This just in: Dorsey SUCKS!

Draft Dish: Dorsey struggles at Shrine Game practice

January 8, 2003

SAN FRANCISCO -- The setup for the week of practice leading up to the East West Shrine Game might be the most scout-friendly ever this year. Outside of one trip to City College of San Francisco, each practice is being held at Pacific Bell Park in downtown San Francisco where the game will be played.

Not only is it a better environment for the players and their families, but it makes the job of coaches and scouts a lot easier because Pac-Bell is within walking distance of the Hyatt Regency, where the players and NFL personnel are staying.

Events began on Saturday for the game, but in terms of scouting potential NFL prospects, there are three critical days of practice -- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Each team practices separately, with the East team, coached by Tyrone Willingham and the Notre Dame staff, typically practicing in the morning followed by the West team, coached by Pat Hill and the Fresno State staff.

As usual, there were plenty of top players expected to play that chose not to attend. Headlining the group of no-shows were Washington State QB Jason Gesser, USC QB Carson Palmer, Iowa QB Brad Banks, Virginia wide receiver Billy McMullen and Maryland linebacker E.J. Henderson.

There are still a handful of potential first-day prospects on hand, though, including Miami QB Ken Dorsey, Michigan wide receiver Ronald Bellamy and Ohio State safety Michael Doss on the East squad and Missouri wide receiver Justin Gage, Oregon State cornerback Dennis Weathersby, Fresno State defensive end Nick Burley, Oregon State defensive tackle Eric Manning and Colorado defensive end Tyler Brayton on the West roster.

The following is a breakdown of the players that stood out -- positively and negatively -- from each practice on Tuesday. We evaluated quarterbacks, wide receivers, tight ends, safeties and cornerbacks. On Wednesday we will evaluate offensive and defensive linemen. Running backs, fullbacks, linebackers and specialists will be evaluated on Thursday.

East Team

None of the three East quarterbacks stood out on Tuesday. If you didn't know Dorsey's record in college you would rule him out as a prospect in a venue like this. He's by far the skinniest of the six quarterbacks in the game and he really struggles to make a lot of throws that NFL quarterbacks need to make, especially the deep out route.

Boston College QB Brian St. Pierre is what he is -- an average all-around talent. He has average size, average arm strength, average accuracy and average mobility. He doesn't do much that stands out either good or bad, which is why he's a mid-round prospect.

Late addition Curt Anes from Division II champion Grand Valley State might have had the best arm and throwing day of the three East quarterbacks. He has good zip on the ball and fit some throws into some tight spots. He doesn't have great size and the fact that he played at the D-II level doesn't help, but he's a guy we're going to keep close tabs on this week.

One of the players that stuck out the most as a surprise was Harvard's Carl Morris. A 6-3, 200-pound receiver, Morris showed a lot of upside today in practice, including good quickness, soft hands and the ability to catch the ball in traffic. What's so encouraging about Morris as a developmental prospect is the fact that most of his weaknesses -- sloppy routes, trouble breaking the press, and wasted motion after the catch -- are coachable. Illinois' Walter Young and Michigan's Bellamy were two of the other standouts at receiver.

Mississippi State tight end Donald Lee looked awkward running routes and really struggled to catch the ball without it getting into his body or without him juggling it first. North Carolina's Zach Hilton is a much smoother athlete with much softer hands, but while he's listed at 276 pounds, he looks lanky and really needs to add some lower body strength. Hilton is certainly a tight end we would draft, however, as a developmental guy for the future because of how smooth he is for 6-7.

The East has some impressive talent in its secondary, including national champion Ohio State's starting safety tandem of Doss and Donnie Nickey, Pittsburgh cornerback Torrie Cox, Virginia Tech cornerback Ronyell Whitaker and Notre Dame safety Gerome Sapp.

Doss is a hard-hitting, playmaking safety, but matching up one-on-one in drills in a practice situation like this does not help his value. He struggled on Tuesday during press coverage drills and he frequently got beat on one-on-one matchups against slot receivers.

