Trunk Strength.. Good read

[patmoran2006]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5511470

Surprise at the top.. Well, maybe not.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Superb article, Pat!

We all know how highly you think of the guy at the top of the list, but please note that I have mentioned the other four guys in his top five as guys that I really like in this draft as well. I believe that what he says about the importance of trunk strength has a lot of merit.

Although I must admit that I am a bit surprised by Ferguson being on his not so good list, still I do see his point and agree that this is an area that Ferguson will have to work on as a pro (his upper body strength and technique are quite good, so, while he'll struggle some until he improves his trunk strength, I still wouldn't pass him up in the draft if he's still on the board!).

I think that Tom Modrak used a term in talking about Broderick Bunkley the other day that indicates more than any other what the scouts look at and that is a player's "power pack"--which I believe refers to basically an evaluation of the combination of upper and lower body strength, probably combined with flexibility and certain body size measurables that figure into the player's ability to utilize the strength that he has. Obviously describing or defining a player's "power pack" is a lot harder than figuring out how many bench press reps he did at the Combine--which is why we don't see any numbers or descriptions of that in the pre-draft media previews, but is a lot truer assessment of how strong he is likely to be when he puts on the pads. And I'm sure that trunk strength is a big part of what scouts look at when trying to determine what kind of "power pack" a given player has.

BTW: A player who had very poor bench press numbers at the Combine, but who played much stronger than those numbers would seem to indicate is OLT Jonathon Scott of Texas. His big lower body may be an indication that his trunk strength is a lot greater than his upper body strength. His poor bench press numbers may drop him out of the first round and he may be still available when the Bills pick early in Round 2.

[G. Host]

I disagree with article about Leif Larsen being "mediocre". He was a 6th round draft pick who was starting to improve, got hurt and got lost in shuffle of new coaches. Not every low or non drafted player can be a Pat Williams. Otherwise a good article.

[Captain gameboy]

While its true that Brick does not "shove players around," what he does is keep them away from his body.
His arms are long, he's tall, and has extremely quick feet, achieving almost immediate balance when he repositions.
As the result of all that, D'linemen rarely get into him, and almost never around him.
It is a point against him though. He showed up here at the UVA pro day at 305. Since he graduated in three and a half years, he was able to spend the time after the Senior Bowl working out and bulking up in Orlando.