This Saturday the 20th, bowl season kicks off. In the afternoon on national television, ABC is showing the Vegas bowl pitting #23 Utah vs Colorado State.
This should be a good game in its own right, but Bucs fans should keep a close eye on some of the match-ups within the match-up of this game. Lets start with the A story for us Tampa fans.
Ty Sambrailo LT vs Nate Orchard DE. Every Tampa fan can agree that in this offseason, the bucs need to address O line. Whether or not C, G or T needs to be addressed most is of some debate, though it seems that most feel like tackle is the biggest need. I think it is Center and Guard, but who cares? The point is that one of the better under the radar LT prospects is going to be playing in a tough match-up. Ty Sambrailo is a guy who is projected mostly from 2nd/3rd though some think that he could go as high as the late 1st. Looking at his tape against Boston College, I was really impressed. He looks very good in both pass blocking and showed that he was quite good as a zone blocker. The main question mark that I have on him is that I don't know how explosive he is kicking out. This question mark should be answered when going against Nate Orchard, who is the Ted Hendricks defensive end of the year. Orchard leads the nation in sacks per game, mainly due to his speed rush. He is great and getting to the edge and does a good job of setting up his moves. Orchard is possibly the best person to test Sambrailo's kick out, because if Sambrailo cheats Orchard will take the inside move and crush Grayson. Sambrailo will, also not be getting much help. Most of the help will go towards helping his over matched RT trying to stop another double digit sack guy in Dimick.
This match up will be very fun for Tampa fans/scouts to watch because Sambrailo looks to fill a need at a good value, and fits the scheme. Sambrailo doesn't need to blank Orchard, he just needs to win more than he doesn't. Orchard is a 1st/2nd round prospect who hasn't been blanked by anybody this year, including Andreas Peat, whom he absolutely embarrassed and is talked about as possibly being the best tackle in this years draft.
Eric Rowe CB vs Rashard Higgins WR. Rowe is a CB with a lot of promise/potential that, to me, looks like a good fit in the slot for a cover 2. Rowe looks to be going somewhere in the 4/5th and could probably start in the slot as soon as being drafted. He is going up against Rashard Higgins, the only reason why Higgins isn't going in the first round this year is because he is a Sophomore. He was a finalist for the Biletnikoff award. He is a speed guy that does a good job of turning short catches into big gains. He also is a huge deep threat. It is worth keeping an eye on Higgins for the future, but more it will be interesting to see how Rowe handles a WR of Higgins caliber. Rowe has improved quite a bit this year as he moved from Safety to corner for the first time. He struggled a ton, however in his last game he played an NFL caliber WR in Nelson Spruce and Rowe actually looked quite good when manned up with him. Colorado actually had to start moving him around and away from Rowe so that he could get some production. It will be good to see a CB that will be coveted for his size/speed to go against a tall uber fast WR.
The last one is Kaelin Clay. Clay is a KR/WR, as a WR he has a ton of question marks, but as a return man he is one of if not the best in collage football this year. Clay is a better punt returner than he is a kick returner. You will often see him make his first move as he is catching the ball. When watching you are just thinking, "You need to fair catch that dude," then he makes a guy miss as he is catching the ball. I kinda have a problem with that, but at the same time, I don't think he has muffed a punt all year long. He is also a really good kick returner but just not quite as good. He represents a big need for the Bucs seeing as to how Tampa doesn't have a quality kick or punt returner, Clay can fill both needs very well, and he has an outside shot of providing decent depth at WR. His ability as a WR is probably what is going to be interesting to watch on Saturday because he will, most likely, be the Utes' #1 WR and should see a lot of targets. I will be keeping a close eye on that, if he shows potential, beyond pure speed, as a WR then he could be a huge late round steal.
So, watch the game, have fun, and tell me what you thought/think about the draft prospects playing.
Go Bucs.
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