2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl Practices: Day 3 South Team Notes

The final day of the 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl practices is 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 South team did not take the Jon Gruden approach. Gruden ran his practice too long. Kyle Shanahan cut his practice 30 minutes short. Even the final drill of the day was a 2 minute drill. As part of the drill, the defensive backs were supposed to let the receiver catch the ball. Two completely different approaches by Shanahan and Gruden. We will see how that translates into the game on Saturday. There will be less information because of that in this post compared to the North team. Who stood out for better or worse during the final practice day at the 2019 Reese’s Senior Bowl for the South team?

Quarterbacks:

Credit to Jarrett Stidham. He didn’t stink today. Stidham made a bunch of tight window throws. I’m still not going near him because I know Stidham stinks but I wanted to mention that he had a really good day.

How about Gardner Minshew too. I’m not sure that he even had a good day but he was a screamer. He took charge in the huddle and that means something. A good guy to have in the room.

Tyree Jackson and Will Grier showed some great accuracy in the red zone drills. It was nice to see.

Running Backs:

Darrin Hall came in for an injury replacement. Hall runs really hard. He didn’t impress me during the East-West game but maybe he deserves another shot to win me over. The thing that still has me confused is I never thought that Hall was even the best back at Pitt. I thought that was Qadree Ollison. Because of that, Hall will have to blow me away to win me over.

Wide Receivers:

I just love Deebo Samuel. I can’t get enough. The dude is fantastic. He’s the best overall player here on either side. The corners have been really grabby here in plays that would get flagged in the NFL. Samuel wins anyway. Samuel has been more physical than I even thought coming into the week. He does enough with his hands to get off press and always beats defenders with his route running. What else can I even say. Even in the team drills, the quarterbacks rarely look at anyone else. He’s always open. Some of the moves he pulls out don’t even seem fair.

The South team just has much better receivers than the other side. Gary Jennings made some contested catches in red zone work which is really important. For a player that was all speed and nothing else at West Virginia, it was good to see him do more than just run fast.

Tyre Brady of Marshall made some plays. He has some plus speed to him too. Hunter Renfrow just keeps winning. It’s kind of incredible. I still like Anthony Johnson a bunch. Sort of reminds me of an Alshon Jeffery type.

Tight Ends:

Dax Raymond had a nice day. He’s super athletic for the position. He’s really the total package. Big, fast, strong, and scary. He’s an interesting project to take a flier on.

The LSU tight end Foster Moreau fumbled once. Moreau just has never looked like a natural pass catcher.

Offensive Line:

The offensive line on both sides improved by leaps and bounds. Andre Dillard had a great day. Just a dominant pass blocker. He beat Montez Sweat a bunch of times. I think he might be a first-round pick. I was super impressed with what I saw. You can tell that he’s super athletic. He told the broadcast that a lot of his weight is actually unnatural to keep his size. Dillard sits at about 6-foot-5, 310 and his athleticism is noticeable.

How about a sleeper? Oli Udoh continued to impress. He’s done everything to carry the momentum from the East-West showing. He’s a house but moves really well. The Oklahoma guys have been good. Ross Pierschbacher improved dramatically which was also good to see.

Defensive Line:

The defense as a whole didn’t have a great showing. You could check down negatives to almost everyone. The offense dominated the day at every level. Jaylon Ferguson is awful. I’m still waiting for him to do something. I mean anything. For a player that is the all-time leading sack artist in the history of college football, you would have thought that Ferguson never played football before. Ferguson gets too high. He never beats anyone off the ball. Ferguson better have a good game because I’ve seen nothing to impress me.

I could say the same for Oshane Ximines. For a guy that is 6-foot-4, I never see any high twitch movement skills. He’s not powerful either. Still waiting for him to do anything.

The two best were Isaiah Buggs and Montez Sweat. Buggs is just so strong. You know what you’re getting with Alabama. Sweat just uses that length so well. He’s quick off the ball, has great balance, and bends really well. Sweat make monster plays in red zone drills humiliating the South Carolina tackle.

Linebackers:

Terrill Hanks really impressed me. He has great range and attacks the ball with veracity. I thought Hanks really played well in coverage too and did an awesome job flipping his hips. The small school prospects normally disappoint here but Hanks has not.

Cornerbacks:

The receivers dominated. Lonnie Johnson of Kentucky was bad. His movement skills are just ugly. He was probably the worst. The two best were Rock Ya-Sin and Isaiah Johnson. Ya-Sin uses his hands really well without committing flags. Just a good football player. Isaiah Johnson has that intimidation factor. He’s big and moves like a small corner. I like him a lot.

Safeties:

Juan Thornhill made some plays. I think he might be the best safety but I honestly don’t know.