If you watched Tennessee’s games against Florida and Georgia — you’ll struggle to imagine anything could top those two for comebacks. However — this one against Texas A&M was a game of the season contender. An instant classic — containing one of the greatest defensive plays you’ll ever see.
We’ll come to that in a minute.
Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara was sensational. He had 127 yards rushing and 161 receiving including two scores.
He’s listed at 5-10 and 215lbs which is right in the ballpark for Seattle running backs. He gets skinny between the tackles but keeps his legs moving on contact to push the pile. He’s tough to bring down but also has a really nice burst. He’s not an exceptional ‘wow’ athlete but he takes very sudden, short steps and gets upfield quickly.
Kamara showed off really good hands in the passing game. On more than one occasion he was tossed an awkward looking screen pass (low to the turf, wide of the target) and managed to grab control of the football without breaking stride.
He kept the game alive in the fourth quarter with a brilliant 36-yard run on fourth and 1. He punched in the score shortly after to make it 35-28 and give the Vols a chance with time running out.
Cue the play of the weekend.
Texas A&M were driving to kill clock and close out the contest. Then suddenly — the running back breaks free. Game over? Surely.
Not so fast. Cue Malik Foreman…
Tennessee never gives up. Malik Foreman keeps the game alive for UT. #TENNvsTAMU https://t.co/0ltvyfZYGk
— Scott Kennedy (@ScoutKennedy) October 8, 2016
What a play. Instead of game over, Tennessee gets the ball at the 20. And Kamara was there again helping the Vols drive 80-yards before tying the game with another great catch and run — driving through tackles to cross the goal line:
It all counted for nothing in the end as the Aggies won 45-38 in overtime but what a game. And it shouldn’t diminish Kamara’s efforts or the remarkable play by Foreman. This was a classic.
I’m sure Kamara’s tape will be on Draft Breakdown soon it was that impressive. Watch him for the rest of the season. If the Seahawks look to add another back to their stable in 2017 — Kamara ticks a lot of the boxes they look for. Physical, multi-dimensional, athletic and quick. He’s tough and has the size they look for. Plus he’s not a bad blocker either:
He’s a former four-star recruit and was being touted as a NFL prospect before the season started. He looked the part today and has done in flashes during TEN’s other close SEC games. For balance he did have a fumble (one of seven Tennessee turnovers in the game) after a long +50-yard catch-and-run. It was careless but typically followed a great initial play.
Elsewhere, Texas A&M safety Justin Evans had another terrific game. He’s a top-20 pick. His key plays included an interception and a crucial (at the time) third down pass break-up over the middle (WR caught it, Evans jarred it loose with the hit). He is very similar to Karl Joseph the #14 pick this year.
Tennessee EDGE Derek Barnett didn’t have the kind of impact he had against Florida or Georgia but had a consistent if not explosive game. He had a couple of pressures but surprisingly also did a lot of dropping into coverage. On one play he dropped to cover the slot receiver, mirrored him downfield and had the pass break-up. Nobody would accuse Barnett of being a fluid athlete but he actually did a good job here tracking for a good 20-yards. Could he be more impressive at the combine than expected?
Texas A&M EDGE Myles Garrett came into the game hurt and it showed — he battled through but had to be spelled and was limping at the end. He still managed some impact plays including an early sack/fumble. He stood out playing at probably around 50% healthy with an ankle problem.
Garrett’s partner on the opposite side Daeshon Hall also had a good game and he’s finding some momentum. I’m not sure on the official numbers but he had at least one sack, two passes deflected and a fumble recovery. He came into the game with three sacks in the previous two weeks. He’s long at 6-6 and about 260lbs and he could do with adding another 15lbs and becoming more of an inside/out type on the D-line. He’s not a special speed rusher off the edge but has a nice combination of burst, length and size.
He’d make a great DE/DT type if he can carry the extra weight. He’s from Seattle for what it’s worth and has a cool personality. He could be an interesting project for the Seahawks. He has the edge to his game, the physicality. He plays with heavy hands and contains the edge well vs the run. His hand placement could be better. You’ve got to have good hand technique at the next level if you’re not Myles Garrett as an athlete. Here are some highlights:
I endured Notre Dame vs NC State earlier — played during Hurricane Matthew with a storm to match. The game should’ve been postponed. It’s impossible to judge most of the players as a consequence. Yet NC State’s running back Matt Dayes had the star turn — somehow running for 126 yards at 5.5 YPC. That might as well be 1000 yards at 176 YPC given the conditions. He carried the offense on his back and like Kamara has a nice squatty, physical frame with good burst and the ability to get skinny through the tackles but still play with power.
