2020 East-West Game: West Team Notes
It’s officially draft season! The 2020 East-West Shrine game is the first stop along the 2020 NFL Draft process. The 2020 East-West Shrine Game is the first collegiate all-star game on the calendar. Collegiate seniors from across the country play in this game. Sure, it’s not as famous as the Senior Bowl, but a lot of great players have played in this game. Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Josh Norman are some examples. In this edition, we’re going to break down the players from the West Team.
For the record, it’s really hard to keep track of guys on each play because people are constantly being rotated out. Feel free to share your notes from the game.
Quarterbacks:
More runners than throwers here. First up is Tyler Huntley. Looks like a real poor mans Teddy Bridgewater throwing the ball. Now, he can make plays with his legs but he’s not a good enough quarterback to be taken seriously as a real starter. Now, I don’t think he’s totally undraftable like the next guy we will talk about. I think Huntley is very draftable. He looks like he could be a Lamar Jackson back up type of guy. It was an ok performance 6-8 with a touchdown.
Kelly Bryant just flat out stinks. I can’t believe how awful he is. Every time I watch him, he gets worse. Looks like he has a bad arm too. I’m so out.
Mason Fine was by far the best quarterback for the West. Fine was a prolific passer for North Texas. He’s short. Even shorter than Kyler Murray. That doesn’t mean he can’t play but it’s something to note. He did get a pass deflected but did make some plays. Fine is a gunslinger which is better than anything we saw out of the other guys. 4-6 with 66 yards, and a touchdown. Check out this touchdown. Gunsligner… The bad news is he’s 5-foot-9.
Running Backs:
LeVante Bellamy was disappointing. You gotta give me more than this. 5 carries for 12 yards. Just terrible. This game gave me everything I needed. I knew at the time when I watched him at Western Michigan that something was missing. Put him on a bigger stage with the big boys and he’s just not good. I got my answer now. I should also add that Tony Jones was bad too but I didn’t have expectations for him.
James Robinson of Illinois State had a really nice game. I worry about his speed but tough and shifty. 7 carries for 80 yards and a score. Not a ton of work but made the most of his opportunities. Could be a nice bruiser to add to a run game. Not a star but he showed something. Not a bad thing that he added 2 catches for 56 yards too.
Wide Receivers:
Binjimen Victor made a great play down the field. I never know what to make of Ohio State guys like this. They disappear for hours and then do something like this. How do you quantify that? What do you do with him? I still don’t know.
Tight Ends:
Parker Houston doesn’t look like an NFL guy but check out this play. Hell of a snag. Maybe somebody likes as a third tight end who knows?
Offensive Line:
I don’t have much here. Calvin Throckmorton is a stud. They kicked him inside on guard for this one. Oregon had an elite offensive line all year. Drew Richmond of USC had some nice pass blocking sets too. Cordel Iwuagwu looked good too. It’s so hard to watch everything when these guys rotate out so frequently.
Defensive Line:
North Dakota State defensive end Derrek Tuszka really showed up. He gave the Alabama tackle problems all day. Tuszka is undersized but wins with speed. I’m not sure if he has a second pitch but it was good enough today.
Really, I didn’t see much. Most years, defensive lines dominate this game. Not this time. I’m kind of out on this group. They got killed by the opposing offensive line.
Linebackers:
I’m not quite sure what Jordan Glasgow is. I don’t think he’s a safety. I don’t know if he’s a linebacker either. I don’t know what he is at all. What I know is he has two brothers in the NFL and just looks like a football player. He’s not great at anything but he can play up in the run game and cover people as a hybrid safety. Just seems like he’s always around the ball and doesn’t shy away from contact.
Defensive Backs:
Luther Kirk came away with an interception. He was playing super deep and took away a sitting duck from Tommy Stevens. Kirk won MVP for his side.
Keith Washington of West Virginia got beat up bad. Washington looked totally lost. His back was turned to the ball constantly. This is an important part of this game. Cross guys off you know stink. No, thanks, Keith Washington.
