The Shrine Bowl week has started today with the game on Thursday at 8 PM (ET) on NFL Network. Giants assistant Anthony Blevins will be coaching the West team’s linebackers which are
09 LB McClain Zakoby Auburn
10 LB Spector Baylon Clemson
20 LB Butler Darien Arizona State
29 LB Sewell Nephi Utah
41 LB McFadden Micah Indiana
44 LB Campbell Chance Ole Miss
57 LB Sanborn Jack Wisconsin
In 2020 Zakoby McClain had a 12.7% team market share of solo tackles. That is a very good percentage for a linebacker. That same season in a shortened season for Indiana, Micah McFadden had a 13% team market share of solo tackle. This amateur scout like both of them
ScoutWithoutClout.
PFF has an article on top prospects for each position in the 2022 Shrine game. Out of the linebackers they liked Jack Sanborn as the top. All interesting prospects but a few that they detail that are higher on big board rankings are
Kellen Diesch OT Arizona State
The top Shrine Bowl attendee on PFF's big board. As of November 18th , Diesch had only allowed 11 pressures in his college career.
Alec Lindstorm OL Boston College
Made All ACC First Team at center each of the last two seasons.
Jaivon Heiligh WR Coastal Carolina
In 2020 Heiligh was 4th and 5th in receiving plays of 20+ and 10+ yards respectively. In 2021 he was still a respectable 18th in long plays of 10+ yards.
PFF article
Two other interesting prospects to look at not listed in the article are
Jack Coan
QB Notre Dame
Jack Coan has thrown the ball around with Phil Simms and has benefited from some mentoring from Phil. They stay in touch. Jack is tough. During a Toledo game Notre Dame was down 5 points with 1:13 left to play. The Irish were in Toledo territory. That's when Jack dislocated a finger on his throwing hand. He went to the sideline, a trainer popped the finger back into place, Jack runs back on the field and throws the game winning 18 yard touchdown pass. He’s a known football junkie that eats, breathes and sleeps football. He is level headed not getting too high or too low.
Jack is eighth among active career leaders in completion percentage with a 66.8%. According to TheDraftNetwork he’s capable of hitting most throws on the field from a clean base. NflDraftBuzz has that he has good (not elite) arm strength and can easily make all the NFL throws with effortless deep passes. In 2021 he had 81 out of 386 pass attempts go for 15+ yards for 21%. Just for what its worth Malik Willis had 67 of 339 pass attempts go for 15+ yards for 20%. Willis was up to 11% for 25+ yards to Jack’s 7%. But hey, 15+ yards is good enough. Over his last two full seasons of starting Coan's record is 21-6.
Jack does pretty good in situational statistics. If you take the averages for 3rd down conversions, red zone touchdown percentage and big play percentage of the top 8 QB prospects, Jack comes in third in the sum of the deviations above the average. The top three are Malik Willis (3.33 deviations), Kenny Picket (1.57 deviations) and Jack Coan (0.87 deviations). Willis and Pickett are above average in all three. Jack in 3rd down and red zone but not big play.
I don’t say he’s as good as the top ranked QBs but he could be a good option for the backup. And hey you never know – Tom Brady played in the Shrine Bowl. ;-)
Calvin Turner
WR/RB Hawaii
A truly versatile player that has a career 1,171 passing yards (wildcat QB), 1,452 receiving yards, 3,433 rushing yards and 997 return yards. He really stands alone with those numbers. His 56 career touchdowns puts him 13th in FBS active career leaders in touchdowns per game at slightly over 1 per game. He has 44 rushing, 11 receiving and 1 kickoff return. Made the All MWC Second Team as a receiver each of the last two seasons. He was the 2020 New Mexico Bowl offensive MVP. It would be interesting to see how the coaches use him in the game. I doubt the Giants would be interested. He does not offer much as a blocker and he has had a career 19 drops on 126 catchable targets. Projected as an UDFA. As an UDFA worth a shot starting on returns.
Looking forward to the games Sunday and then the Shrine Bowl on Thursday.
Don't know if he's fast enough to play 4-3 MLB in the NFL, but 3-4 is a possibility. But good, smart tough player who is always around the ball.
Jaivon Heiligh, WR, Coastal Carolina
Jaivon Heiligh is not a quick route runner, but he’s sharp in and out of breaks and separated from defenders. He also caught everything in sight.
Kyle Philips, WR, UCLA
Kyle Philips struggled at the onset but finished strong. He’s super quick, runs good routes leaving defenders in the dust, and laid out to make several nice receptions.
Calvin Turner Jr., WR, Hawaii (swiss army knife)
Calvin Turner Jr. worked almost exclusively at receiver today and struggled. He looked slow, ran poor routes, and dropped a bunch of catchable throws.
Darien Butler, LB, Arizona State (Giants coaching)
Surprising to no one who watched his tape, Arizona State LB Darien Butler really wowed people in attendance during practice No. 1. Whether it was filling run gaps or patrolling the middle of the field in coverage, Butler did it all in team drills. He looked light on his feet and quick to react.
He was always moving forward in the run game and never lost any ground in the passing drills. Butler led whatever unit he was with whenever he was on the field.
Matthew Butler, DT, Tennessee
Proving to be too quick and too strong for most that stood in front of him, Matthew Butler won with a variety of pass-rush skills during the first practice. Butler was strong when he needed to, blowing up anchor attempts from the offensive line.
Yet, he was also speedy enough to use a push-and-pull move where he gave a strong arm, pulled back, and ran right by linemen at times as well. It was a dominant showing, perhaps the most dominant of the defensive linemen who played specifically on the interior during the practice.
Hayden Howerton, OL, SMU
It didn’t matter who was in front of him, Hayden Howerton gave them all he had. He pulled well in the run game when called upon and gave interior linemen fits in pass protection. Howerton certainly showcased strength and balance in one-on-one drills, putting forth a pancake block on one of his trail-away blocks.
He reached well and played all around the interior of the offensive line from right guard to left with some center reps in there as well. Howerton more than backed up our first-team All-AAC selection of his this season.
Day 2
Kyle Philips, WR, UCLA
Kyle Philips was good yesterday but had scouts buzzing on Sunday. He plays with incredible quickness and shows a burst. He’s a precise route runner who catches the ball extremely well.
The report says all the QBs struggled and did not call anyone out specifically.
https://www.profootballnetwork.com/2022-shrine-bowl-risers-sliders-sunday/ - ( New Window )
https://www.nfl.com/news/east-west-shrine-bowl-practice-standouts-could-ucla-s-kyle-phillips-be-the-next- - ( New Window )
My understanding is that they are seniors that were not invited to the Reese Senior Bowl but who still have a shot to make the NFL. Sometimes if a player does well in the Shrine game they have been invited to the Senior Bowl.
DT Matthew Butler, Tennessee
NFL Draft Bible Article
PFF Article on standouts
https://www.pff.com/news/draft-2022-east-west-shrine-bowl-biggest-winners-day-3