Biggest Takeaways From Senior Bowl Week: By Position
Senior Bowl week is one of the more prominent stops on the NFL draft trail. It can be said that the draft starts in Mobile, AL.
Senior Bowl week is in the books, including the game. We saw a little bit of everything this year.
Some prospects who'd had a good week of practice carried it into the game, while others faltered. On the flip side, a few players who had a bad week turned in a good game, while others weren't able to finish on a positive note.
With the Denver Broncos facing multiple dire roster needs, including a franchise quarterback, let's get to my biggest takeaways from Senior Bowl week.
Quarterbacks
This was not a good week for the quarterbacks. Washington's Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon's Bo Nix only confirmed what they were and didn't answer any questions about them. Penix pulled out of the game, leading to Nix starting and playing a few series before being pulled.
South Carolina's Spencer Rattler and Tennessee's Joe Milton III had the best week, but they were far from perfect. Both displayed arm strength, and Rattler answered some questions about his maturity during the week.
The other quarterbacks — Notre Dame's Sam Hartman, Tulane's Michael Pratt, and South Alabama's Carter Bradley — all had a rough week. The drop-off from the other quarterbacks to this group was clear, and all likely cemented themselves as Day 3 picks.
Running Backs
The running backs looked good during drills in practice, which you would expect. Some carried it into a good game, but TCU's Emani Bailey and Missouri's Cody Schrader were the cream of the crop. Both showed good quickness to make defenders miss and were willing to be physical.
Wide Receivers
Multiple receivers, including Roman Wilson and Malachi Corley, pulled out of the game after a great week of practice. Those were probably two of the most impressive receivers throughout practice.
Ladd McConkey also had a great week of practice, but he didn't see many opportunities in the game. Luke McCaffrey had the catch of the game and entered the contest with a solid week.
Devontrez Walker's draft stock took a huge hit during the week with consistent issues catching the ball and running his routes, and all of that carried over to the game.
Tight Ends
The tight end play during the week and in the game left a lot to be desired. Brevyn Spann-Ford looked good as a receiver, but the blocking element to his game is missing.
Theo Johnson and A.J. Barner had their moments, but neither were consistent.
Offensive Tackles
Tyler Guyton, Javon Foster, Roger Rosengarten, and Ethan Driskell all had solid to good weeks and kept it up in the game. Taliese Fuaga was the best in the show, but he didn't practice on the final day or play in the game.
Multiple tackles had a rough week, but they bounced back some in the game. Patrick Paul was among that group. Christian Jones out of Texas was up and down all week, but he was more consistent in the game.
Interior Offensive Line
Dominick Puni had a good week working all around the offensive line and a good game working on the interior. He's one who helped himself a lot as the week went on.
Kingsley Eguakun and Charles Turner had a rough week and turned in a rough game. The star of the week was Jackson Powers-Johnson, but he got hurt and couldn't finish the week or play in the game.
Interior Defensive Line
Some of the better interior defensive linemen through the week didn't play in the game. One team got down to three defensive linemen playing, so Braden Fiske switched teams the morning of.
Fiske was impressive during the week and was the best interior defensive lineman in the game. Having switched teams the morning of makes his performance even more impressive.
DeWayne Carter and Marcus Harris had some flashes as pass rushers and against the run to show off what they can bring. However, the consistency wasn't there with the technique, leading to consistency issues in making an impact.
Edge Rushers
While the edge rushers won every day in practice, they didn't win in the game. It was a relatively quiet game for the edge rushers on both teams.
Darius Robinson didn't seem to play in the game, and Marshawn Kneeland did play and made the most plays, though they came against the run more than as a pass rusher.
A hat tip goes to the offensive linemen who were struggling in drills during the week but mostly stonewalled the edge rushers in the game.
Off-Ball Linebackers
The physical limitations in practice hurt the linebackers, but Cedric Gray, JD Bertrand, Jackson Sirmon, and Trevin Wallace did well based on their skill sets. Bertrand showed off his leadership skills, helping the other linebackers between reps, and was the communicator in team drills.
Sirmon, Gray, and Bertrand carried it to the game, where they all made big plays in coverage and against the run.
Cornerbacks
Quinyon Mitchell had the best week out of almost everyone and was the best corner. He put himself in the conversation for being the first cornerback selected in April's draft. However, Mitchell did not play in the game.
The next most impressive corner, who did play in the game, was Jarvis Brownlee out of Lousiville. He improved each day and was outstanding on the final day of practice. He carried that over to the game, where his physicality was clear.
Cam Hart had a rough week and didn't play much in the game after he seemed to get hurt early on. Chau Smith-Wade was another impressive corner through practices, but he took another step in the game, including a near pick-six and another interception on a hail mary to close out the game.
Safeties
Safeties are probably the second toughest position to evaluate through the practices because of the limitations with physicality. Despite that, Cole Bishop and Evan Williams were two of the better safeties, and they carried it to the game, where their physicality was on display.
Williams also showed outstanding recovery athleticism and range to pick off a pass from Joe Milton III.
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