One Little Victory

Positives: Has big arms, thighs and calves with a frame that can carry at least another 20 pounds of bulk with no loss in quickness … Good effort type and a product of the team’s weight room, adding more that 55 pounds to his frame since arriving on campus as a freshman … Runs with a normal stride and shows steady acceleration moving into the second level … Bit straight-legged, but has a strong hand punch to compensate … Will position and wall off with good effort … Shows good agility on pulls and traps, making a conscious effort to reach his block point … Can adjust to movement off the edge, but will struggle to redirect.

Negatives: December wrist surgery prevented him from lifting during the 2007 offseason … Plays tall in his stance and this causes him to struggle when trying to redirect … Has problems handling counter moves vs. the speed rush and might be a better fit at guard, as he works well in combination with other linemen but can be beaten off the edge when isolated one-on-one … Needs to be more consistent with his hand placement in attempts to control and finish … Marginal space blocker, as he lacks the base to adjust on the move and engage the defender … When he sets tall in pass protection, he fails to defeat quick counter moves … Must show better strength in his anchor, as he can be pushed back into the pocket by the bull rush.

Compares To: Rick DeMulling, Indianapolis Colts … Oldenburg has the frame for further growth development and is a good effort type, but he needs to play lower in his pads … He has good strength, but must generate a stronger hand punch … He is too tall in his stance to redirect vs. speed moves and might be a better fit inside at guard, rather than be exposed on an island at tackle.

Positives: Well-built with smooth muscle definition and good growth potential … Jason Taylor-type (Miami) with good short-area speed … Fires low off the snap to gain leverage and control his blockers … Shows good body agility, using his hands forcefully to shed … Works well in closed quarters, wrapping the ball carrier properly … Explodes instantly into the backfield, battling all the way to push the pocket … Has an effective hand punch to jolt opponents back and uses an arm-over technique coming off the edge on the pass … Excels on stunts, playing with his hand down wide to the open side to get after the quarterback quickly … Has that explosive initial burst and long arms to seal off the outside rush … Has good inside counter moves off his bull rush and adequate recovery speed … Plays with good leverage to prevent blockers from containing him … Has the short-area agility to penetrate the line, collapse the pocket and pressure the quarterback.

Negatives: Lacks overall strength to prevent blockers from locking-on and riding him wide … Plays more cautious in run support than vs. the pass, preferring to contain the play rather than step up to initiate the tackle … His lack of bulk causes larger blockers to cover him up and push him around in traffic, making him a better candidate for strongside linebacker at the next level … A little stiff moving in the open field … Despite his quickness, he shows inconsistencies playing off the edge while in a three-point stance, feeling more comfortable standing upright.

Compares To: Juqua Thomas, Philadelphia — Rogers is best served playing off the line of scrimmage, where he can accelerate quicker and attack from the outside shoulder of the offensive tackle rather than trying to shoot the inside gaps … He has a good motor in pursuit working in the short area, but has some tightness in his hips that could cause him to struggle some in his pass drops.

Positives: Has well-defined chest, shoulder and arm muscles, loose hips, knotted thighs and calves and a frame that can carry at least another 15 pounds of bulk with no loss in quickness … Solid wrap-up tackler who takes advantage of his size and power to re-route receivers in press coverage … Physical near the line of scrimmage and is disruptive to receivers running routes in his territory … Rarely fooled by the quarterback’s pumps … Stops quickly and has an explosive burst … Has quick feet and stays low coming out of his backpedal … Sees threats and reads the quarterback well … Plants and drives forward with crispness and shows good urgency closing on the ball … Shows the range to flip and run on deep routes … Plays on all of the special teams coverage units and shows great effectiveness as an edge rusher or back-out defender on the punt return … Adjusts smoothly to the ball in flight … Good tackler in tight quarters.

