USC at California NFL Draft watch notes

by Dan Kadar on Oct 13, 2011 6:52 PM EDT in 2012 NFL Draft

If you've yet to see Southern California left tackle Matt Kalil, make sure to tune in tonight when the Trojans play at California (9 p.m. EST). What his brother, Ryan, has developed into at the center position, Matt can do at tackle. The younger Kalil is a good athlete for the position, and nicely kicks out wide in the pass game. Kalil is active with his hands and push pass rushers out of the play. He's arguably the top tackle eligible for the 2012 NFL Draft along with Stanford's Jonathan Martin.

Then there is Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley. Like Kalil, the junior is expected to go pro after this season. As pointed out earlier, Barkley reminds me of fellow Trojan Mark Sanchez with a little better accuracy. One thing to watch with Barkley is his consistency on the deep pass. His longer throws tend to flutter at times, which calls his arm strength into question.

USC also features one of the best all-around safeties eligible for the 2012 draft in T.J. McDonald. While he's not elite in any area of his game, he's a solid athlete with good size. Read our quick notes on McDonald here.

Watch how USC uses Nick Perry tonight on defense. Throughout the season he's played standing up and with his hand in the dirt. He's still raw as a prospect but starting to show signed was he was blue chip recruit a few years ago. He's the kind of player who could get on a hot streak the rest of the season and turn it into a high draft position.

Teams that run the 3-4 defense and need ends will have a keen eye on California end Trevor Guyton. He's got the prototype build and playing style for the position. He should time pretty well in the offseason, so don't be shocked if he's picked in the first 75 selections in April.

I love the playing style of Bears middle linebacker Mychal Kendricks. He'll never get a fair shake as a prospect because he's only 5-foot-11 and isn't an elite athlete, but he'll make an NFL roster. He's got solid instincts, can really lay a hit and is almost always need the play.

Another good Cal sleeper is safety Sean Cattouse. He's decent in coverage, is a solid tackler and has nice size at 6-foot-2.

We don't give much credence to scouting kickers and punters, but Cal has a good one in Bryan Anger. He's averaging 44.4 yards per punt this season.

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Mychal Kendricks

He reminds me of London Fletcher. He has great instincts and packs a punch for his size. He is probably one of the most underrated LB’s in the nation. His play stood out against The Ducks last week.

by ValdezY on Oct 13, 2011 7:17 PM EDT reply actions

Just got back from the game

super depressing but cool because it was in AT&T stadium. Onto the observations:

-Kalil is legit – only noticed like once where he didn’t get enough push, but held his end well I thought
-Barkley was okay – missed a few passes that I thought were easy completions (especially against Cal defense lol)
-McDonald was meh – I thought he had intercepted the endzone pass but I’m pretty sure it was someone else, didn’t catch the name or number though, too much groaning and head-shaking
-Cal defense performed better than I thought because I don’t value it well at all – nothing to note about specific players, but there were some really stupid personal penalties
-punting was good, but that’s a bad sign because it means your ST is getting too much in-game practice (ever wonder why the Raiders have the best kicker/punter in the game for the last decade?)
-I like Keenan Allen, but I don’t know if he’s NFL material – could bulk up a bit and work on the hands/concentration a lot
-Isi Sofele makes me wish I had seen the Marshawn Lynch era…

by vitzeng on Oct 14, 2011 2:28 AM EDT reply actions