Senior Bowl director assesses Fins’ rookies
We’ve always found Senior Bowl executive director Jim Nagy, a former NFL scout, to be a good judge of talent. He analyzed key Dolphins rookies for us in a phone conversation:
Linebacker Channing Tindall, selected 102nd overall: “Channing has got a really high ceiling. There was a game in the beginning of the year, against Clemson, that he may have played only 10, 11 snaps the whole game, but he got your attention. The things that stick out about Channing are his speed and range and physicality.
“You fill your linebacker room with guys that run in the 4.4s and you’re heading in the right direction. He wouldn’t have reached 102 if he played a more prominent role on a lesser defense.”
California edge player Cameron Goode, the first of two seventh-round picks:”You knew he would test well. Didn’t know he would test that well. To get a guy that has proven pass-rush ability that late in the draft and a good tester, that’s a good pick. Guys at Cal rave about his character. He’s got a trait everyone looks for, a guy that can attack the quarterback.”
Oregon safety Verone McKinley III: “He was a late add for us during the week. The things you like about Verone are the instincts and the finishing skills, good eyes, can anticipate and when he’s around the ball, he can get his hands on it. He had a nice Ohio State game early in the year, played a lot in the slot. That’s probably his best home. If you play him deep, speed might be a bit of a concern.”
Arizona State left tackle Kellen Diesch, signed after the draft: “It surprised me he didn’t get drafted. Good tape. A little bit of a tweener in that his arms were disproportionally short for a guy that tall [6-7]. He did a nice job at the college level playing at tackle. In the NFL, you worry about lack of length. He might be headed to guard, which he has done some I would expect him to have a good shot” to make the 53.
Kansas State quarterback Skylar Thompson, the second of the Dolphins’ two seventhround picks:
“We liked him. Going back a couple years, we were watching him quite a bit. Met him at the Manning camp. Really liked him. I thought his age [24] would force him to go undrafted. “Good athlete, gritty kid, he plays the position well. He processes well, makes good decisions. It has been a durability thing and an age thing with him.”
Thompson has impressed the Dolphins during the team’s offseason program, so much so that Miami recently cut former Arizona Cardinals quarterback
Chris Streveler. At Wednesday’s minicamp, Thompson threw the only two TD pieces (short routes to Jaylen Waddle and Trent Sherfield).
Nagy on Mississippi receiver
Braylon Sanders, signed after the draft: “He can run, fast kid. Transitioning away from the Ole Miss offense is a challenge for all those guys in terms of route tree and route running. We would not have invited him [to the Senior Bowl] if we didn’t think he was draftable player. Maybe some of the durability stuff [is a concern], but he has big play ability and can really run.”
He averaged 21.1 yards on 69 college receptions but missed time with assorted injuries.
Idaho State wide receiver
Tanner Conner, signed after the draft and subsequently moved by the Dolphins to tight end: “That 10.5 he ran for the track team [in the 100]. He’s a little bit of a tweener. If he’s more of a pass-catching tight end, then there’s development needed and you’re asking him to do something he never has had to do. Big guy [6-3, 225] that can run. I thought he would get drafted.”
South Carolina running back ZaQuandre White, signed after the draft: “He got hurt in the middle of the [Senior Bowl week of practices], which hurt because backs can help themselves in the game.”
White was a linebacker for a year at FSU, transferred to Iowa Western Community College and then averaged 6.2 yards on 104 carries in two years at South Carolina.
“I know some teams that had as high as fourth-round grades on him before the pre-draft process,” Nagy said. “You put on the tape and he has explosiveness. He can put his foot in the ground and there’s a noticeable burst when he plants his foot.”
Nagy did not evaluate Texas Tech receiver Erik Ezukanma, the Dolphins’ fourth-round pick, because he was an underclassman not eligible for the Senior Bowl.
CHATTER
Alonzo Highsmith, who this week begins his job as UM’s general manager/football operations, told WQAM: “The first thing I’m going to do — when you come in, you sit back and watch. I want to sit back and listen, watch, learn. I can’t come in there and say, ‘Do it like this, do it like that.’ I want to watch how things work and then I’ll interject at another time.
“I’m coming to the University of Miami in a very humble manner. I’m not the savior of the school, I want to be a part of the program the same way I was as a freshman in college. I want to help build something.”
Among other things, he will evaluate recruits and portal players and “try to be a mentor to our players, teach them what it takes to get to the next level.”
Heat forward Caleb Martin said he and his twin brother (Hornets forward Cody Martin) recently were talking about how remarkable it is that Jimmy Butler is not only “putting up 40 points; he’s putting up 40 points while guarding the best player at the same time and playing 48 minutes if he can. It [was] an honor to be a part of it.”
There have been 34 Game 7s in the past 10 seasons and only two of them have ended with a wire-to-wire victory (no ties or lead changes): Boston’s win against the Heat on Sunday, and Dallas’ Western Conference semifinals win against Phoenix.
Game 7 of Heat-Celtics on ESPN was viewed in 12 percent of Miami-Fort Lauderdale homes with TV sets, similar to an average Dolphins game. That 12 rating is well below for South Florida’s average Eastern Conference finals rating (23) of the Big 3 era (Heat-Pacers in 2014).