Negatives: Better in zone than man coverage, having problems mirroring receivers’ moves because he tends to play cautious in deep routes … When he tries to skate and slide in his pedal, he negates his loose hips, as he struggles to turn … Has very good timed speed, but needs to do a better job of recovering when he out-runs the play … Physical tackler, but needs to work on improving his overall strength … Coverage skills need refinement, as he takes short, choppy strides trying to turn on the ball in deep routes … Willing in run support, but sometimes takes bad angles in his pursuit.

Compares To: Roderick Hood, Arizona — Richardson has good timed speed, but needs to improve his overall strength, despite showing decent physicality when tackling … He is an adequate boundary cornerback, but not a shutdown one and will probably make more dollars competing on special teams than he will trying to win a roster spot as a starting cornerback.

Positives: Has a wide frame with good overall muscle development and room to add at least another 15 pounds of bulk … Has a thick chest with broad shoulders, wide hips and legs … Flashes good strength with quickness that allows him to impact with a defender when coming out of his stance … Has the lateral agility needed to come out of his stance and get in front on pulls and traps … His initial lateral step lets him move into space with ease and he does a good job adjusting to games and twists … Maintains position vs. the bull rush, showing the footwork, balance and hand quickness to mirror, lock on and sustain … Uses his size and upper body strength well to gain advantage and hold position off the ball, doing a nice job of playing on his feet … Uses his size effectively to wall off the defender and has the leg drive to gain leverage moving up field … Can generate good movement coming off the snap, but needs to be more consistent in attempts to keep his pad level down … Shows fluidity in his movements when trap blocking, accelerating quickly in the short area … Good competitor who has the hand punch to drive the defender out of the hole … Gains position, walls off and holds the rush lane when he keeps his hands inside the frame and is active … Patient waiting for the edge rushers to make the initial move and does a good job of planting his feet into the ground to hold off the charge … Plays with good awareness in pass protection, and while he lacks ideal flexibility, he has the strength and body control to anchor … Has adequate straight-line speed, which could dictate a move inside to guard at the pro level … Alert athlete who is a tireless worker in practice and in the weight room … Generally gets good hand placement to sustain and extend … Shows good depth in his kick slide, as he is able to reach the point needed to cut off, but will struggle some to readjust inside.

Negatives: Despite his straight-line quickness, he lacks flexibility and change-of-direction skills needed to adjust and stick with his blocks coming off the snap … Lacks consistency with his pad level, and when he gets too tall in his stance, he loses balance when trying to change direction … Lunges with his head and crosses his feet too much to adjust on the linebacker in the second level … Stiff in his movements and lacks ideal knee bend, resulting in inconsistent anchoring ability to mirror the speedier defensive moves while working in space … Keeps his leg base too narrow on the move, and while he has a strong hand punch, he doesn’t shoot them enough to consistently rock defenders back on their heels … When he gets too narrow in his stance, it prevents him from playing flat-footed, causing the pass rusher to effectively use rip-and-swim moves to slide off him … May be better suited inside due to his trap-blocking skills.

Compares To: Mark Tauscher, Green Bay Packers … Even though he has experience at both tackle positions, Hilliard projects more as a right tackle due to limited range … He is a good hand puncher, but gets a bit tall in his stance … He has the upper body power to shock the defender and uses that strength effectively to widen the rush lane … He is better working in tight quarters along the line than on the move and needs to be more consistent in keeping his pads down … He just has a tendency to lead with his head working in space and must keep his hands within his frame better in attempts to lock out and extend.

Positives: Alert and instinctive inside linebacker … Physical at the point of attack and looks to hit someone … A bit short but has the bulk to fill gaps … Uses his hands well to take on and shed blockers … Reliable tackler in the open field who flashes hitting ability … Plays hard and gets the most out of his ability.

Negatives: Lacks overall athleticism … Questionable speed to beat the back to the edge and lacks the change-of-direction agility to keep up with receivers in coverage … Struggled with injuries as a senior, limiting his effectiveness and ultimately forcing him to the sideline … Multiple knee problems a red flag.