Alabama dominates sloppy Mississippi State
Mississippi State center Elgton Jenkins has been touted as a possible top-50 pick. This is not a tape for the NFL scouts to enjoy. He was nervous and edgy all night, consistently mistiming the snaps and had two ugly reps against Quinnen Williams.
With 2:06 left in the first quarter, Williams swam by Jenkins for a big sack. He made it look easy. Williams used a similar swim move to explode into the backfield for a TFL vs the run later on. Jenkins had no counter, no answer. He was struggling to focus on snapping the ball. Williams was in his head.
He also had a bad rep against Raekwon Davis in the fourth quarter. Davis easily bench-pressed him at the LOS to create separation then sprinted into the backfield to tackle quarterback Nick Fitzgerald for a TFL (the call was a QB run).
It goes without saying these days but Quinnen Williams is destined for the top-10 if he declares. Davis may join him. Jenkins will have to convince teams he won’t be a liability at the next level. It wasn’t a good look against his toughest opponent.
Isaiah Buggs had a big TFL on a shotgun run play on 3rd and 1. Buggs exploded off the snap and hammered the running back in the backfield. He took some snaps inside too — a gift from Nick Saban considering Buggs might have to kick inside at the next level. He also recorded a sack to take his tally to 9.5 for the season.
Mississippi State lacked any kind of composure. They constantly made mistakes and failed to execute. A special teams fumble, two flags taking a pair of touchdowns off the board, a missed field goal, botched fourth down attempts. This had the potential to be an interesting game but it ended up being a saunter for Alabama. They never had to get out of second gear.
Alabama left tackle Jonah Williams consistently appears in the top-10 of mock drafts. I don’t get it. On the final play of the first quarter he was jolted off balance by a one-handed punch to the chest and didn’t have the balance or agility to recover. Chauncey Rivers worked by him and got to the quarterback for a sack. It wasn’t good from Williams. He shouldn’t be jolted off balance like that, allowing a player like Rivers to win inside. I’m concerned by the way he handles the inside counter and he doesn’t seem to have the length to play inside-out. On another play, Montez Sweat just shook Williams off with a straight forward disengage using his superior length to keep him off his frame, separate and then chase down the ball carrier.
Williams has always looked like a guard to me, not a top-10 left tackle. He just doesn’t have the frame, length or the look of a NFL left tackle. I wouldn’t trust any projection that places him in the early first round. The league seems to agree that his best position is guard.
Montez Sweat had an easy route to the QB on a third down play. He just ran by the right tackle in the B-gap. I’ve no idea what the tackle was doing. It was a gift for Sweat, who wasn’t credited with a shared sack but he hit the QB at the same time as his team mate. He at least showed good quickness off the snap. Jeffrey Simmons did a good job working down the line to record a TFL vs the run with four minutes left in the first half. Neither player particularly shone or elevated their stock against a top opponent.
Alabama safety Deionte Thompson is a good player. I suspect he’s getting placed in the first round of a lot of mock drafts due to name recognition and the fact he plays for Alabama. For me he looks like a day two type. He dropped an interception in the end zone just before half time and had a quiet game overall.
Christian Miller shared a sack. He might not be an early pick but as an impact rusher he has some value. He’s a terrific athlete. He should test well. Keep Miller on your radar.
Clemson D-line & Zach Allen impress yet again
One of the consistent positives this season has been the play of Clemson’s brilliant front four and Boston College pass rusher Zach Allen. The two teams met on Saturday and once again, these five put on a show.
Christian Wilkins is going to go very early. His combination of speed and agility plus an ideal frame to play inside will please teams enough. An expected combine freak show and his great personality should secure a high grade. On BC’s first drive he stunted to force a pressure and throw-away. The Eagles quarterback was injured on the play. On the first drive after half time, Wilkins exploded into the backfield and stretched a run to the sideline before making the tackle. It was another example of Wilkins’ incredible mobility.
He ended the night with a solitary TFL but this was another bullying, physical performance from a player who could easily land in the top-10 in 2019.
Zach Allen is equally making a case to go very early. On Clemson’s second drive, Allen had a sack/fumble called back due to an offside flag. Shortly after he was held on third down, preventing an opportunity to make a sack. Trevor Lawrence was flushed from the pocket and ran out of bounds short of a first down. Clemson punted and BC scored on the return. That third down play by Allen was big. One note — the guy chasing down the returner and almost saving the TD? Christian Wilkins. Somehow. What an athlete.
