The 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl is finally here. 3 days of practice along with the best collegiate All-Star game can dramatically increase or decrease a players draft stock based on players performance during the week. Von Miller, Aaron Donald, Carson Wentz, and Russell Wilson are just some of the dynamic players that have participated in this game in recent years. Don’t be fooled, there will be some first-round picks on the field to watch.
The first day of practices is in the books. The North team will be coached by Jon Gruden and the rest of the Oakland Raiders coaching staff. In this post, I’m going to give you a breakdown of the North practices. Who stood out for better or worse on the North team during the 1st day of the 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl practices?
Quarterbacks:
The North quarterbacks start and end with Drew Lock. I have been a fan of Lock for a long time. 4-year starter with
The others in the group are not as talented as Lock. Daniel Jones ranks 2nd in this group. He’s a big QB at 6-foot-5 and is well coached. I want to see Jones really drive the ball moving forward. I’m not sure how many NFL caliber tight window throws he can make moving forward. I do like Jones as a flier prospect.
I will not waste any more time than I have to on Ryan Finley and Trace McSorley. If you want to know why I can’t stand Finley, click here. McSorley? Well, he couldn’t throw in college. They ran the stupid wing-t half the time because he can’t throw. No thanks. Undraftable.
Running Backs:
Not a whole lot to report on day one. Tony Pollard was intriguing. He was the swiss army knife at Memphis. Big time return ability. Pollard played both running back and wide receiver in college. He has some giddy up to him.
Wide Receivers:
Terry McLaurin of Ohio State was easily the best of the bunch. I had seen McLaurin a bunch during the season and never got the love he deserved. He kept making play after play while quarterback Dwayne Haskins really did a great job spreading the ball around. However, Terry McLaurin was the most reliable possession guy Ohio State had all year. McLaurin was cooking defensive backs at practice like they were a hibachi dinner. Deep, short, intermediate. Didn’t matter. McLaurin kept winning. The Buckeye product has good size (6-foot, 205) and great hands. McLaurin also recorded the fastest time on the field during the practices at 22.2 MPH.
The rest of the group was not so good. UMass wide out Andy Isabella was supposed to be this shifty white guy who ran a 4.2. I saw a guy who had a little too much spice with his chicken. Isabella was a terrible route runner. Instead of making precise cuts, he would dance in the same spot for an hour and get nowhere while moving a million miles a minute. It was odd to watch. Jaylen Smith of Louisville is your classic contested catch guy. Zero separation. That becomes an issue when you don’t convert any and start dropping balls.
Tight Ends:
Donald Parham, Drew Sample, and Tommy Sweeney make up the tight end class. Parham is a huge target at 6-foot-8! Appeared slow in the limited action I saw. Sweeney is a block-first tight end. Same can probably be said about Sample.
Offensive Lineman:
There’s one theme with this group. Get in the weight room. The offensive linemen this year need more strength. During the years of watching this event, I can’t remember so many guys falling straight on their backs from bull rushes. So this section will be about those victims. Max Scharping of Northern Illinois was having a solid day. You can tell he plays well in pass pro. Scharping showed solid feet and finessed guys around the corner with ease. He did, however, have a rep where Jalen Jelks beasted and feasted him for breakfast. Garrett Bradbury of NC State also struggled with strength but he’s also a center and really battled his ass off. He’s a zone center but he gave max effort and that matters.
The Wisconsin guys need their own category. I think part of the problem is they are actually too tall. If ever in doubt, always give the Big 10 offensive lineman the benefit of the doubt. So I’m going to do that. However, Michael Dieter, was up and down. Short defensive lineman gave him issues and sent him flying. Teammate, Beau Benzschawel struggled with the same issue. Both guys are 6-foot-6 and may just need to be in zone schemes where they can work in the second level on run plays. Odd when you consider they are Wisconsin products.
Kansas State’s Dalton Risner. Where do I start? There’s no way he benches more than 5 reps for 225. Just no way. Total ragdoll all day. I mean no way he benches more than 5 reps at the combine. No way. Ragdoll I tell you.
Okay, now for the good. Chuma Edoga may just have had the best feet out of all the lineman. He’s under 300 pounds at tackle but he has the movement skills for the position. I loved what I saw from Nate Davis of Charlotte. Hell of an ass on that guy. Great base and proved to be stout all day. Chris Lindstrom of Boston College also had a really nice day with a bit of mean streak inside.
Defensive Lineman:
I was super impressed with Jalen Jelks. All the Oregon pass rushers look the same. 6-foot-6, long, lean, 245, and quick. That’s what you get. Here’s what you never know. How many of them are actually productive at the NFL level? Not many. I thought Jelks really impressed doing the things I was expecting. Bend around the edge and using those long arms to win. I knew I was getting that. What I didn’t expect to see was the power. You could have confused Jelks for a bulldozer. I think Max Scharping may have died.
The support Jelks got on social media from the clip I posted on Twitter also spoke volumes. Strength is clearly something Jelks has worked on. Teammates and coaches showed praise for Jelks which means he’s loved by those guys.
In the back half of that clip is Charles Omenihu replicating that bulldozing tactic. Omenihu was the best defensive lineman in the Big 12 all year and he produced in practiced.
Three guys to keep an eye on moving forward. Khalen Saunders had a nice day. He’s really explosive in his lower half and is quick off the ball. Saunders could be a nice defensive tackle for somebody. He’s also a viral sensation. you don’t see many guys who are 320 hitting backflips in the air. I want to see Byron Cowart show out tomorrow. I’m always a sucker for high recruits who have hidden potential. L.J Collier out of TCU also had a decent day.
The bad of the d-linemen was Zach Allen. If you can stop his power, he has no second pitch. That’s a problem I’m out.
Linebackers:
I can’t believe how bad Northern Illinois product Sutton Smith is. Yikes. Smith is really an outside linebacker who really only rushes the passer. The bad news is he is tiny. He got engulfed in the pass rushing drills and was by far the worst of any player.
Cornerbacks:
I think Corey Balletine of Washburn stinks. He looked slow but apparently the Zebra technology disagrees. That’s interesting. He got burned by McLaurin but so did everyone else. Small school guy looked lost for now. Kris Boyd was also bad. McLaurin was matched up on him too and he didn’t fair too well.
I’m all in on Amani Oruwariye. The Penn State corner is long and quick twitch. Oruwariye had an awesome day breaking up passes and kicking ass. Iman Marshall proved to be a pretty great athlete. Notched the fastest time on the field according to zebra.
Safeties:
Keep an eye on Nassir Adderly of Deleware. Never watched him before today but just looks like a great athlete. Adderly has NFL bloodlines.
