Inside The Huskies

Levi Sits Out Senior Bowl, Taylor Has Mixed Reviews

Onwuzurike apparently suffered an injury late in the week and watched the game dressed in sweat clothing.
Dan Raley|
Levi Sits Out Senior Bowl, Taylor Has Mixed Reviews
Levi Sits Out Senior Bowl, Taylor Has Mixed Reviews

Former University of Washington defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike didn't play while ex-Husky cornerback Keith Taylor came away with mixed reviews in Saturday's Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. 

Onwuzurike, who was impressive in workouts early in the week, stood on the sidelines during the game, dressed in sweat clothes, after sitting out a couple of practices apparently with an injury that wasn't disclosed.

Taylor got beat on a pair of touchdown passes to SEC receivers, though it appeared the second one hit the ground in the loosely officiated game. However, he drew plaudits on a deep ball that he deflected and enabled a teammate to intercept.

Onwuzurike and Taylor's National team won 27-24 in a game shown on NFL Networks.

The scouts wondered whether Onwuzurike would be rusty or not after opting out of his senior UW season and going without football for 13 months. He was ready. He earned repeated praise in the daily practices.

He proved to be an attention-getter on day one, as this SI report on site offered in detail. He drew more raves on the second day, as well.

Another analyst suggested the former Husky might be a good pick-up for the Cleveland Browns, which would make him teammates again with offensive lineman Nick Harris.

Onwuzurike was a handful during one-on-one drills. Offensive linemen had trouble moving the 6-foot-3, 293-pounder from Allen, Texas. He shed blocks well.

He also showed off his endearing personality, with analyst Fran Duffy calling him a fan favorite wherever he lands. 

Taylor, from Long Beach, California, showed off his best attributes by running step for step with receivers on most plays that came his way.

"With the size and length that Taylor has, he's had a really good week," said Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Networks and NFL.com analyst. "It's hard to find a corner that size who can move like that."

Yet the ex-Husky got beat on a short slant for a score in the third quarter by Tennessee's Josh Palmer and in the fourth on a ball that appeared to skip into the hands of Florida's Trevon Grimes.  

Both Onwuzurike and Taylor will continue to prepare for the April 29 NFL draft.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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