The Louisville Cardinals put up a great fight against a better team behind a fill-in Sophomore QB with a broken nose, but they just didn't have the horses down the stretch to hold off a more athletic Tech offense. Louisville actually led most of the way behind the hard running of RB Michael Bush and the gutsy performance by their quarterback. Marcus Vick hurt his reputation even further when he was caught on national TV intentionally driving his cleats into the thigh of a prone Elvis Dumervil--who, by the way, also hurt his draft stock by showing over the past few weeks that the early part of the season was basically an aberration.
SCOUTING SUMMARY:
College: Louisville Conference: Big East Columnist: Steve Martin
Name # Ht Wt Speed Pos Class
Michael Bush 19 602.0 252 4.57 HB 2007: Michael was unstoppable early, and was the key cog in the Louisville offense the entire first half. He ran with authroity up the middle, and again showed the burst to get to the second level and when he got there he was hard for the smaller Va Tech LBs to corrall. In the second half the backers played up a bit more and made the going a bit tougher. Still, had Michael played with the same intensity for four quarters, Louisville would have won. NEUTRAL
Brandon Johnson 97 604.0 218 4.65 LB 2006: Nobody has helped their draft stock more this year than Johnson. He looks bigger than 218 now, and has incredibly long arms that he uses to grab RBs from behind. He has gotten more confident and tenacious with every game this year. Flies around on the flanks and just makes plays. You will never put him in the middle because he would struggle taking on big OGs, but he does great as an OLB and his upside is very good. He is incredibly active and very solid in both edge run support and pass defense. A classic scrape and chase OLB now. I would take this guy in the late 3rd without hesitation now, whereas at the beginning of the year he was probably no better than a 6th. If he weighs in at 240+ in the post season look for him to go second round--and perhaps high second round. VERY POSITIVE
Elvis Dumervil 58 511.7 256 4.65 DE 2006: He was in on a couple plays. But now that everyone knows who he is, he has been just another guy now for about a month and a half. In my honest opinion he will never play DE in the pros. He got knocked around and sealed when rushing on slants, and simply stoned by Va Tech's less-than-specatcular OTs on power moves. He is not playing with the same intensity that he displayed early in the year. I just don't know where he fits at the next level, and I would not touch him before the 5th round. NEGATIVE
Joshua Tinch 9 603.0 223 4.60 WR 2006: Joshua had a very nice 40-yard TD cacth early on, but then inexplicably disappeared the rest of the way. Tinch is such an up and down guy that it bothers me as to how to rank him. He has not shown the level of consistency in any phas of the game to be more than a late second-day candidate. NEGATIVE
Travis Leffew 78 603.5 301 5.20 OT 2006: Travis did a pretty nice job against Tapp, who he was asked to handle quite a bit of the time. Tapp usually made his plays over the other tackle, not over Leffew. He really does punch and recoli well, has very good footwork and pulling ability for a OT, and were he 2-3 inches taller you might keep him at LOT at the next level. He is a tactician who never quits on plays. He was beaten once when he chose the wrong guy when left to guard two guys alone, but that's about the only way you beat him on the pass rush. I would like to see him add 10 pounds and go inside in the West Coast offense. POSITIVE
Montavious Stanley 92 602.5 315 5.10 NT 2006: DNP...injury. His absence was not felt as strongly as I thought it might be.
