" I told him that as a diehard Steeler fan, I hated seeing Henry on the other side of the ball. I asked if Odell Thurman was being made the example. He said "the first rule of survivor is don't eliminate yourself".

Later on I talked to Terence Alexander, an ILB from Louisiana Tech, who was trying to meet people to help his chances of getting drafted in April. He was a very nice kid, but you could tell he had a hint of desperation watching these practices happen without him in them. He said "I don't know what I would do without football" I asked him about Ryan Moats, and he said Moats was a good friend, although they had lost touch. Cecil insisted that Moats still has the potential to be good and is just having confidence issues in Philly. Alexander's comments backed this up, telling me that Moats had confidence issues at La Tech when he was a backup, and wasn't convinced that he was good even in his standout
2004 campaign.

I'm sorry to break it to my fellow dynasty players that the best of the East RBs is a guy who will probably never make much of a fantasy impact. Jason Snelling (Virginia) is a great Swiss army knife RB. He seems like he could play RB, FB and H-back and not miss a beat. He runs with power and efficiency. He is a mean lead blocker, and he's got good hands. Cecil agreed that Nick Goings was a good comparison for Snelling.

Tyrone Moss (Miami) was a player that Cec and I debated constantly this week. Lammey believes Moss can be a 1,000 yard back at the next level. I have to say I was skeptical coming into this week. Moss does not have great suddenness or burst - this is pretty indisputable. I interviewed Moss Tuesday, and he said the knee that he tore an ACL in the 2005 season is 100% and not affecting him. Moss is a natural power and powerful runner, and Cecil was quick to point out that he made good moves in small spaces to find openings. I wasn't really sold on Moss except for his hands coming into today (which Moss said he considered one of his weaknesses in the interview), but he surprised me by getting to the corner twice today, more on making a great read than having a great burst, and getting small to get through a hole. I'll say this for Moss - I can't shake the feeling that he's not explosive enough to really make a difference at the next level, but he was the most natural RB of the 2007 Shrine Game class.

Steve Baylark (UMass) and Alonzo Coleman (Hampton) just did not impress except for a few moments. Baylark had some nice catches mixed in with some bad drops all week. Today he had a lot of trouble getting through trash at the line of scrimmage and was tripped up more than once. I don't see anything to be encouraged by in Baylark. Coleman is shifty and seemed more dangerous in space, but he got swallowed up when he ran inside. He did flatten Kyle Shotwell (LB-Cal Poly) with what looked like a forearm shiver when he tried to jam him in the passing drill. I'll be surprised if either of these guys make a roster.

Time for another sideline anecdote. Tuesday I spoke at length with Robert Burks, a financial adviser for Merrill Lynch who represents and scouts players in the mid-Atlantic region. He scouts the ACC and small school like Hampton. He was very interested in Travarious Bain (DB) and Justin Durant (LB) along with Coleman, the Hampton trio. Burks represents Antoine Bethea, a standout rookie safety who will start in the AFC Championship game for the Colts. He told me a great story about draft day with the Bethea family. Bethea was told that he was a legit 2nd round talent, but he did have some character concerns. The entire first day passed. At the beginning of the second day, Burks took Bethea out to breakfast to get his mind off of his draft misfortune. They got back during the fifth round. Burks was nodding off waiting for Bethea's name to be called. They had set up couches and TVs in the garage, the official draft party zone. By the time Bethea's name flashed on the screen, Antoine was upstairs talking to coach Tony Dungy and Burks ran upstairs with half the neighborhood to congratulate him. Such a disappointing draft day turns into one of the best seasons by any rookie this year and a shot at a Super Bowl ring.

The East QBs were pretty disappointing as a whole.

The first impression you get from Matt Gutierrez (Idaho State) is that he just looks like an NFL QB. He's tall, but solidly built, not lanky, and flashes surprising athleticism, His release isn't pretty, but it's generally effective, and he can get some zip on the ball. Today was probably his worst day of the three, having some throws come up short and showing some bad habits and instincts under pressure. I did get to interview Matt today about his experience this week at the practices.

The poor quality of Drew Tate's (Iowa) play became a running joke between me and Cec as the week went on. Tate was indecisive again on Wednesday. He again sprayed the ball all over the place. His ineffective play stuck out like a sore thumb. He made some nice throws here and there, but he was clearly #6 out of the 6 QBs at the practices in my book.

Lester Ricard (Tulane) has a long, tall frame, but doesn't seem athletic. I overheard some older scouts talking about possible intangible problems with Ricard, the name Tony Banks was mentioned. Ricard's low release point was more consistent today, with less flutter balls, but the ball still tended to come up short. He does have arm strength, but it's hard to see it through the inaccuracy.

Another sidebar... I talked to Sonny Shah, the CEO of 320 Sports, a sports management company that represents small school players and also publishes a magazine. I talked to him with another guy from 320 in the booth last year at the Shrine Game. This year, Sonny has Daren Stone, a DB from Maine that is about 6'3" 215, but can supposedly run in the low 4.5's/high 4.4s, and hasn't even done that much training yet. John Murphy singled Stone out as a guy whose stock could really rise at the combine. Sonny assured me that Stone, who got a combine invite in the first round given out, would be in the 4.4's. We hope to get an extended interview with Stone for The Audible.

Getting back to the action, TE Ben Patrick (Delaware) had another great day catching the ball, laying out for a few catches, and again lining up as a wide receiver. I am taking special notice of Patrick for fantasy because it's clear that receiving is his main asset - whatever team takes him should be planning on using him as a weapon in the passing game. Brent Celek (Cincinnati) made some nice catches today, but he doesn't look strong enough as a blocker or receiver to have a chance to start in the NFL.

I can't get nearly as in depth about the defense - my eye was on the skill players for most of the drills, and I only noticed defenders and OL when they were getting beat (Brackenridge, John Wendling (Wyoming) at times, Dashon Goldson (Washington), Doug Free (OT-NIU) on Tuesday), or when they were making plays - Brian Robison (DE-Texas - who had a great week) bullrushing a much larger Mario Henderson, Kyle Shotwell (LB-Cal Poly) intercepting a pass, C.J. Wilson (CB-Baylor) sticking to receivers like glue, Goldson showing great recovery speed and hitting when he wasn't getting beat and Desmond Bishop "Tutu" (LB-Cal) still making hits without a helmet. I will say the West defense was far and away the most pumped up crew of the four, and had developed strong camaraderie over just a few days. They seemed to rally around guys with fiery attitude like Robison, Bishop, and Goldson.

NFL Day ended after over two hours of blood, sweat, and guts being spent on the field. The players gathered with their position groups and got some last words from their coaches. Mike Singletary continued to give instruction after the press was talking to the players, first to Kyle Shotwell, and then to Quincy Black. This guy just loves to coach. Congrats if your team ends up hiring him as a head coach. Cecil got to interview Singletary while I was interviewing West coach Dan Reeves, a warm humble man who seemed to be uncomfortable when I introduced him as an all-time NFL coaching great. We talked to John Murphy for a few minutes on tape and he broke down some of the players who made the biggest impact this week as the last players filtered out of the bubble. I am already looking forward to revisiting this great annual event next year - early word is that the game may move to St. Louis.

See you next week at the Senior Bowl.