1/12/2005 football Edit

The Hot 11: Easts beasts own Tuesdays drills

Rivals.com staff

Rivals100.com Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO,

Texas - The U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio is an opportunity for many

of the nation's top players to show out and either improve or decrease their

stock in the eyes of national recruiting analysts. Rivals.com now presents a

look at the Hot 11 players from Tuesday's practices in the evaluations of

recruiting analysts Jeremy Crabtree, Mike Farrell and Jeremy

Patterson.

Patrick Turner, WR

Turner has absolutely dominated practices all week long. Very few players can

come to an event like this and be considered unstoppable. Adrian Peterson

and Ted Ginn did it last year and Turner is doing it this year. No one

knows if Turner will have the impact as a freshman that those guys had their

freshman year, but he certainly looks like he has all of the tools to make a

strong impact as a true freshman.

Eugene Monroe, OT

Monroe brought his "A" game to practice on Tuesday, dominating

the one-on-one pass rush drills against nearly all of the East defensive

linemen. James McKinney, Ryan Bain and Earl Heyman all

tasted the artificial grass thanks to Monroe as he wasn't satisfied with just

blocking them, but insisted on planting them in the turf. A knee injury, not

considered too serious, was the only thing that could slow Monroe on the day.

DeMarcus Granger, DT

Granger continued his dominant play on Tuesday, battling through double teams

and one triple team in one-on-one drills. Granger can't be single blocked and on

one occasion spun off one lineman, bull rushed the next before a third finally

stopped him short of his goal, to which Granger remarked, "that's a lot of

people to go through." In full 22 situations, Granger blew up the backfield on

at least three occasions and continues to make a case for the coveted No. 1

defensive tackle position.

Melvin Alaeze, DE

It was a dominant Tuesday of practice for the East offensive line except for one

problem, a 6-foot-2, 285-pound problem named Melvin Alaeze. The big rush end

from Maryland didn't use any fancy moves or rely on stunts to get past blockers,

he simply used his powerful bull rush and speed around the corner. Once he

dipped his shoulder and turned the corner, it was over when Alaeze decided to go

outside. And when he decided to go right at you, he was five yards deep in the

backfield without a problem. Alaeze is the best defensive end on either squad -

hands down.

Jonathan Crompton, QB

Each of the East quarterbacks have turned in solid performances, but so far this

week Crompton has separated himself from the others. His throws have been

precision, his timing has been perfect, his touch has been sweet and his

instincts are impeccable. Crompton is also the biggest of the three and is

physically ready to compete on the Division I level right now. If you think the

Vols have a quarterback controversy on their hands now, wait until next year.

DeSean Jackson, WR

Everyone wants a big wide receiver these days, but don't sleep on little

Jackson, who plays bigger than his size and always at 110 miles-per-hour.

Jackson runs the best routes of any of the West wideouts, has speed to separate

and great hands. He and Mark Sanchez have a bit of chemistry going

already this week which could bode well for the West (and the Trojans?) as

Jackson seems to know where Sanchez wants him to be. Smaller wideouts are often

considered fragile or ineffective against bump-and-run coverage but Jackson can

get off the line well and isn't afraid to make his mark over the middle if

needed. He's the most dangerous weapon on offense and special teams for the West

so far.

Chris Scott, OL

Scott, was considered to be one of the top offensive lineman in the country

coming into the All-American game in San Antonio, but he may be increasing his

stock even higher this week. Behind only Eugene Monroe, Scott has been the best

offensive lineman on the field during the first two days of practice. Scott goes

hard every play and always finishes his block. It's hard to say he has a

strength, but he may be a better run blockier than pass blocker. He is playing

tackle this week in the game, but his agility may make him a guard on the next

level.

Roy

Miller, DT

On film throughout his senior season, Miller has been one of the most rugged and

hard-nosed players in the state of Texas. While other prospects were wilting

under the January heat that hovered in the high 80's, Miller excelled and showed

why he's one of the nation's top defensive tackles. Miller stood toe-to-toe with

any West offensive linemen and quite often came away with victories on plays. By

the end of practice, Miller was starting to pick up more double-teams, which is

why he'll be one heck of a pickup for Texas when he commits on Saturday at the

game.

Derek

Nicholson, LB

A month ago in the North Carolina-South Carolina Shrine Bowl Nicholson was

virtually non-existent the first two days of practice. However, when he got he

going he couldn't be stopped and it appears he is following the same course this

week. The one exception being that it only took him one day to get rolling.

Nicholson swarms to the play and always seems to be in on or around the tackle.

Eric Huggins,

Huggins had the best catch of the day on Tuesday and began to

show signs of shaking off the rust from a somewhat disappointing Shrine Bowl

performance. The first circus catch came in seven-on-seven passing drills when

he was teamed against cornerback Victor Harris. Huggins streaked down the

left sideline and quarterback Jake Christensen lofted a pass to him that

was first tipped by Harris. Huggins then left his feel and dived horizontally

and snared the ball off the ground for the great catch.

Daniel Borg,

There are bigger names and bigger bodies on the East and West offensive lines,

but future Arizona Wildcat tackle Daniel Borg is as technically sound as anyone.

Borg won't win any straight-line races, but he does just what a tackle needs to

do - he gets out of his stance quickly, moves his feet well, sets a solid base

and uses his arms to ride the defender away from the pocket. The West defensive

ends haven't been lighting it up for the most part, but much of that could be

attributed to solid play by Borg who rarely gets beaten. He can also get to the

second level on screens and is a powerful run blocker. He doesn't do anything

spectacular, but he does everything well.