Cox and Whitaker were the smoothest, most fluid of the East's cover corners. Cox has adequate size, is confident and does a great job of keeping things in front of him and breaking on the short routes. He also will return punts and kicks in this game. Whittaker is shorter, but he is well-built and tough. He has terrific instincts and is not afraid of challenging a receiver for the ball in the air. Both Cox and Whitaker improved their stock.

West Team

The West team clearly got the short end of the stick when it came to quarterbacks, but Arizona QB Jason Johnson is taking advantage of his opportunity. Johnson might have been the most impressive passer of the day. He has adequate size, a smooth delivery and he was extremely accurate.

Johnson really shows confidence in his reads and patience in the pocket. He doesn't have a riffle for an arm and, as a right-handed quarterback, he struggled throwing the out route to the left side, but Johnson opened a lot of eyes of NFL scouts and coaches that hadn't considered him prior to Tuesday's practice.

Portland State's Juston Wood is a sleeper that also played well in Tuesday's practice. He moves around well, does a nice job of throwing on the run and he has good zip and accuracy on sideline throws. Outside of the level of play in college, the biggest concern with Wood is his size. Wood is just 6-1, 205 pounds.

On a negative note, UNLV's Jason Thomas really is showing why he was unable to get the job done the last two seasons. He moves around well and has good zip on the ball, but he almost reminds us of Shaquille O'Neal shooting a foul shot at times; his hands look too big for the ball, he aims his throws and he has almost no consistency in terms of his release.

The West may not have the better group of quarterbacks, but they clearly have the better group of receivers and Gage might be the best of the group. He's tall, smooth and he consistently showed the ability to catch the ball away from his body and over his shoulder down the sideline. He could emerge as a second-round receiver before it's all over.

Nevada's Nate Burleson has better than average size, has solid hands and is tough. He doesn't have elite speed, though, which is why he's a late first-day, or early second-day receiver. San Diego State's J.R. Tolver, USC's Kareem Kelly and Oregon's Keenan Howry make up the rest of this strong group.

The West has two intriguing tight end prospects, but neither did anything to stand out Tuesday. Spencer Nead from BYU has a good frame and soft hands, but he doesn't break or cut well running routes. Washington's Kevin Ware moves well and can get downfield, but he's on the short side and showed inconsistent hands.

The West's defensive backs are strong at cornerback, but average at safety. Colorado's Donald Strickland is emerging as a solid cover corner. He has overcome some injuries in his career, finished with a strong performance in the Alamo Bowl, and looked extremely smooth and confident in drills on Tuesday. He has some trouble against bigger receivers, but he has terrific instincts, body control and ball skills. We like him a lot as a slot cover corner in the NFL and he eventually could develop into a fine starter if he stays healthy.

Air Force's Wes Crawley was another cornerback that stood out Tuesday. He is big and physical and showed a nice combination of instincts and initial burst when he picked off a Thomas pass in the flats. UCLA's Ricky Manning Jr. and Oregon State's Weathersby are two other big cornerbacks that showed some flashes on Tuesday.

Boise State's Quintin Mikell and Houston's Hanik Milligan both struggled at safety. Mikell is short, squatty and has trouble changing directions in coverage, while Milligan is tall, lanky and has trouble coming up and lowering his shoulder in run support. Neither mid-round safety prospect helped themselves much.

The War Room, a team of football scouts headed by Gary Horton, analyzes NFL and college players, coaches and teams exclusively for The Sporting News

 

i told you about dorsey...

i'll read the rest later.

 

already posted this in the Shrine game notes thread, and you'd probably not throw as well if you'd had your shoulder injured last week.

 

So long as we don't draft him, I don't care. Can you say Wuerfful?

edit:
Sorry magnus, just now saw the other thread.

 

i don't think dorsey would be that terrible in a ball control scheme with a good running attack, I'd be willing to spend our extra 4th rounder on him if he's there, but his leadership and toughness might cause him to get taken slightly before then. I'd rather have him as #2 than Weinke or Fasani, although this could change based on what we get in free agency and draft day one.

 

Well, he threw like a girl before he got hurt in Tempe anyway.