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2021 Reeses Senior Bowl: National Team Day 2 Notes

2021 Reeses Senior Bowl

(Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports)

2021 Reeses Senior Bowl
Day Two practices are in the books for the National Team at the 2021 Reeses Senior Bowl. Who stood out for better or worse? (Vasha Hunt-USA TODAY Sports)

2021 Reeses Senior Bowl: National Team Day 2 Notes

Once again, we didn’t get to see the first day of practices outside of a stupid one-hour recap show. I would have had a rant about it but Jim Nagy and I are best friends now so I’ll leave it alone. Hey… the 2021 Reeses Senior Bowl is back!

We’re getting no combine this year so the Senior Bowl is uber important this year. Starting with the National Team coached by the Dolphins staff, who stood out for better or worse? Here are your Day 2 practice notes.

Quarterbacks:

Ian Book, Sam Ehlinger, and Feleipe Franks are the quarterbacks this year. I can promise you right now good words will be very few and far between.

Ehlinger sailed a ball in the 7 on 7 that should have been picked. He should be a fullback if we’re being 100 percent honest. He doesn’t see anything on the field. It’s all a guessing game when he picks a target. He has enough to get the ball outside the numbers but he’s still not a real quarterback.

Ehlinger also dropped a snap. He’s shown he’s unwilling to throw the ball more than 5 yards in team drills. It’s all ugly. Ehlinger got sacked a number of times. He can’t process information.

Feleipe Franks got stripped in the 11 on 11. Couldn’t get rid of the ball. Can’t make decisions. Ball placement piss poor. We also already know he can’t play.

Ian Book actually has the ability to make throws. It’s still very much a work in progress but Book doesn’t look lost like the other quarterbacks.

Running Backs:

Rhamondre Stevenson got toasted in a pass blocking rep by Chazz Surrat. He rebounded nicely after. It’s important for him to look good in these drills because he should play a Jaylen Samuels role. I thought outside of one rep his blocking was on point. He has a great base and big body at 247. I still like Stevenson as a multi-dimensional back who plays fullback too.

In space, Stevenson has some wiggle to him. Physicality won’t be an issue. He can hit the gaps quick.

Khalil Herbert looks like he can play. He’s a bigger body back but held up well in pass protection and hit the holes that were given. I have more work to do but so far, so good.

Michael Carter is a back I love. The elusiveness isn’t hard to see. He just sort of bounces around back there and hits the home run. There’s a special quickness the UNC RB has.

I’m putting Demetric Felton here because he’s really a running back. They had the UCLA product really do mostly wide out drills. No idea why. You’re hoping you get Tony Pollard. I would have liked to see him do more running back drills. I already know he can catch.

Wide Receivers:

I don’t want to spend too much time on this one but Sage Surrat stinks. He is the JJ Arcega-Whiteside of this draft. Can’t separate from sloth. He’s going to run a 4.80 or refuse to run. No thanks.

Frank Darby also put together a horrendous showing. Zero balance. Terrible in and out of breaks. He has two left feet. He basically gift wrapped a pick to Oklahoma cornerback Tre Brown.

Now he did burn the other Oklahoma corner on a go route Norwood. That’s not the issue. The issue is in and out of breaks. I saw enough to pass.

Western Michigan D’Wayne Eskridge stood out. He’s got a different gear than the rest of the dudes out here. There was a post pattern that gave him a burst in the middle of the route.

Nico Collins is fine. I’m not sure why. Yes, he’s 6-foot-4, but he doesn’t sink his hips well and was slow getting into a hitch. Todd McShay has him as a second rounder. That’s WAY too high. Collins does have talent though. He can do some things with the ball in the air.

I haven’t quite figured out Desmond Fitzpatrick. He’s good one those one break and go routes. He did win a number of his matchups.

Tylan Wallace is a player I’m confused about. Sometimes I thought he looked great on tape. Others not so good. He adjusted to a ball thrown behind him by Ian Book. Wallace made the adjustment no problem bailing his quarterback out.

Tight Ends:

Offensive Line:

Creed Humphrey stood out in the middle. Humphrey has been a stalwart on the Oklahoma offensive line for a long time. It was hard to imagine he’d struggle but did come in as advertised. Humphrey got the better of Osa Odighizuwa too.

I’d be lying if I said I watched a single game of North Dakota State. While Trey Lance is the big name from the school, the left tackle Dillon Radunz has gotten plenty of buzz on his own. Radunz looked like a professional tackle right off the bat. He stuck whoever this is from Notre Dame (too many Irish to keep tack of) in his back pocket.

Quinn Meinerz from Wisconsin-Whitewater deserves a shoutout. He doesn’t look like the biggest guy in the world but you can tell he’s a grinder. Ali Marpet and Alex Cappa both came from small schools and showed enough at the Senior Bowl to make it in the league.

Meinerz played center for the most part but held his ground. Meinerz looks a bit on the thinner side and the base wasn’t dancing bear material but he proved he belonged. There’s a strong punch to him which will keep his name in the mix in Mobile. Big time football guy too rocking a belly shirt.

Spencer Brown the Northern Iowa lineman stood out. Need to see more but a good start for a small school player.

Defensive Line:

Tarron Jackson looks a step slow and just not explosive. During a one on one drill, he failed to beat Jake Curhan. Curhan then pushed him after the whistle and Jackson didn’t really care. It was a BAD first impression. I’m not sure he won a rep I saw.

Ta’Quon Graham looked worse. Sure, maybe he’s not high twitch but I saw very little power in the one on ones. For a big 293 pound defensive lineman, he created very little push.

Rashad Weaver pulled off a gorgeous spin move against the Middle Tennessee tackle. It was a thing of beauty.

I was waiting for Shaka Toney to do something but he got smothered by the NDST tackle.

Jonathan Cooper from Ohio State came screaming off the edge in a team drill. It was good to see him get off the ball quicker than everyone else in a team setting.

Linebackers:

Reshed Hamilcar looked good. It looks like his arms are so long from the drills at least. He had some giddy up in his step.

Defensive Backs:

Damar Hamlin looks quick down the field. He mirrored Cade Johnson down the field no problem to break up a pass. Played the ball well in the air too. More so than anyone on this side, Hamlin kept dudes in the hip pocket.

Keith Taylor from Washington looked really grabby during one on one drills. That has to be a concern. Tylan Wallace also beat him on a route and Taylor pushed him well after the whistle. He knew he got beat all day and the frustrations came out.

Tre Brown > Tre Norwood. The only thing I’d say on Brown is he did prove undermanned against big targets.

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2021 Reeses Senior Bowl: American Team Notes are next on deck.

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