The final day of the 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl practices are here. With the game on Saturday, the final day of practice is crucial. Players are sick of each other going one on one for three straight days. It was a great day overall. The weather cleared up and the rain passed. In this final practice report, I’ll try not to repeat the same information over and over so read the first couple reports from each team.
The North team really brought it. In typical Jon Gruden fashion, He held practice that went 15 minutes too long. At the end of practice, Gruden held one on one drills with the offensive line to see who won the day. A lot of information to tackle in the final day of the Reese’s Senior Bowl. Who stood out for better or worse on the third day at the 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl for the North Team?
Quarterbacks:
I thought there was some bad quarterback play all around. A lot of misses. Too many screens and check downs. I kept waiting for Daniel Jones to really punch his ticket but that never really happened. Average arm, average accuracy, average everything outside of the 6-foot-5 frame. I think the truth about Daniel Jones is he needs time to develop. Incredibly raw.
Trace McSorley is the guy that brought the group down. It’s embarrassing that he ever got an invite for this. He couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. He might just be the worst quarterback I’ve ever seen at this event. He can’t stop throwing interceptions.
Drew Lock continues to show that he is far and away the best from this group. He had a sidearm throw to evade the pressure that was beautiful. He was also interviewed by NFL Network. I just like the guy. He showed some humor that I thought was pretty cool.
Running Backs:
I thought Dexter Williams really separated himself. Williams had the best showing in the team drills. Williams knocked out big run after big run. Williams runs hard and never really messes around in the hole.
Tony Pollard of Memphis is fast. I’m not sure if he is much else besides for being a special teams threat.
Wide Receivers:
We didn’t find out a whole lot today. Drew Lock had a mic on and he complained
Tight Ends:
Caleb Wilson got the call up because of an injury to the Stetson tight end. I was really disappointed
Tommy Sweeney is growing on me. He has some Jason Witten to him. He’s not dynamic but he finds a way to get open some how. It’s hard to explain but he had a nice day.
Offensive Line:
No unit improved more than the offensive line. The entire offensive line got their tails kicked in the first day. I would say 90 percent of the snaps, the offensive line won today. I thought Garrett Bradbury improved leaps and bounds. He was a man that couldn’t be stopped. Dalton Risner even played well too. The physicality didn’t overwhelm him today. I also want to mention Erik McCoy the Texas A&M center. He’s pretty talented and needs more love. He may not be as talented as Bradbury but he’s more powerful and held up better with pure nose tackles.
Nate Davis and Chris Lindstrom continued to stand out at guard. Chuma Edoga actually won MVP during the 3 days of practices. I’m not sure I would go that far but he does have really nice feet.
Defensive Line:
When the offensive line dominates, that means it was a bad day for the defense. Some guys did have their moments. The two TCU guys probably were the best at rushing. I’ll get to the one in the linebacker section. The other, L.J. Collier was just good all week. The way he can transfer from speed to power is impressive. Jalen Jelks had decent day too. He’s just so long.
The defensive tackle that impressed me today were Khalen Saunders. He has some impressive lower body explosion. Saunders played with great leverage and found his way into the backfield a number of times.
Zach Allen just stinks. He keeps getting worse too. It’s bull rush or bull rush. No second pitch. He never wins a rep. He’s been so bad that he has to have removed himself from a number of draft boards.
Linebackers:
In an All-Star game setting that you’re only allowed to play a certain number of coverages, Gruden didn’t give two shits. He sent linebackers on blitzes. I loved it. Germaine Pratt for NC State is really fast. That dude flies to the ball. He found the quarterback during those blitzes.
Ben Banogu may just have been the best pure pass rusher. He won a number of reps and mostly with great hand fighting. The TCU linebacker will probably be an outside linebacker at the next level but he’s super athletic.
Cornerbacks:
I keep trying to give Kris Boyd chances to win me over. I’m done with him. He stinks. Boyd got cooked on the McLaurin touchdown above. He’s just not good. It looked like he was playing with a torn ACL or something. He was never within 5 yards of the guy he was covering.
I still don’t know what to make of Iman Marshall. Seems like a boom or bust guy. Really inconsistent. Some plays blow you away and some make you want to vomit. He did come away with an interception. It’s all about the press for him. Improve on that and you just may have something.
Safeties:
Nasir Adderly is a safety but he was awful in the coverage skills. It’s probably why he is a safety but I’m not seeing it. I don’t know how you can pick the guy. Trying to evaluate a Delaware tape? Good luck. From everything I saw, I didn’t see a good football player.
Will Harris has awesome feet. The Boston College safety turns on a dime with ease. You would expect some of these safeties to struggle in pure one on one coverage but Harris thrived. He picked off McSorley.
Darnell Savage blew me away. The Maryland safety is talented. He mirrored every receiver that went against him. Great feet. Savage won the Senior Bowl practice award for the best defensive back. It was warranted. Savage won rep after rep. The success that J.C. Jackson is having in New England might help his cause.
