2010 Under Armour Senior Bowl Recap

This past weekend we saw the best Senior's of their class at their respective positions take the field of battle. Although there were impressive performances on both sides from specific players, the North team coached by Jim Schwartz and the Detroit Lions coaching staff beat the South team led by Tony Sparano and the Dolphins coaching staff by a score of 31-13.

There were several players that's stock fell and some that took flight. However, all eyes were on Senior Quarterback Tim Tebow and most of them were looking away or covering their eyes peaking through the crevasses of their fingers a majority of the time. Disastrous would be one way to categorize the performance this past Saturday and completely disastrous would be another way depending on how you feel about Tim Tebow. I guess it could have gone worse, but for someone trying to make a case for themselves and trying to prove the critics wrong, it didn't go as he hoped as I would imagine. To sum it up, here are a few post-game quotes after the game:

"It's simple, he's just not a very good quarterback prospect," one National Football League scout told the National Football Post this week.

With his performance at the Senior Bowl, "Tebow nearly guaranteed that he will not be drafted in the first round, or even the second round," suggested the Bleacher Report.

ESPN’s Todd McShay said he "is just not comfortable as a pro-style quarterback."

On the other side of all of this, there was Michigan's Senior Defensive End, Brandon Graham who took home the Under Armour Senior Bowl MVP Honor. Graham played relentless football and flew in on nearly every single play that he was in for. Before the game, he had mostly been projected as a second rounder or late first at best. In that game he solidified a first round pick, no doubt.

The Purpose of this article this morning is to take a look at some of the players that had games good enough to make their draft stock status' rise; on the other side of that, we'll take a look in to some that have fallen as well. With that, let's take a look at some of the other players after the jump.

TOP 5 PLAYERS WHOSE STOCK WENT UP:

1. Brandon Graham (Defensive End) Michigan:

Graham, as mentioned above had a spectacular game and won the MVP Award. He had 5 Tackles, 3 Tackles for Loss for 14 yards, 1 Fumble Forced, and 2 Sacks. Enough said, he earned the MVP hands down.

2. Patrick Robinson (Cornerback) Florida State:

Patrick Robinson had a spectacular game and showed the scouts that he has talent in both coming up and laying the big hits on guys and is just as good in defending the pass. He had 6 Tackles, and a pass break-up that he nearly intercepted.

3. Mardy Gilyard (Wide Reciever) Cincinnati:

Gilyard showed all the scouts what he had been showing his team and coaches the entire season; that he is worth mention in first round selection discussions. Gilyard stretched the field a couple times and came up with 5 Catches for 103 Yards. His best reception came on a 43 yarder which was also the Touchdown.

4. Jeremy Williams (Wide Receiver) Tulane:

I wasn't completely sold on all the hype as far as Williams was concerned until Saturday's game. Williams made some very tough catches in traffic. I am sure the scouts were as impressed as I was. Williams had 6 Catches for 87 Yards with his longest on a 37 Yarder. He also had a 27 yard run on a reverse which gave him 109 all-purpose yards.

5. Zane Beadles (Offensive Line) Utah:

I paid very close attention to the Offensive Line and for reasons in which should be obvious to Niners fan's. For others, in case you were unaware last year, our Line was abysmal at best in alot of situations. In any case, Beadles, when in, gave up nothing to the defenders in front of him. He handled himself very well, used his arms with out holding and still managed to out man the guy in front of him.

TOP 5 PLAYERS WHOSE STOCK STATUS HELD STEADY:

1. Taylor Mays (Free Safety) USC:

Mays showed improvements in the way he played his game this past Saturday. Mays managed to get a pick in the game, had a pass break up, and had 2 Tackles. His stats weren't great and he missed a couple tackles that if he would have wrapped up, would have been able to make. Other than that Mays proved to be very "coachable" and alot of the things he said lead me to believe that he can be a very solid safety in the NFL.

2. Dexter McCluster (Wide Reciever/ Running Back) Ole Miss:

The one thing that McCluster proved this past weekend is that he more than likely be a true running back in the NFL. There were a few plays that he got destroyed in the backfield. He will be effective if a team can use him in the screen pass game but I suspect he will primarily be used as a wide receiver; possibly a slot. As a Running Back, McCluster had 3 Carries for 4 Yards but was Tackled for a loss of -5 Yards with a total net of -1 Yard. Receiveing, McCluster had 3 Catches for 30 Yards. He was however somewhat impressive in the return game.

3. LeGarrette Blount (Running Back) Oregon:

Blount had his off field issues, we all know, but his play during the game was somewhat streaky. He did demonstrate that he had power and he did manage a touchdown that was led mostly by great blocking in to the endzone. At times, when he got the chance, Blount appeared to be lacking speed. There were times when he hit the edge and asked myself, "That's it?". Blount's character will have a red flag attached to it for his actions against Boise State and I think that is why his projections should remain the same. He didn't do enough to "awe" the scouts this past weekend.

4. Tony Pike (Quarterback) Cincinnati:

Pike did some good things and bad things. I think that he can be a very good Quarterback at the next level but anyone who saw the game knows that he has things that could be better. Being that he will have a Quarterback Coach at the next level, he may be able to start in the NFL someday. Pike was 5-12 for 45 Yards. He did not have much playing time so I am not sure the scouts got to see enough of him to make a sound call on his potential.

5. Sean Weatherspoon (Linebacker) Missouri:

Weatherspoon had a pretty good game with 5 Tackles, 1 for a loss, and an interception that he returned 57 Yards for a touchdown, He also had one pass deflection. What I noticed with Weatherspoon as that once an offensive lineman engaged a block on him, it was hard for him to rip away from it. Scouts I am sure didn't miss it and he will at the next level, need to learn how to get out of those quicker.

TOP 5 PLAYERS WHOSE STOCK DROPPED:

1. Tim Tebow (Quarterback) Florida:

Tebow as stated above did not have the best game. He fumbled the ball a couple times and his passes did not look great. Coach Sparano seemed to decide against giving Tebow any passes 10+ Yards. His longest pass was 11 Yards. It just wasn't his best college moment and could have very well been his worst. Playing against other guys that are going to to be playing on Sunday's, exploited Tebow's weaknesses.

2. Mike Iupati (Guard) Idaho:

Alot of folks were high on Iupati before this game but I suspect that there are some question marks after his performance (or should I say lack there of) on Saturday. Iuptati did not have a completely horrible game but he was beat more than he should have.

3. George Selvie (S. Florida) Defensive End:

Selvie only recorded 1 Tackle and for the most part, much like his season this year, he was non-existent. He could not really get off blocks and didn't have much of a motor.

4. Eric Norwood (S. Carolina) Linebacker:

Same thing as Selvie... Although he didn't have a ton of playing time, he didn't capitalize on the opportunities he got. Norwood also only recorded 1 Tackle.

5. Stafon Johnson (Running Back) USC:

As much as I wanted to see him do well, I am thinking that Johnson may go undrafted and have to work his way on to a team through a practice squad. It's unfortunate due to the accident, but if he really wants to play, he is going to have to work twice as hard as anyone else. I wish him the best. He had 4 carries for 9 Yards but had a 6 yard loss on one of the carries which left him with a net of 3 yards on 4 carries.

As much as I would like to do write ups on every single player that had playing time in this game, it would just take too long to do it for 100+ players. These were just the top players that stood out to me. Feel free to discuss other players and where you feel that they would fit in to these three categories.