2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl: American Team Day 3 Practice Notes

2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl: American Team Day 3 Practice Notes

The final day of the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl is in the books. The media got banned because we know why. The practice is indoors so once again we’re doing the best we can with the ESPN broadcast. Except for this time, we don’t even get Kam on the sidelines.

Let’s get right to it. Who stood out for better or worse on the final day of the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl practice by the American Team.

Quarterbacks:

Sam Howell won the day yesterday. Today, thought he was okay. Processes better than Willis. Has so much uncle Rico to him. Nothing really stood out to where I had to overly praise or crush him.

How about Malik Willis? What do we do with him? At the end of practice, they had a drill throwing balls into a net. Willis was by far the worst in terms of pure accuracy. Really off balance with his front foot. Really slow in terms of processing with the red zone drills. The zip is on point. Has the best pure gun out of all these guys.

Bailey Zappe actually made some okay throws. You know the pure arm talent just isn’t there. Overall much better. Made the right throws. Hit a guy deep who dropped the ball (Memphis guy). Smart in red area when things get tight. Zappe won the net competition. Not so good throwing fades in the bucket.

Running Backs:

Brian Robinson was impressive. He may be closer to Josh Jacobs than I thought. Blocks his ass off. Pretty good running routes. Little quicker than maybe I thought making cuts. He’s really not bad, huh?

Dameon Pierce was more of a mixed bad. I actually thought his blocking and route running was fine. He just has bricks for hands. But does run hard.

Wide Receivers:

Calvin Austin could have had a really good day but he missed a big opportunity with some drops. However, one big positive is that his release is awesome. Not sure he’s going to get bullied at the line of scrimmage despite the lack of size. The speed is real. Change of direction big plus.

The Tennessee wide out Velus Jones Jr. actually looks okay in terms of movement. However, I swear this guy never finishes the play. Too many times I watch him and the ball ends up on the ground. Mostly because of him.

Tight Ends:

Daniel Bellinger has nothing. Didn’t catch anything past 5 yards. Only real catch was an obvious offensive pass interference. Ass kicked blocking. He’s bad. Not in a good way.

This Isaiah Likely stinks. I don’t know what Todd McShay sees cause he ain’t it. Maybe deserves some credit for being better in the blocking game but he stinks. Can’t run routes. I mean at all. Feet are stuck in quick sand trying to get in and out of breaks. Very stiff. Can’t sink hips and go. Pure speed is fine but not elite. I mean look at this rep. WTF?

Offensive Line:

At this point, I feel like I know what Jamaree Salyer and Spencer Burford are. Burford just looks like a tackle. Buried a guy in pass pro but did it mid-stride on the back pedal. Flawless stuff. Salyer doesn’t have super high twitch but he’s solid and can play tackle. Lower than Andrew Thomas but higher than Solomon Kindley.

77 stinks. Not sure who he is but he got killed by DeAngelo Malone.

Update, It’s definitely not Luke Fortner that stinks. He’s okay. It’s the other Kentucky guy getting hammered.

Big plus for Ed Ingram again. Impressive. Plug and play guard.

Defensive Line:

This DeAngelo Malone popped. Underrated power. Played up in the run game for an edge guy. Serious bull rush. Bet he runs fast. Quick first step. Really glad he flashed today.

Thought Kingsley Enagbare looked worse today. He’s an SEC body but really isn’t a threat.

Neil Ferrell is a load, dude. Eats in the run game. Constantly impacts the game. Impressive.

Up and down day for Phidarian Mathis. He’s fine. Just don’t see that Bama dominance when he rocks that helmet.

Linebackers:

Channing Tindall. Man. Love. Love. Love. Heat seeking piss missile. Scary speed. Took Grant Calcaterra’s lunch money in a pass rushing drill. It was like he wasn’t there. Too fast. They literally saved the end of practice for every player on the team to watch Tindall attack Robinson in pass pro. It was awesome.

Defensive Backs:

Leon O’Neal Jr. is a box safety all day. If he turns into Terrell Edmunds, that’s a win. That’s the best he’s going to be. Deal with it.

I do like this Roger McCreary. I know. He probably won’t be overly fast and his arms are short. No hair, don’t care. He’s got it. Oily hips, can catch, tracks the ball. Tough gritty SEC corner that’s been through wars against big competition.

Good day for Derion Kendrick. Thrived in the red area. Saw something important. Did a great job battling hands against wide opens. In control and batted a ball down. It’s hard not to love his ball skills and seems to be getting better with physicality.

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