With 14:17 left in the second quarter, Allen used his hands to work off two blocks and work into the backfield. With 2:24 left in the half he beat the Clemson right tackle with a speed rush, keeping his frame clean and winning with leverage to the outside. It forced a wayward downfield throw by Lawrence. He similarly won with great hand technique with 13:10 left in the game to burst into the backfield and beat the right tackle before tipping a Lawrence pass for an incompletion on third down.
With 9:30 left in the third quarter, Allen read the quarterback and leapt into the air to block Lawrence’s pass. He tipped the ball, the QB caught it on the rebound and then Allen threw him to the ground for a big TFL.
Allen has every chance to land in the top-15.
Dexter Lawrence had an incredibly athletic play on 3rd and 1 on BC’s second offensive drive to force a punt. He side-stepped his blocker and launched into the backfield to stop the running back. He also controlled the LOS and helped Clemson take away BC’s running game. He registered a TFL.
Austin Bryant drew a holding penalty on a running down. He did an excellent job setting the edge and stretching the play wide. The right tackle grabbed his jersey leading to the flag. Two plays later, Bryant beat the right tackle with a speed rush to force a pressure and throw away. Bryant is often the forgotten man of this group but he has a shot to go in round one. He lived in the backfield in this game, ending the night with 1.5 sacks and a pair of TFL’s.
Clelin Ferrell had a sack on a move we see Clemson use a lot. They have Dexter Lawrence work to the outside and then stunt Ferrell inside. He was too quick and too powerful and fought to the quarterback to bring him down.
Five studs. Five potential first round picks.
Elsewhere…
— Florida’s pass rush duo Jachai Polite and Jabari Zuniga both had an impact in a 35-31 win against South Carolina. Polite had half a sack and two TFL’s. Zuniga had a sack and a TFL. Both players are talented with a pro future.
— Ohio State defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones scored a touchdown on a botched Michigan State jet-sweep. The center snapped the ball as the receiver was running his sweep. It hit him and just rolled into the end zone. Jones reacted quickest to fall on the football. It was a gift but it’s something else for Jones to add to his résumé this season. He didn’t have a sack or a TFL in the game but did record two QB hurries.
— Kentucky were well beaten by Tennessee (24-7) and their season is threatening to fizzle out. Josh Allen, however, continues to make plays. He had another sack to take his total to 11 for the year. There will be concerns about his ability to play the run as a 4-3 EDGE but he has talent as a pass rusher.
— LSU’s Grant Delpit continues to make his case to be a high pick in 2020. Against Arkansas he had a sack and two pass deflections, plus he recovered a fumble. He already has five picks this year. There likely won’t be a high pick at safety in 2019 but Delpit has a chance to go very early in the following draft.
— Houston’s Ed Oliver didn’t play against Temple due to a bruised knee. We’ll see if he returns before the end of the season, having already declared for the 2019 draft.
— In the Auburn vs Georgia game, D’Andre Walker registered a TFL and Derrick Brown shared a TFL. Brown in particular looks like a genuine top-15 pick. His TFL came when he blew up the LOS on a penetrating inside rush vs the run. It was Georgia’s opening drive and a goal-to-go situation. Brown hammered the running back in the backfield, forcing a field goal attempt.
You can now support Seahawks Draft Blog via Patreon by clicking the tab below.
Auburn’s Derrick Brown is eating this Georgia O-line alive.
I’ll say it again. He has Richard Seymour like ability.
Fantastic talent. Top-15 pick for me. Not sure I see Seymour in him. Think he’s more of a natural DT and won’t play DE. But he’s an excellent prospect.
What team blows a top 100 pick on Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham? Buffalo?
I love Derrick Brown. He’s not as long as Seymour and probably won’t swing from tackle to end much, but he’s physically dominant and more agile than a man that size should be. He’s a game wrecker.
I love Damien Harris, but why doesn’t he featue in the offense as #1 rb?
Alabama have so many studs, they just rotate the RB’s. It probably helps their draft stock to be fair — stops them putting too many miles on the clock.
Milton is my favorite player in college football. I hope we find a way to get him on the team, not sure about his release but IMO he throws the best ball I’ve ever seen.
