Senior Bowl Update – David and Dennard

This week, Nebraska’s defenders had a chance to strut their stuff..

Linebacker Lavonte David will take the field in Mobile, Ala., for the Senior Bowl as one of Nebraska’s two representatives. Cornerback Alfonzo Dennard will miss the game due to a hip flexor injury, but practiced most of the week.

All week long, the Senior Bowl held padded practices. Most NFL scouts stay only for the practices and base their player analyses on performances throughout the week.

A number of NFL scouts knocked Dennard’s performance throughout the week, saying his response time was slow and that pointed out that he got burned on a number of routes. As a result, some scouting agencies are dropping his range to the late-3^rd to early-4^th round.

David had a stronger week than Dennard did. Though he continued to be criticized for his lack of size, many scouts wrote that they were impressed by his instincts, nose for the ball and closing speed. Some teams are considering David at the strong safety position if he can improve his speed by a bit.

David, who was named a first team All-American by the AFCA and was named the Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year by the Big Ten, is currently graded near Dennard as a third or fourth round pick, due mostly to him lying the gray area between outside linebacker and safety.

In 2010, David broke the Nebraska school record for tackles in a season. Over his entire career, David recorded 285 tackles in 27 starts.

Dennard, who was named the Tatum-Woodson Defensive Back of the Year by the Big Ten, recorded 21 pass breakups and four interceptions in his Husker career, where he was known as a lockdown corner.

David will take the field representing the North team in the Senior Bowl, which is set for Sat. Jan 28 at 2 p.m.

By Chris Peters

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