East-West Shrine Game Day 1 roundup

The East-West Shrine Game practices underway, with several NFL Draft analysts in attendance. Every day we’ll do a roundup of stories and opinion.

For small-school prospects, an all-star game setting is critical to their draft status. After a disappointing senior season, Cornell’s Jeff Mathews put together a good first day of practice, Dane Brugler of CBS Sports notes in his Day 1 report. Once Mathews got into rhythm, Brugler reports, he showed off his arm strength and vision. With Mathews, scouts will have to determine how much of his down season can be attributed to the talent (or lack thereof) around him.

Kyle Crabbs of NFL Draft Tracker was true to his site’s namesake and tracked down the measurables for Shrine Game attendees. Particularly of note is Syracuse defensive tackle Jay Bromley. He came in at 6-foot-3, 307 pounds and a wingspan of 81 inches. Teams will love his length and quickness to get through gaps. Mathews’ hand size of 10.38 is another notable. Crabbs has a nice blow-by-blow of Day 1 here.

Jeff Risdon of Real GM put together a thorough analysis of the players who stood out and those that struggled. He noted the quick feet of Northern Arizona running back Zach Bauman helped him be a star of Day 1. As a senior, Bauman ran for 1,456 yards and nine touchdowns. The only FBS team he played in 2013 was Arizona, when he ran the ball 21 times for 71 yards.

Duke’s Ross Cockrell was a disappointment for Risdon. He noted the cornerback looked stiff compared to the other defensive backs.

Among those attending, none is more detailed than Eric Galko of Optimum Scouting. Make sure to bookmark his Shrine Game headquarters page. In his East practice report, he notes the struggles of offensive linemen Zac Kerin and John Urschel. He also notes the quick get off of Bromley – definitely a name to follow this week and leading up to the draft.

Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net put together individual player notes. Tom Melton is posting his notes on DraftFalcons. His West notes are here and East notes are here.

Finally, Emory Hunt of Football Game Plan put together a nice video report of the event:

Here’s who to follow on Twitter down at the Shrine Game this year:

Dane Brugler - @DpBrugler

Kyle Crabbs - @NFLDraftTracker

Eric Galko - @OptimumScouting

Josh Liskiewitz - @JoshLiskiewitz

Tom Melton - @TMeltonScouting

Josh Norris - @JoshNorris

Tony Pauline - @TonyPauline

Jeff Risdon - @JeffRisdon

• SB Nation’s 2014 NFL playoff coverage and brackets

• The Post-Mortem: Andrew Luck’s dirty little secret | Chilton: What’s next?

• NFL mock draft: Johnny Football cracks the top 5

• Tom Brady, Peyton Manning prepare for Round 15

• Beast Quake: The greatest TD run in NFL playoff history

• Breaking Madden: Never count out ‘Touchdown’ Tom Brady