Altered perceptions at the Senior Bowl

Risers

Dwayne Bowe, WR, LSU - No one did more during the week to improve his draft stock. Bowe essentially put on a clinic during the week, especially during one-on-one and passing skeleton drills. Bowe exhibited tremendous body control, strong hands, polished route running, and effective blocking. The strength of his hands really came through in several jump ball situations in which he was able to pull the ball out of the hands of a DB on several occasions. His ability to position his body to shield a close defender from the ball and his strong lower body that allows him to break tackles make him an ideal fit for a West Coast offense. He will fit well anywhere, but look for a West Coast based offense to value his skills at a higher level than a vertical based passing system.

Ryan Kalil, C, USC - Kalil came into the Senior Bowl, likely positioned as the second or third best center prospect, but clearly leaves Mobile as the top rated center. Kalil displayed a technical expertise far superior to the other lineman at the combine, showing great hand placement, an intuitive knee bend, and a unique knowledge of hip positioning. Kalil consistently held off larger players in one-on-one and running game drills, even on several occasions in which he was initially beat, shifting his hips on the fly to regain leverage against his opponent. The one drawback to Kalil's technical expertise is that he has little room to improve in that area and may have a lower ceiling than other players. Regardless, once he gets his playing weight to 300, Kalil will be ready to play, especially in a zone blocking scheme.

Brandon Merriweather, S, Miami - Merriweather was able to display his great athleticism and aggressiveness during the week, showing an explosive break on the ball and an ability to "appear out of nowhere" while playing safety. Merriweather was also lined up at CB during the week. While not displaying skills to be a full time corner, he showed enough speed and ability to be a nickelback or a cover-2 corner if it was needed by his team. Eventually, as he became more comfortable with turning toward the ball with his back to it, he could possibly be a starter at CB in the right scheme, but his strengths will always lie at the safety position.

Fallers

Kevin Kolb, QB, Houston - Kolb entered the Senior Bowl positioned as the third best QB on many boards across the league. However, during the week, Kolb proved to be more of a product of being in the same system offensively for eight seasons. Many times during the week did he look unconfident and tentative with where to deliver the ball down the field. His arm strength also did not appear to be a fit for the vertical passing game.

Paul Williams, WR, Fresno State - Williams has every physical tool necessary to become an elite receiver except for the most important one - hands with which to catch the ball. Whether that is simply a lack of concentration or some sort of physical weakness remains to be seen. Williams could also improve his route running, which is not at all polished. Facing the competition he did in college, he could probably get by on pure athleticism. That will not be the case in the NFL however and Williams need to understand the fundamentals of route running if he wants to become a consistent contributor on offense.

Martrez Milner, TE, Georgia - Dressed in full gear, sprinting down the field, Milner looks to be the ideal physical specimen to play TE. However he consistently displays a maddening ability to drop the easiest passes despite his massive hands. I'm not sure how a team could consider him a starter at the next level with such horrible hands.