SAN ANTONIO – The All-American Bowl practices continued on Wednesday and the intensity picked up during a joint practice session in the afternoon. There were a number of standout performers on the East team and plenty of storylines to keep an eye on.
Here are the East team takeaways from Wednesday’s All-American Bowl practices.
Jordan Shipp steals the spotlight
Shipp showed up late this week for practice but took over in the joint session. He did a great job during one-on-ones, hauling in a long touchdown catch down the sideline. That impressive play carried over to the team session where he had two touchdown catches on breaking routes against in tight coverage. Shipp has always had really sticky hands and now he’s really flexing his route running skills against excellent competition.
North Carolina should be really excited about the way that he’s performed so far and we’ll see if it carries over into the game this weekend.
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East defensive line continues to dominate
The joint session of practice in San Antonio revealed a lot about players on both sides of the ball. The East defensive line, which looked impressive during the first day of practice, continued to impress during the joint practice.
Clemson signee Hevin Brown-Shuler was very active on Wednesday. He got a great push up the middle during team drills and his hands were really strong during pass rushing drills. Brown-Shuler was able to swipe away offensive linemen who were trying to slow him down. His quickness and strength were just too much for the opposing linemen to handle.
Georgia signee Justin Greene isn’t the biggest defensive lineman but his quickness and technique were on full display on Wednesday. He did a great job during pass rushing drills and he made it into the backfield a lot during team drills.
Auburn signee Amaris Williams and Florida signee LJ McCray won a number of reps during one-on-ones too.
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Cooper Cousins impressing
There’s a lot of talent on the East offensive line but none of them have been more consistently dominant than Penn State signee Cooper Cousins. The interior offensive lineman is very strong, has solid technique and gets a great push up the middle.
During team drills Cousins kept defensive linemen at bay on pass plays and during running plays he was able to push them backward while disrupting the flow of the linebackers at the next level. West defensive linemen will have a really difficult time getting the better of Cousins as he continues to get more comfortable in this setting.
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Demarcus Riddick heating up
Wednesday’s joint practice was the first opportunity for linebackers to really show off and Auburn signee Demarcus Riddick took advantage of the opportunity. He did his best work during one-on-ones, where he was in tight coverage with many of the running backs who came his way.
Riddick has a great frame and that length that he brings to the field made it difficult for quarterbacks to throw passes on target. He wasn’t as active during the team session but it will be interesting to see how he’s able to use his physical style in the game on Saturday.
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Monitoring Zaquan Patterson
The defensive backs had a very solid day on Wednesday but five-star Miami signee Zaquan Patterson hasn’t flashed much this week. The safety hasn’t been targeted much during team drills or other passing drills but he hasn’t made many big plays even when given the opportunity.
During one-on-ones in the joint session of practice, Patterson did have a few opportunities to get his hands on the ball, but wasn’t able to do so. His tight coverage resulted in a couple incompletions but, overall, his up-and-down performance is something to monitor as the week goes on.
