The East-West Shrine Bowl will air Thursday night. When you sit down to watch the game, you should take your time to focus on the West Team’s defensive tackles.
Specifically, take a look at Indiana’s C.J. West, Boston College’s Cam Horsley and Maryland’s Jordan Philips. Philips is one of two players ESPN’s Jordan Reid called the biggest risers of Shrine Bowl practices.
The New Orleans Saints need a defensive tackle to pair with Bryan Bresee. You’d aim for someone with more run stuffing ability, and all three of these players were described to meet the qualifications prior to practice, then proved it.
The Saints would probably put some weight on them to put them next to Bresee. Philips came in at the highest weight 318 pounds. The team would want to get them in the 320 pound range at least. It wouldn’t require much change and could give Bresee a compliment in the middle rounds of the NFL draft.
In team periods, the triumvirate was consistently disruptive and attacked double teams aggressively and effectively. They also flashed during pass rush one-on-ones. West utilized the push pull move on a few occasions with a great success rate.
Each had their moments, but Horsley and West caught my eye the most due to their success in pass rush situations. Phillips excelled by attacking the blocker in double team drills.
From the three padded practices, it felt like a toss up between the three defensive tackles. All of which are worth a watchful eye on Thursday.
