Three days of practices are in the books at the 2018 Reese’s Senior Bowl. Overall both coaching staffs represented by the Broncos and Texans did an excellent job getting the practices moving and putting on a show for the gm’s, coaches, and scouts in attendance. The players that can improve from the first day to the third day shows a player can pick up the verbiage of the practices and have the ability to be quick learners.
The game takes place Saturday which will prove what did or did not stick during the practices. We all know when the games get going things are different. Who stood out on the final day of practices for the South team?
Quarterbacks:
Refer to my previous notes, please. I can’t waste another word talking about these horrendous quarterbacks.
Running Backs:
I think we found out that Rashaad Penny might have to be a first and second down running back. That’s more than fine but he really struggled with pass protection and wasn’t the best at catching either. That’s not to say this guy isn’t good because he is. Penny might be the best running back at this event who finished the season with five straight 200 plus yard games.
The other two backs were just sort of meh. Darrel Williams split carries at LSU and might have a role as a bruiser. It’s a really deep running back class so don’t panic. Even some talented ones might not get picked at all.
Wide Receivers:
I’m starting to lose faith in James Washington. First, ask yourself, does he look like a receiver? No, he looks like a running back with abnormally long arms for his height. I watched him today. Washington’s speed is overrated and he got beat up at the line of scrimmage. This doesn’t include the fact that the corners here haven’t been world beaters either. When you get beat up by a Jacksonville State corner, there’s a real issue here.
His teammate Marcell Ateman is even less impressive. Ateman looks like Mike Evans except he can’t run nearly as well. Take that back, his appearance looks like Mike Evans. Beware of the Okie State guys my friends.
D.J. Chark, Tre’Quan Smith, and J’Mon Moore were the MVP receivers to watch. Chark really did it all today and proved he belonged despite coming from a bad quarterback college team.
UCF just won all three days this week. Tre’Quan Smith is a 6-foot-1, quick-footed guy who really impressed me. The other positive is I’m not sure Smith dropped a pass during the time I watched him.
J’Mon more might be the best pure athlete from a height, weight, speed perspective. You want to compare corner success on the other wideouts. Jacksonville State rips up James Washington but gets burned by Moore and Smith? You figure it out.
Tight Ends:
This tight end group doesn’t compare to the North side, but this Jordan Akins can really catch. The question is how high does a 26-year-old prospect go in the draft? The other tight ends on the roster Ian Thomas and Deon Yelder appear to be more of blocking tight ends.
Offensive Line:
The blocking showed up well in the team drills for the North. More so in the interior, as Isaiah Wynn may be moving into the first round. The Georgia product has just been nothing short of spectacular. He’s going to be an incredible guard. Austin Corbett from Nevada also really improved and should be able to plug and play at guard day one. Colby Gossett and Bradley Bozeman also had nice days. Don’t sleep on Alex Cappa either, the dude has a nasty streak inside him.
Defensive Line:
I thought Marcus Davenport blew up in a good way today. We finally saw an array of pass rush moves in the team drills. He blew up the TCU tackle Noteboom all day and even kicked inside on passing drills to push the pocket. If one thing is clear, 3-4 teams have a clear edge in coveting Davenport because he was much slower off the ball in a 3-point stance compared to standing up. Poona Ford of Texas remains my favorite defensive tackle of the bunch. Da’Shawn Hand also played well who could be a nice sub-package pass rusher inside.
Linebackers:
Shaquem Griffin is so good that he tracked the 2nd fastest speed of any player on the field according to the new Zebra Technology at the Senior Bowl. This guy just remains unblockable. Oh, by the way, Griffin also covers like some kind of crazy spy and even took reps at safety. You would almost have to be crazy to think that this guy can’t play in the NFL.
Darius Leonard had an okay day. The South Carolina State linebacker clearly showed he can run but gets stuck in the mud dealing with quickness on routes. That’s not what you wanted to see from a small school guy. Short area quickness is always vital when dealing with linebackers.
Uchenna Nwosu was really impressive on the final day. He isn’t a polished edge rusher. In fact, I would say he is below average at rushing the passer. What we did find out is that this dude can cover. Nwosu was recruited out of high school as a former safety so I guess it definitely makes sense. Nwosu did show an ability to swat passes down at the line of scrimmage in college. Just like Eric Kendricks a few years ago at UCLA, finding linebackers with plus coverage and balls skills is very valuable.
Defensive Backs:
I’m really struggling to find a corner that I like. San Diego State’s Kameron Kelly might have been called for 30 pass interference calls in practice. He held everybody. Siran Neal from Jacksonville State got bullied pretty often as well. It’s really a bunch of small school guys that just aren’t standing out. Georgia State, Murray State, and Southern are the schools that represent three other corners. Really……