Zach Allen impresses the more I watch him. Looking at last years film, which is pretty darn good, its clear how much Allen has improved the mind, body and moves this year. The broadcast yesterday described Allen as humble, hungry and hard working. Idolizes and studies JJ Watt and it shows. His quick movement and reactive skills, at 6’5″ 285, regularly pop off the screen. Like that he plays on both sides of the DL, wish to see him more as an inside pass rusher. Hope Allen isn’t playing himself out of our range to draft him, although that does appear to be the case.
I think if you want Allen, you better be picking in the top-15.
Unless he has a poor combine, of course. Because at his size he can’t have a mediocre test. You want to see some agility, some explosive traits. Hopefully he shows that.
But he’s just played so tremendously well this year. And while he’s not Watt and won’t dominate in the same way at the next level, he has every opportunity to be a fantastic base end and inside/out rusher.
One of my favorite players in this class. The more I watch him, the more I think 3-4 teams are gonna love him. And that’s probably his best fit.
A bit off topic.
But I finally threw the towel in on field gulls after seeing the latest cherry picked article on how Russell sucks. I know you’ve been pounding the table on this run vs anit-run debate, which I fully agree with ya on. But my God the Russell hate is killing me. One bad game and people want him gone. Just had to vent that a little. Love all john Morgan articles, miss Danny Kelly. Thank God for this place.
Anyways, I see hawks trading back multiple times this draft. What’s your thought on mid-late 2nd rd pass rush. Anyone u see as a sneaky pick?
Following the Seahawks isn’t as fun as it used to be. Not for me anyway. And one of the main reasons is the relentless and repetitive anti-run, trade Russell and Penny sucks narrative. I’ve had enough of it.
I think if you want a pass rusher you can trade into the late first but not much further. I like Austin Bryant in the 25-45 range.
Just asked myself, ‘Does Field Gulls even like the Seahawks, anymore?” Cherry pick some film, exaggerate mistakes, find fault, draw the wrong conclusions. Rinse + repeat = confirmation bias. Site is tired.
That’s the Seahawks online as a whole unfortunately (although I hope this site is the exception). People are constantly on at the team for something. It’s tiring.
Spoiled children the lot of them. Sucks that other fan bases have been right about us.
Watching Cam Newton and Panthers get pounded by the Steelers on Thursday night football gave me a new appreciation of how far the Seahawks offense has come this year – and a new appreciation of Russell Wilson’s abilities. Both have to contend with a strong pass rush – and Cam really wasn’t doing well.
This year’s SB is gonna be a damn shootout with all these great offenses and I am here for it.
Meanwhile, Buffalo just scored their 9th TD of the year and here we are in week f***n’ 10.
Can you spot the difference?
Hahaha! 😂😂😂
Even with Fournette, the Jags would be trash. Blake Bortles just audibled into a run play on 3rd & 9 outta the shotgun with the Indy defense showing 7 in the box.
Today is going to be a long day for the Seahawks.
I’d suggest to all not to overreact to what happens. We’re hurt, overmatched and it should be viewed as a ‘free hit’.
Rob, are you still sure we are overmatched?
Yes. Unfortunately. Fair play to the team for starting nicely. But as we saw in the last game, you have to keep going and going and going against this Rams team. And our defense is like a hot knife through butter.
That last offensive series was disheartening too. Davis and Penny start well so you put Prosise in? And that blitz on third down was obvious all day but Wilson sits in and takes a sack. We’ve got to have an easy out for plays like that.
Seahawks are 10.5 point underdogs. I said yesterday that I would consider 100 yards running to be a win because of that tough Rams defense. They got it in the first half = but unfortunately not much in the air.
No Carson or Fluker is huge loss for the Hawks today as those guys are the key to the run game.
Would love to see Penny get 20-25 touches today to see what he can do.
What does it say for Pocic long term that the Hawks are starting Simmons at RG? Would he fetch anything on the trade market this summer as they seem to prefer Hunt to backup Britt?
Someone might give them a ham sandwich for Pocic.
But they won’t get any more than that. Well, they might throw in a soda.
As for today, I’m expect an absolute hammering. I’ll take no injuries and move on to Thursday.
Yes – yes , This is exactly what I want to see from the Seahawks today. Rams getting chippy already.
My god! A Rashaad Penny sighting!
Geesh, Penny’s terrible. Wasted pick. Get rid of the bum.
