NFL Draft: Scout’s Notebook

This is NFL Draft Scout’s Notebook, where Matt McGuire will list the notes he took while scouting players for the 2011 NFL Draft, 2012 NFL Draft and beyond.
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Posted Sept. 14, 2010

Stanford vs. UCLA

Stanford
12 QB Andrew Luck
48 FB Owen Marecic


UCLA
10 OLB Akeem Ayers
3 FS Rahim Moore

Andrew Luck

1st – 14:53 – 5-step drop … stares down receiver entire way … poor footwork, left foot steps out which causes an errant throw that is too higher for 6’2 WR

1st – 14:48 – Seems to short arm throw … releases ball to late causes low throw – incomplete

1st – 14:44 – Stares down receiver and DL anticipates ball, tips it

1st – 12:25 – Stares down receiver again, but reads defense well and throws an accurate ball to WR in flat … understood the zone concept and got a first down

1st – 11:50 – Excellent play action on the fake toss … Shows marginal yet adequate athleticism to get first down with legs

1st – 10:36 – Smart decision to keep football and run

1st – 9:38 – Nice job throwing on run – smooth … throws accurate pass … important to note this play doesn’t “wow” me – his WR was fairly wide open and I don’t see elite talent level yet

1st – 7:01 – Accurate pass on 3rd & 7 and shows solid arm strength … very smooth

1st – 4:09 – Post corner route pass is floated too much – released ball too early … poor touch on pass

1st – 1:50 – EXCELLENT FOOTBALL IQ here (2nd & G) … sees that nobody is open, does a good job of staying in bounds and jumps to avoid going out of bounds – throws an incomplete ball at same time to avoid loss of yardage … this play is a great example of instincts, “feel for the game” and football IQ

1st – 1:40 – Bad throw … WR was open on slant, but ball was too high – this should be a throw on the waist … I think this is correctable with experience

2nd – 13:41 – Nice job not throwing bad pass and goes through all progression … nice checkdown to RB for big gain … accurate ball and puts it in front of RB in stride

2nd – 8:14 – Terrible pass … way too high for 6’6 TE

2nd – 7:01 – Very nice throw off balance, but incomplete (broken up by DB)

3rd – 9:34 – Inaccurate throw – too low … shows just above average arm strength here on 12-yard comeback from far hash (“NFL throw”)

3rd – 9:30 – Outstanding decision to run with ball … great football IQ

3rd – 8:55 – Inaccurate throw on the run- too low

3rd – 8:15 – Floats deep ball AGAIN … hangs it up there and safety breaks it up

3rd – 1:11 – Shows a lot of toughness in lowering shoulder to go for rushing TD

Summary: Luck is a smooth, efficient QB that plays like a first round pick (though I didn’t see a top 10 talent on tape). He has adequate mobility and athleticism to gain yardage with his legs. However, I am concerned with his shaky passing accuracy and he floated deep balls twice on the only couple where I remember his receiver wasn’t wide open. Will be interesting to see if he improves as a passer as the year goes on – and I DO NOT mean statistically – I mean on the tape.

Owen Marecic

1st – 11:50 – Good instincts – once he saw Luck wasn’t throwing him the ball he immediately went to block adn took out FS to max yardage

1st – 10:22 – Nice, powerful lead block out of I-form on DE (LT blocks SAM)


Akeem Ayers

1st – 11:18 – Completely unblocked and gets TFL

1st – 10:22 – Outstanding job of taking on block … simply lowers his shoulder and boulds over TE … very nice feel for the game here (fun play to watch)

1st – 4:02 – Nice tackle on stretch run … good job of diagnosing it

2nd – 8:45 – Nice job disengaging from FB to make tackle

2nd – 1:39 – Makes powerful hit … Ayers definitely has some toughness and power to his game

3rd – 8:09 – Good motor making play from weakside – chasing down to hit ballcarrier … Ayers seems to have intangibles of a football player … not finesse or disinterested

4th – 11:32 – I LOVE how despite not being involved at all in a play on a sweep to opposite side of field, he hits #82 just because he feels like it and he is mad his team is down 28-0, but this wasn’t unsportsmanlike conduct it was perfectly legal and he wasn’t out of control … Ayers really does have a killer instinct. I love his attitude – he’s a competitor


Rahim Moore

2nd – 11:08 – Shows 4.4 speed on this FS blitz and hurries QB … has been nearly invisible all game

2nd – 8:07 – Doesn’t get deep enough in drop, and gets beat deep, takes poor angle to ball … absolutely no excuses for a Cover 1 out of a “1st round free safety”

3rd – 2:05 – Nice job in run support, works through trash well here

3rd – 1:17 – Fails to break up pass when had opportunity






MISSING





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