@deadwombat said:

Heh, thanks for being able to provide some great insight on Mack and such. Hell, this board needs more of your type.

Of course.

And how could I forget...Steve Marshall! Duh (smacks head). We hired him from the Browns. Does Marshall prefer the more experienced lineman or the more talented one? Anything else Cal fans should know about him? Despite losing Mack, we have above average talent at O-line this season. The play of the hogs will decide how high we climb this season.

Aloysius said:

George, you a big fan of Tyson Alualu? nfldraftscout's got him projected to be a 6th/7th round pick next year, but I think he'll go much higher than that. 3-4 teams are going to be all over a guy who's already has success playing in the scheme.

Alualu's the rock of our defense here at Cal. Our D-coordinator switched to a 3-4 last year and Tyson did not miss a beat playing SDE. He also has the strength to play as a 4-3 DT in the pros. We're counting on him and the rest of our defense to hold USC under 14 this season. I think he'll go in the 4th?

Riffer,

1. Anderson, IIRC, threw interception after interception at Oregon State, so I'm surprised he started several games last year for you guys.

2. Sanchez has a very powerful arm and more importantly, is deadly accurate. I think he'll enjoy an excellent career w/the Jets. I'll have to see how Rodgers performs this year with games on the line. If anything, Rodgers will have a better defense to fall back on.

3. I believe character concerns, mainly, dropped Maualuga's stock. He intimidated O-linemen and running backs while at USC.

Crow,

Yes, Mack pass blocks by straightening up. I've watched pass protection drills at Cal and that's how our former coach taught our O-linemen. I wouldn't worry about Mack losing leverage; he was a high school wrestling champion, and he incorporates wrestling into his technique.

Riffer, yes, I am a Cal fan and alum; coach, no, though I'm flattered by your comment. I follow football in the Pac-10 extensively, and am familiar with Ngata and Derek Anderson, and to a lesser extent, Edwards and Quinn. I'll admit I knew little about the Browns until Mangini drafted Mack. But you guys have my full support now. I'm looking forward to Mack and Robiskie doing their thing.

Aloysius said:

Thanks for the links & response, George.

As to the Senior Bowl, I'd agree that Mack fared best against Raji of all the North squad centers, but he wasn't great. Unger's a finesse, zone blocking center, so it wasn't a surprise that Raji & Brace destroyed him. Unfortunately, Eric Wood was on the South squad, so we didn't get to see him battle BC's big men all week in practice.

Here's an longer report on Mack's performance during Senior Bowl week:

Thanks for the report, Aloysius. I see some legitimate concerns there.

Keep in mind the Senior Bowl was likely the first time Mack ever took a snap at guard, practice or game. Did he play center all his life? No. He's taken practice snaps at left tackle before at Cal, and I believe he did so for the team to get the best 5 linemen on the field. Per the report it sounds like Mack picked up the guard position pretty quickly. But he will be most valuable as a center for the Browns.

Aloysius said:

Yes, highlight reels are for highlights...but my concerns about Mack's strength developed based on what I saw in the USC game & at the Senior Bowl. So I thought it was interesting that he didn't have many highlight plays in that game.

Still think he could be a good to great center, but the meager 20 reps he put up at his pro day didn't dispel those doubts. That, along with being in a pissy mood, resulted in what I posted above.

To address your concerns, yes, the Cal O-line couldn't do a thing against USC's front 7, especially run-blocking. Here's the thing, though: Cal was forced to play rookie O-linemen that day due to injuries. I'm talking about guys at right guard and right tackle making their 2nd career starts. I'm talking about a walk-on at left guard. O-lines, especially, benefit from cohesion. Don't think Mack got dominated; he held his own at center. Did he get beat several times? Sure. But overall, he played well against the Trojans. Judge for yourself...

Regarding the Senior Bowl, take a look at this quote from the Sacramento Bee:

Everyone is talking about Boston College's B.J. Raji, and for good reason. Raji measured 6 ½ feet today and weighed 334 pounds. He's built like an oak stump, but he has excellent quickness for a guy that size. He typically had his way with offensive linemen today. The only guy who was able to handle Raji was Cal center Alex Mack, who was easily the best offensive linemen on the North squad and who was considerably better than Oregon's Max Unger, whom many publications have rated higher than Mack. Mack got the better of Raji during team drills, at one point standing him up and driving him backward.

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/49ers...ves/018719.html

Mack is a leader. His work ethic is unmatched, and he is relentless. He may not be able to beat Hampton or Ngata 1-on-1 just yet, but he will attack and attack until he feels he's taken them out of the play.