A lot of people will focus on the big names in this RB class but don’t sleep on Kamara and Dayes. Both could work into the second or third round range.
I’ll also say — this is starting to look like a potentially loaded 2017 draft class with star talent at the top of round one and plenty of depth. The only position without a great deal of depth is offensive tackle — and that’s part of the problem the entire NFL is having right now. There just aren’t that many good offensive tackles in college — and there certainly aren’t many playing in the pro’s. This issue is not just confined to the Pacific North West — and it’s why the Seahawks are working so closely with projects like Garry Gilliam and George Fant.
Another quick note — blog favourite Jehu Chesson (WR, Michigan) scored a nice touchdown today vs Rutgers:
HIGHLIGHT: Jehu Chesson hauls in a 30-yard touchdown pas from Wilton Speight. (via @BigTenNetwork)#GoBlue ยป https://t.co/6ihs3DyOxK
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) October 9, 2016
And I don’t have access to Washington @ Oregon, in case you’re wondering…
Texas A&M have the best DE duo in CFB IMO.
Daeshon Hall is indeed a very cool player. Love the violence he plays with. He’s actually 270. Or at least that’s wat his profile says on CFBstats.com which is an awesome site BTW. He flashed last year for us too if I remember right. When he had that breakout game against Arizona St week 1? But he was very inconsistent.
Love how he plays his run fits. That’s next level stuff.
And Tennessee RB Alvin Kamara might be my new man crush. Again, what a dynamic weapon. Originally was at ‘Bama then went to a JUCO school. Hutchinson, which after MGCCC is probably the best one.
I’d take Kamara over McCaffrey, Curtis Samuel, etc. Love his forward lean and that burst in the open field is so dope.
He’s a cool player too. Love his personality. Gotta watch his IV’s Rob. Different kind of cat, but loves the game and is always upbeat.
Pettis channeling his inner Doug Baldwin. What a one handed catch. He’s gonna catch on somewhere in the NFL.
I think your right. I like him as a late day 3 option. He definetly has a ‘Seahawky’ vibe.
Damn, didn’t know Udub was playing college hoops tonight.
This whole team showed up tonight Dottson and #22 I thinks it’s Coleman having career games. Gaskin, Ross, Pettis #deathrowd. Deepest Washington squad I’ve ever seen.
Forgot to mention the obvious Jake Browning 22/28 6TD and added to rushing TD’s breaking the school record.
Also, loved that Peterson pulled Gasking after the first half. Keeping his players healthy.
My 2 favorite DEs in this year are Carl Lawson and Derek Barnett. Love Myles Garrett but he’s going too high for SEA to have any real shot at drafting him.
Thinking about it, Kamara had over 300 yards of offense, if we factor in his yardage on punt returns.
I haven’t watched Matt Dates yet, recommended though? Rob?
Yep definitely
Gotta check him out then.
I tried finding some of his tape a couple weeks ago, but nothing came up. Hopefully there is after today.
Udub WR John Ross is having an incredible game. He’s not just a burner or deep threat anymore. He’s close to the full package now. His strength is still taking the top off the defense.
You’ve dubbed him (no pun intended) DJax 2.0.
He reminds me of a combo of Tyler Lockett and Percy Harvin.
If the OL continues to gel and Sowell continues to play well and improve, which I think he will someone like Ross could be a serious consideration for the Hawks. I think a lot of Sowell’s early season struggles were communication related and actually loved one of his holding calls I think it was from the Dolphins game, but he straight up pancakes a dude while in pass protection and it wasn’t much of a hold either.
What about the Pettis kid for UW he seems to be very very good
The player that stood out to me, jumped off the screen…. Jomon Dotson. That kid can fly.
Dotson looked great.
How about Gaskin? 197 yrs in the first half. Pretty impressive and he runs with amazing power for a small back. Loved the fact that Peterson pulled him keeping the team healthy.
Love Gaskin. Loved him last season. Love him more this year. Reminds me of Paul Perkins, but grittier and able to run between the tackles better.
Rob, what do you think of this Miami O-line?
So, should Browning be on the Heisman watch-list now? 6 Passing and 2 rushing TDs today.
B/R think he does.
A number popped out to me reviewing the highlights from the day…
Junior 5’11 / 220 lbs FSU RB Dalvin Cook had over 100 yards after contact.
Does he look like a solid pro prospect ?
He’s been compared to Jamaal Charles, but bigger. If he has Charles 4.36 Speed or better. He’s going to be sick
Best back in the country behind LSU’s Leonard Fournette. I for one don’t think much separates them in teams of talent.
Brad Kayaa had a back tooth knocked out. He trotted over to the trainer, plopped it in his hand and returned to the field.
