Wes Bunting on 2 Alabama players

Not sure how many people got to Nationalfootballpost.com, but they have a "scout" there that does a lot of work on upcoming NFL prospects.  He talks about Julio Jones and Greg McElroy in his Offensive summary today:

Julio Jones: Alabama (6-4, 220)
Don’t close the case just yet on the nation’s top wide receiver prospect, as Alabama’s Julio Jones — who has been brilliant for most of the year — had one of his signature games this weekend vs. who many suspect to be the top cornerback drafted come April in LSU’s Patrick Peterson. Jones was singled up for most of the day with Peterson and finished the game with 10 catches for 89 yards and a touchdown and seemed to really keep his focus and concentration throughout, one of the biggest questions I had about his game coming in.

Watching Jones last season he looked a bit too bulky for his own good, losing some of the impressive explosion and fluidity he displayed for such a big guy as a freshman. However, he looks a little leaner this year, which has really helped his play dramatically in the process in my opinion. He’s not only doing a much better job cleanly changing directions and accelerating out of his breaks in order to gain separation on sharply breaking routes, but his overall feel as a route runner has really improved. He’s doing a much better job changing gears in order to set up routes, which allows him to consistently gain a step and then use his big, long frame to adjust to the football. He showcased great body control and focus on one back shoulder throw Saturday and at times is simply too good, making a play on the football even when covered up. Now, I am not going to say that Jones is hands down the better prospect over A.J. Green, but he does add more of a physical element compared to Green and depending on what your flavor is, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to hear some teams liking Jones a bit more that Green come draft day.

Don’t sleep on him
Finally, it’s time to give some props to Alabama QB Greg McElroy. The guy has been known throughout college football as simply a game manager. However, if you really evaluate this guy with an open mind, he’s much more than that. McElroy does two things as good as any quarterback prospect in the nation.

1. He throws a really accurate football on all levels of the field and it’s his ball location that really makes him tough to defend.
2. The guy has a great feel for deciphering information quickly, finding his secondary options and delivering the ball on time in the face of pressure.

Now, he lacks a great arm — which will improve a bit in the NFL — and he needs to become content throwing the ball away and not take so many sacks. However, I feel like McElroy has just been written off as a quarterback prospect before the year ever even started and if you look over the entire senior quarterback class, outside of Jake Locker, I think he stacks up quite well with the best of them.

Wes Bunting