BORLAND “TURN ON THE FILM”
… That was Wisconsin LB Chris Borland’s answer to me Wednesday when I asked him his response to being too short … too this, too that. “Turn on the film. I think I am a good player, there have been guys who have been shorter than me who have gotten it done.”
He has been flattered by the Zach Thomas comparisons, admitting he is “no where near his caliber of play yet.”
Borland has been playing middle linebacker this week, but admitted he can play the WILL in a 4-3, the MIKE in a 4-3, and the MIKE in a 3-4.
“I think I have shown I am a good pass coverage linebacker (this week),” Borland said. “I think that was a question mark for some people coming in.”
RA’SHEDE HAGEMAN SHINING:
Some of the biggest raving reviews this week on linemen have fallen on the broad shoulders of Minnesota’s Ra’Shede Hageman.
He passes all eyeball tests, no doubt. 6’6″, 318. Wingspan.
Hageman admitted to me he is in the best shape of his life. Saying he once did have a 36-inch vertical, though he says, “At 318 pounds, that might go down a couple inches.”
Now he just needs consistency.
“The inconsistency comes from me thinking so much,” Hageman said. “This is my third year playing D-tackle, and if I hesitate, I am not playing up to the best of my ability.
(And just a note: Ra’Shede wants to stress the way to properly pronounce his last name is “HAYG-man” … not HAY-guh-man).
CJ … A BEAR?
Iowa’s CJ Fiedorowicz doesn’t want to single out one NFL team to eliminate any interest, but he couldn’t help but be excited by the contact the Chicago Bears showed him this week. He grew up being a Bears fan, and the interviews he did with the team had him dreaming.
“It’s crazy,” Fiedorowicz said. “It’s always been my dream watching the bears since I was young. I watched Greg Olsen and now (Martellus) Bennett … to play for a team like that would be unreal. To have my family and friends there.”
O-LINE SWITCH:
Senior Bowl this week saw some changes to a pair of B1G O-linemen in Michigan’s Michael Schofield and Ohio State’s Jack Mewhort. Schofield started the week at guard, and then Wednesday tried his hand back at tackle — the position where he ended his career in Ann Arbor. “I want to prove to people I can play multiple positions.”
Mewhort made the switch from left tackle to right this week, and on Wednesday, he did the flip-flop opposite of Schofield and “chose” to go from right tackle to guard. “It was my choice,” Schofield told me. “My goal coming out today was to show (the scouts) I can play guard.”
Versatility can be the biggest selling point for both of these guys.
Tonight on BTN’s Finale — you can hear from Gerry DiNardo and NFL Draft Analyst Russ Lande on “the guys in the trenches” … including how Lande feels the absence of Michigan’s Taylor Lewan (due to injury) from the Senior Bowl affects his draft status.