Got a couple for you guys.
Marcus Allen Safety Penn State had 22 tackles last week
Allenzae Staggers WR Southern Miss. Averaging 27 ypc this year after transferring from EMCC (Last Chance U)
Mitch Trubisky QB UNC has been insanely efficient this year, to start.
Ifeadi Odenigbo DE Nwestern has a grip of sacks so far
Ejuan Price DE PITT 6th year senior missed a ton of time with litany injuries could be a sinker
Price leads the nation in sacks.
On a side now, Washington’s Jake Browning leads the nation in passing touch downs with 23, just ahead of Cals’ David Webb who has 22.
Webb’s success makes Goff seem more and more like just the product of a system.
I like Marcus Allen. Big, strong kid. Seattle has scouted Penn St this year too.
Price reminds me so much of Elvis Dumervil.
Allenzae Staggers? Is that a character from a ‘Key N’ Peele’ skit?
Trubisky was awful yesterday. 3 TO’s had like a 34% completion percentage, and his feet were scatter-shot. VA-Tech had a great defensive gameplan, but nothing exotic. Little worrisome honestly. And this VA-Tech D isn’t exactly loaded with NFL talent like they typically are.
EMCC Go Lions!!
How about Wazzu DL Hercules Mata’afa? 6’3, 255 lbs., lines up at 3-tech, raw power man.
He destroyed Stanford last night. That kid is the real deal.
Coming off a freshman all american season.
Go look at his high school tape. Serious speed coming off the snap. Like, he’s already helping the QB up off the ground before the RB gets the handoff haha. He’s just now starting to figure out he can be physical too
Boy, the NFL can just be riveting at times. Yeah right.
Jets and Steelers? Really NFL? The 49ers in prime time? Just stop.
Love the story lines, but man it can be soooo boring. Watch a good Saturday of CFB, and a day like today in the pro ranks? Doesn’t even compare.
The NFL has taken all the big hits out of the game. There’s no rivalries anymore. No personalities. No one knows what a catch is. The only way to score points anymore? Deep shot, deep shot, and a PA deep shot. It’s just sloppy football.
Worst of all, where are all the personalities and characters? They want everyone to walk around like robots, show zero emotion, and are trying to turn these guys into baseball players.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, since the Eagles are my second favorite team (going back to the halcyon days of Jaws, Willie Montgomery and Harold Carmichael), but it’s nice to watch DET put it to them today and help SEA work closer to a home field playoff scenario.
Sucks for me because both my teams have a bye this week. Seattle and KC.
They have made so many celebrations penable. Michael Bennett wants the NFLPA to potentially hire a non-player president like a former CEO.
These players deserve better.
Cam Newton had a taunting penalty for throwing the ball at a player and signaling first down. Then he took a head to head at the goalline. It’s a crazy world of football
It really is. And don’t get me wrong. I love the NFL, but I 100% understand why their ratings have taken a nose dive.
Cam Newton is a great example BTW Kenny. He’s the guy you love to hate. Although, as we know, I like him, but we’ve had that discussion.
Maybe the most talented athlete in America. Maybe the best athlete to play QB
Thursday night football is an abomination anymore.
Phil Simms touting Drew Stanton as a great QB with great attributes 10 seconds before CBS flashes a graphic that says Stanton has the 2nd worst completion passage of all active QBs. Blaine Gabbert constantly sailing the ball over open receivers.
A first quarter with awful offensive play and Nance seemingly begging the audience not to change the channel, then glibly chastising the audience in the 3rd quarter, “see I told you if you stayed long enough a good game would break out!”
Enough.
Didn’t get a chance to watch any CFB games yesterday but I caught up on the box scores and watched as much highlights as I could.
Texas secondary may not be much to watch, but Dede Westbrook put on some sort of show yesterday. Constantly breaking away from his defender and catching some nicely thrown passes in stride. Wish I’d been able to watch the whole game.
Speaking of OU, and in light of Rob’s interesting piece on Mixon, I’ve always been a fan of Samaje Perine. I just like the cut of his jib. Thick, powerful, hard to tackle, full effort, no red flags. Add 2TDs and 214 yds on 35 carries vs TX. He could be a bell cow back, or work in a RBBC.
Kudos to UW on their successful duck hunt. This team is loaded for bear. Shades of 1991.
I’ve been missing ya on these open threads come Saturday my man. Sometimes I feel like I’m talking to myself. ?
CFB playoff I think will be ‘Bama, Clemson, Udub, and the winner of the Ohio St vs Michigan game.
As a Udub and ‘Bama fan, I kinda want us to play Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan squad.
