Senior Bowl Practice Review: Day 3 American RBs and LBs
Day One: RBs / LBs
Day Two: RBs / LBs
Day three of the 2021 Reese’s Senior Bowl has finished and it was another fun day to watch. The American Team showed a lot more physicality than the previous two days. Both teams will be doing walkthroughs on Friday, prior to the game on Saturday. Here are a few players that stood out during the day three practices.
Jacoby Stevens - LB - LSU
It was an up and down practice for Stevens, who finished up strong in team drills. His coverage skills were better during the team portio of the day and seven-on-seven exercises, than it was during the one-on-ones. He struggled with grabbing onto the player jersey when they changed direction quickly in solo coverage. In the team drills, he covered the offensive players without holding onto their jerseys and took the running backs out of the play by disturbing their momentum. Stevens did have a great interception during the seven-on-seven drills. He spied Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and was able to get enough height to pick off the ball and run it back.
KJ Britt - LB - Auburn
One of the most physical players on the American squad, Britt also experienced an up and down sort of day. While in coverage drills, Britt does get handsy and could lead to a penalty down the road. In this case, he didn’t get a flag but he kept Georgia tight end Tre McKitty occupied enough to force an incomplete pass. SMU tight end Kylen Granson did throw Britt off balance with a bull rush type of move to create the separation and make the catch but Britt managed to stay on his feet to make the play. His field vision in the team drills was exceptional. The quarterback broke the pocket and he was right there to make the tackle and limit the yardage on the play.
Running Backs
Instead of doing one running back, let us dig into a few of the American Team backfield mates. Chris Evans did a solid job in pass protection and was able to keep the linebackers at bay. He used his quickness to get around Paddy Fisher and beat him downfield for the long catch.
It was another impressive day for Kylin Hill, who was excellent in pass protection, bottling up linebackers and not giving an inch against them. Hill used his speed and top-notch hand-eye coordination to get around the linebackers and make the over the shoulder catch. He showed excellent field vision in team drills with a nice touchdown run up the middle.
His pass-catching was again excellent but Elijah Mitchell still needs to work on his pass protection. He keeps changing how to get open and doesn’t use the same routine when trying to get the ball. Mitchell did get physical with KJ Britt downfield, which would have been an offensive pass interference but it was good to see the physicality. He still likes to come at the linebacker too far in pass protection and then get burned when the linebacker goes around him.
An under the radar prospect in Mobile is Larry Roundtree, who showed excellent pass-catching skills and field vision when bursting through the holes in team drills. His pass-protection was perfect but he was able to stand his ground.
Notables
Several safeties such as Ritchie Grant, Hamsah Nasirildeen, Mark Webb and Ifetu Melifonwu teamed up with the running back and linebackers during the one-on-one session. Grant, Nasirildeen and Melifonwu showed excellent coverage skills against the tight ends. Webb’s reaction timing was a bit off on a few coverage plays. He seemed to slow down when facing off against the tight ends. Grant made a beautiful interception on Wake Forest/Georgia quarterback Jamie Newman to end day three.
*Be sure to check back throughout the week for our exclusive coverage of the Reese’s 2021 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. For more in-depth scouting reports, be sure to reserve your copy of the 2021 NFL Draft Bible Publication!
