Falcons coach Dan Quinn intensely watch both lines of scrimmage at both Senior Bowl practices Tuesday and Wednesday.
He was particularly impressed with Alabama linebacker Reggie Ragland.
“I saw some good plays,” Quinn said. “I felt his speed. He’s bigger than I thought. On TV you see some ballgames, but I felt the speed. There was a play across the field where he just went after the tight end, closed on him and took a shot at the ball.
“I was like, ‘this is a guy that is going for it.’ You can sense that from him.”
Ragland played middle linebacker for the Crimson Tide, but is trying to show NFL scouts that he play outside linebacker.
“I thought he had versatility because he went down to the pass rush and did some of that, too,” Quinn said. “It’s pretty rare. A lot of inside backers don’t have experience rushing outside. Man, what a versatile dude. Is he guy who can play over the tight end? He’s got the strength to do that, but yet he plays his game behind the ball. He jumped out to me in a positive way.
Just a few years back, all of the NFL draft scouts wondered if a middle linebacker out of Boston College ran well enough and had the range to drop into coverage.
He was excellent against the run, but could he cover?
That was Luke Kuechly in 2012. Kuechly has since proved that he’s just fine in coverage. Actually, the two-time All-Pro player is quite dynamic in coverage.
Ragland, the projected top middle linebacker in the 2016 NFL Draft, is hearing some of the same things at the Senior Bowl.
“Oh yeah, every time that you look up, he’s always making a play on the ball,” Ragland said. “I’m just coming out here to prove the naysayers wrong. You just can’t really listen. People are going to talk and that’s what they try to do to get you thrown off your game. You just can’t worry about what people say. I try to control what I can control.”
Ragland also wants to show teams that he can play outside linebacker. He wants to be a three-down linebacker and not have to come off the field in passing situations.
“Now, I can control how I play outside linebacker,” said Ragland, who was the heart and soul of Alabama’s national championship defense. “I’m just trying to give effort and show everybody that I can move around.”
Growing up in Madison, Ala., Ragland wasn’t a big NFL fan, but he had a favorite player.
“Ray Lewis,” he said. “I love the way that he led his teams. He was very versatile. He was out there. He always had guys enthused and happy. You could tell that the intensity that he had for the game.”
Ragland projects to go anywhere from 14th to 22nd in the reputable mock drafts. CBSSports.com has him ranked as the 16th best player in the draft. The Falcons, who are looking to improve their linebacker corps this offseason, pick 17th in the first round and are heavily scouting Ragland.
He’s interviewed with the Raiders, Packers, Bears, 49ers and the Buccaneers, but Ragland, who returned for his senior season and earned his degree, doesn’t care who he plays for.
He believes that his time at Alabama prepared him well for the NFL.
“Coach (Nick) Saban makes sure that we are mature, and he’s not putting us on the field until we’re ready to play,” Ragland said. “The defense is an NFL-styled defense, and he’s not putting anybody on the field until they are ready. That’s the thing that I appreciate about coach Saban. He made me grow up from a young boy to a young man. I’m real thankful for what he did.”
Ragland has tried to impress the teams during the interview process.
“Just be complete,” Ragland said. “Be on time during the interview process. Talk well and make a good impression for myself.”
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