The Shrine Game experience is in full effect with the East Team wrapping up their third day of practice and it was evident that they turned it up a notch. Today featured a lot more scrimmage work, less drills and very fiery one on one red zone drill that jacked the players up for the final scrimmage portion of the day. I have to give Frank Giuffre, Brentson Buckner, Duce Staley and Sam Mills III a huge shout out for coaching the heck out of these kids. Sam Mills in particular had a heart to heart with the defensive ends at one point, stressing smart football, avoiding penalties and the reality of what is at stake. He really looks like an up and comer in the coaching ranks.

DE Tyler Hendrickson, Florida Atlantic – This kid is close to winning the practice award for the week. He has brought it every single day, his length and motor have been tough to deal with for the tackles on the east team and he has a lot of natural power. Hendrickson has an ideal base end frame, he beat Jonathan McLaughlin off edge, he beat William Holder on an outside rush and he also beat Dan Skipper on another rep. Truth be told, none of the offensive tackles can say they had a good day today and Hendrickson was the main culprit. He’s a tough cover.

DT Joey Ivie IV, Florida – This is another player that really passed the volume test during stance firing drills. Brentson Buckner had some of the defensive linemen fire out of their stance, eliminate extra steps and get high on the tackling dummy from both a three point stance and from one knee. You could hear an audible difference in how much harder Ivie struck that thing compared to Karter Schult and DeAngelo Brown. Joey has a nice athletic frame, he has natural power and could potentially be a rushing tackle on passing downs with how well he uses those heavy hands.

RB De’Veon Smith, Michigan – This guy has put some moves on display that I didn’t think he had and he has proven to be an accomplished receiver in pass catching drills. There was an extended portion of redzone one on ones in the middle of practice and he matched up with a linebacker, put a shimmy on him and broke left on an out route for a wide open catch. He put a jump cut on a defender early in the day and showed off some real lateral ability for a big man. The guy isn’t just a power back or pile mover, he brings a lot to the table on game day.

LB Javancy Jones, Jackson State – Jones has been a pleasant surprise with his high spirited, vocal play that has been a big lift for the defense on the East team. He is a fiery personality and it has showed up in his play. One particular series on the last play from the last scrimmage session, coaches called an extra fourth one scenario and Javancy Jones got the defense jacked up for a stop at the line. Nobody will ever know the end result but it boiled down to Javancy Jones stopping De’Veon Smith at the goalline and it appeared that the man from the SWAC got the better end of it. Jones has nice pursuit speed, he’s a rocked up 245 that uncoils on ball carriers and he appears to have a certain amount of leadership out there.

WR De’Angelo Yancey, Purdue – Another surprise, especially since I do a lot of work in Lafayette but Yancey has shown up with a purpose and performed well all week long. He has long arms, he’s built like a wideout and he has the wheels to makeup space to the ball and allow his quarterbacks to throw him open. He’s made a number of sideline catches and adjustments that impressed. For what it’s worth, Yancey has been a busy man after practices with media, coaches and scouts in his grill daily. Not going to name teams, it’s just been hard to get an interview with the man.

CB Nate Hairston, Temple – Sign me up for the feisty cornerback out of Temple! He won a lot of one on ones, he batted a red zone catch out of Gehrig Dieter’s hands today and what stuck out today was his recovery speed. There was a wide open wheel route or check down on the backside of the play that Kermit Whitfield had for a sure touchdown but Hairston closed the gap, found the football and made a great deflection. This kid comes from a great defense and football program and there’s not a doubt that he’s a Sunday player. Truth be told, this East team boasts a great group of corners and Hairston is one of the guys that sticks out.

Thanks a ton for reading and please bang out some feedback or comments below. You can always e-mail me questions, comments and even complaints to joe@draftscouts.com