Jason Spitz 59 603.5 308 5.10 OG 2006: I don't know. He doesn't seem to be the kind of guy who will hurt you or upgrade your o-line much. He just doesn't pancake people or dominate anybody on a regular basis. All he does is his job, and he does it pretty well. POSITIVE
College: Virginia Tech Conference: Atlantic Coast Columnist: Andrew Nile
Name # Ht Wt Speed Pos Class
Darryl Tapp 55 601.0 268 4.70 DE 2006: Darryl was the focus of attention by the Louiville O-line (as well he should have been) and he made a few plays, but did not dominate this game. He was more effective when playing opposite the side not controlled by Spitz and Leffew. He is an impressive college DE, no doubt about that. He has a great motor and seems to really understand the position. I just think he is really a poor man's Dwight Freeney, who will never approach that level in the pros. Looks like a solid career utility man to me. NEUTRAL
Jeff King 90 605.0 263 N/A TE 2006: I really looked for the blocker in him tonight, and never really saw it. He is passive in blocking--even in pass blocking, and he will never be a success at the next level for his hands alone. He had a couple of catches, but it was a very average day for Jeff. SLIGHTLY NEGATIVE
Jimmy Williams 2 603.0 216 4.45 S 2006: Ejected early...no grade
Jonathan Lewis 56 601.0 308 5.00 DT 2006: Jonathan is a try-hard guy who does what you ask him to do. He is just not powerful enough or big enough to ever be more than a spot backup in a 4-3. He will be engulfed and driven out by pro guards, IMHO. SLIGHTLY NEGATIVE
Marcus Vick 5 600.0 214 4.30 QB 2007: Despite the obvious stupidity and immaturity and cockiness of this kid, he can play. The question now will be--who will give him a shot--the Raiders, maybe? I really don't see him ever making it to the next level, unless it is with a team that is extremely good in their psychology department. He is a headcase with all the talent in the world, who needs to go back to school and be a perfect angel for an entire year. He really needs to find religion or something--seriously. As a player last night he was quietly effective. Did not complete that many passes but two of them were nice TD balls. He really is a lot more accurate than his older brother and throws a beautiful ball. He is also faster than Michael, but not quite as instinctive toting it as his brother. Here is the problem as I see it from the purely physical standpoint...Since he is not the all-world running threat that Michael is, he will be asked to rely more on his arm, and he is not tall enough and polished enough as a pocket passer to make it in time as a pocket passer at the next level. There will not be too many teams with the type of patience needed to develop him into an NFL QB, and the off-field stuff will exacerbate that lack of time. NEUTRAL
Cedric Humes 32 601.0 233 4.54 HB 2006: Best game I have seen from big Cedric all year. He got to the second level more than I have ever seen--thanks to Will Montgomery and Co.--and when he got there, he ran over people and actually showed some decent burst. He doesn't look like a quick-start, quick-twitch type so he will have to go to a system that already has great interior linemen in place or he will struggle mightily. He needs a couple of yards of green grass to get it rolling on each play. He was generally effective on everything between the tackles, but showed no versatility. Looks like a 6-7th rounder now after being no more than a UDFA coming into the season. SLIGHTLY POSITIVE
James Anderson 42 603.0 222 4.48 LB 2006: James was very quiet in the first half, but he must have eaten his Wheaties at halftime. He had a huge Fumble recovery as well as an Int-TD to seal the victory in the second half and also was in on four other plays in that half. That has been the thing with James all along though. He plays great for awhile, and then disappears for long stretches. He is too marginal size-wise to do that. You can't deny that he had a great game in this one though, and he helped himself a little. POSITIVE
Xavier Adibi 11 602.2 229 4.51 LB 2007: Xavier was over-hyped last year, and has really done nothing to indicate that he will be a dominant force if he comes out early--so, he sure as heck better not. He gets washed out of plays, but is a great chaser. If there was ever a kid who needed another year, this is the guy. Reads and diagnoses well, but needs to get bigger and take on the attack rather than run around it. Was active in the first half but disappeared for much of the second--do he and Anderson exchage undershirts (you know the one with the big "S" on it) at half time? NEUTRAL
Will Montgomery 66 603.0 305 4.85 C 2006: Man, you have got to love Will Montgomery. This guy and Charles Spencer at Pitt have been two eastern linemen I have seen a lot of this year and been very, very impressed by. Will will lock onto you and you ain't getting away. He will sit on you too if you aren't careful. He plays hard and plays until it's quiet. He did not make a bad play all night and was absolutely a force in the running game, creating nice lanes for Humes. He is a reliable snapper and gets up and into his opponents quickly. He also is just as good as an LOG. He is a very adept holder (and gets away with it) ..i.e. the age old cliche--"He uses his hands well." I would be very comfortable drafting this guy anywhere after the 3rd round. VERY POSITIVE
Jimmy Martin 52 605.0 311 N/A OT 2006" Who? Wasn't on my gametracker. Didn't look for him....N/A
Others:
Louisville MLB Nate Harris is going to be a name to remember for next year, and so is 18-year old junior DT Amobi Okoye--6'1", 317. Okoye is the reason Stanley was not missed...and talk about upsides for an 18-year old....HOLY CRAP!!