Gaskin, Gaines, Ross looked best to me. Not sold on Browning necessarily
Paxton Lynch looks very shaky and distraught in his first start. No command of the line and he’s getting pummeled out there
Usually Kubiak does a great job by allowing his players to play to their strengths. Not today. He’s not helping Lynch by not moving the pocket for him.
Now I see why Denver went with Trevor Siemian at QB. Paxton Lynch is nowhere near ready yet.
Finally Atlanta’s Vic Beasley has shown up. First time he’s looked and played like a top 10 pick to me.
I’ll take our D over Denver’s every day of the week. They got a better pass rush, but not by much. We got the better secondary, but not by much. Our run D vs theirs? Not even close. They can’t hang with us in that regard.
Freeman and Coleman catching passes outta the backfield is a little concerning, but I like our chances to shut that down with Bwagz and KJ. And QB ‘ Matty Ice’ is straight ?when in a rhythm. Don’t let him get in one and he’s awful.
So is ATL for real, or are they like last year’s version – fast out of the gate but headed for a major slump?
I guess next week will tell us more.
Good question. I’m not sold on them yet for the reason you mention, but I do think they win their division this year.
Next weeks game reminds me of the Monday night game at home against NO from 2014. Everyone loved that offense, same with ATL right now, but we all know how that one ended.
*2013.
Did you watch the game V12? How did Okung look?
I did watch that game, yes.
Okung struggled against DE Adrian Clayborn. But Denver’s O-line in general was awful.
RT Ty Sambrailo got worked man. I do think he’s playing hurt so that could be why, but he looked abysmal. Really bad.
I like Denver’s C Matt Paradis from Boise St. Highly underrated and you can tell he was coached well and is extremely smart. Could bode well for our guy Rees Odhiambo.
BUF leading LAR 23-19 with about 6 mins left in the game. Adolphus Washington got the start and is having quite a day for the Bills. A sack, a pass blocked and at least a couple of hurries.
Looks like LAR will lose their second game this year.
Thank god. Buffalo did us a solid. They’re playing well right now.
Oh yeah, LA CB Trumaine Johnson looks like he could be done for the year. Thery’re thinking it’s a fractured fibula, but are hoping it’s a high ankle sprain.
And they cut Sensabaugh last night after signing him to a nice deal this offseason. Ouch.
Florida St RB Dalvin Cook, my personal favorite back, leads the country in 3 categories. Top 15-20 pick IMO.
He’s the leading rusher amongst all P5 teams
Leads the country in all purpose yards
Leads the nation in yards from scrimmage.
This is a guy who was getting shut down in the run game for the first 3 weeks of the season, but during each of those 3 games, had at least 100 yds receiving.
The future wave of NFL offenses is having 2-3 versatile RBs, 3-4 slot receivers, and a big TE or possession guy.
And 2 guards and a center. No OT’s so more skill players on the field.
You know what. Let’s just do 7 on’s
Is this sarcasm?
No Way! I’m sick of the ground and pound that has run rampant in this version of the NFL.
THATS NOT FOOTBALL!!!
That’s why all the best players are getting hurt.
Go Niners!
Got cha. I just thought I’d ask because it’s hard to convey sarcasm in font without emojis or something, ya know?
But… Go Niners?
That part was srs. ?
Hey, Rob! I do not know if you’ve analyzed his tape already, but UW WR Pettis seems to be an amazing receiver as well. Check out his one handed snag in the UWvsUO game – seems to make plenty of consistent catches in traffic as well.
2017 FA
Haushka
L. Wilson
Sowell
Michael
2018 FA
Bennett
Graham
Chancellor
Webb
Britt
Marsh
Richardson
If Sowell continues to develop, do you pay him? Pay Hauska 4+ million? Pay Michael to compliment? Extend contracts for Bennett/Graham/Chancellor/Britt?
Keep an eye on this kid.
Oregon St CB Treston DeCoud- 6’3, 208 lbs., former JUCO guy.
2016 stats: 31 tackles, 4 PBU, 2 INTs, 2 TFL
Against Cal and their 2 profilic WRs Chad Hansen and FR sensation Demetris Anderson, he was targeted 14 times and only gave up 4 receptions on 28 yards. In 4 games this year, he’s allowed less than 30 yards receiving.
On passes thrown his direction, he’s allowed a 7.4 QB rating. Best of any PAC 12 corner, which is impressive considering the talent at CB in that conference.
A buddy of mine that works for a football site said this cat is a flat-out freak.
He sounds exciting
Lost his grandma this summer and says he plays for his little brother who is currently in jail.
*HTML test on old thread
Just a test.