What a start for Penney! Exactly what I hoped to see today. Hope they feed him today and see what he has.
The Hawks OL has a complete attitude switch. They are nasty know. Donald and Suh are so pissed hillarious.
Penny finally outta Pete’s doghouse?
Weird they don’t go back to Penney on the following drive and decide to get Prosise his first carry. Was really hoping they would role Penny with some Davis just to see what he can give with a workload like he had in College.
Hawks D can’t stop the Rams they are going to need 1-2 turnovers today to win.
Please can we just find a third down play that involves getting the ball out quickly. Give ourselves a chance please.
Hate this play calling. Russ sucks or they are making Russ a QB doll.
Can we give Mike Davis some credit? Been the best player for Seattle thus far today.
There’s not a huge drop off from Christopher to Mike.
Not a huge drop off, Davis is more shifty and Carson is more of a bull plowing down the field. Both effective. What happened with the Penny sighting? Did he do anything?
Yeah. He finally looked like the dude they drafted and a 1st round pick. 12 carries, 108 yds, 1 TD
One step forward two steps back… offense defense play calling coaching … same story every where.
Griffin regressed a lot…or should we say he has not taken the jump.
Not the case at all. These NFL offenses, the good ones, are zone beaters. Pests don’t wanna show any exotic looks or mix his defense up, this is what will happen against elite QBs.
He keeps giving up huge plays over the middle when we’re in zone and he hands his receiver over to a teammate who isn’t there. There was a play today where he saw there was nobody to hand his receiver off to, paused for a second like he was going to stay with him, but then goes back to cover his zone that had nobody at all in it. Leads to a wide open catch for a first down on a 3rd and long play. Ugh.
Penny finally showing those traits he had at SD St.
Penny finally getting touches…
Coincidence? Not likely.
Amazing what happens when a guy touches the ball more than 2x.
Mobile Russ 😍😍
How about scoring a touchdown when you have the ball in red zone Pete. Pete wants sea bass to practice onside kicks so he can kick one in SB.
25 failed onside kicks. I can’t imagine him learning now.
Once again empty formation is a disaster!! I can’t express how much I hate when they go to it. I screamed at the TV. And now they are out of the game. The should NEVER EVER EVER go empty. They lack the personnel and understanding to do anything effective in it. Pick six vs Chicago and San Diego. Strip sack today.
It’s something they’ve relied on for years and they have had success with it. So I suspect the issue is — it’s a holdover from the old way of doing things that Pete likes. But doesn’t sit as well with this new group and play caller.
I get it but it is horrible. We are so predictable. People know the ball is coming it quick so they bring 5 or 6 and man up, jumping everything underneath. If they don’t pick it they at least make Russ hold it longer and give time to the rush. Is ineffective at this point
That empty set backfield in the 4th quarter has killed us this year. 2 pick 6s and now that fumble.
Heartburn Engaged
The onside kick was ridiculous!
I ain’t mad about this game one bit. They went punch for punch against one of the top 3 teams in the league. Again.
Well, me neither. To an extent.
But they’re 1-5 in one-score games now.
Eventually I’d like to see some of these ‘punch for punch’ games actually lead to a win.
Pocic is inactive for the Packers game. Hopefully this is a sign of quality OL depth and not a problem with Pocic’s development.
Jordan is inactive because of injury. Delano Hill too. I hope that less pressure on the QB (Jordan) doesn’t mean that Rodgers is going to carve up our young defensive secondary. Let’s count on our running game to keep Rodgers off the field.
I think it’s a bit of both to be honest. Hunt played well in his one start at center, Simmons was excellent in the last game at guard. Pocic has just been constantly OK. The feeling is he isn’t strong enough. They want athleticism and nasty at LG and size and nasty at RG. Pocic is just solid. He always has been. As a center at LSU he didn’t punish anyone. He was a decent blocker. He didn’t test brilliantly.
Pocic is useful to have as a possible center or guard. But not sure starting is in his future without a key injury.
GG. 4-5 is disappointing, but they can still compete against the best of them. Packers incoming. I think they have a chance in that one. Chiefs, Panthers, and maybe Vikings are losses though. 7-9 would give them better draft position, so I’m not complaining, but a 9-7 wildcard run would be fun. Go Hawks!
Nice game review site:
https://www.nflfullhd.com/category/seattle-seahawks/