Senior Bowl Practice Review: Day 3 National Receivers, Defensive Backs
Day One: Receivers/DBs
Day Two: Receivers/DBs
The last day of practice was a little less eventful for the receivers and defensive backs, as the top receivers of the days prior, D’WAYNE ESKRIDGE and TYLAN WALLACE did not practice. SAGE SURRATT, who showed some improvements late in the second practice, was also unable to practice.
It was a very eventful practice for the tight ends though, particularly Boise State’s JOHN BATES and Ole Miss’ KENNY YEBOAH. The lack of receivers led to more reps for the tight ends and for some of the quieter receivers from the week.
Let’s get into the notes.
PRACTICE NOTES
In the team portion of the practice, which was treated as a light scrimmage, the defense covered well, as the quarterbacks chose to scramble more than pass, and there were multiple hand-offs. The most notable play by a defensive back was a breakup that Minnesota’s BENJAMIN ST. JUSTE made on UCLA’s DEMETRIC FELTON.
These two matched up quite a few times in practice, and are two of the emerging risers from the Senior Bowl.
The team practice then moved into “High” and “Low” red zone reps, with the high red zone being just outside the 20-yard line, and the low red zone reps being within the five-yard line.
The tight ends ate up these red zone reps and were seemingly the only guys targeted.
JOHN BATES hauled in four targets during these red zone reps, with one catch going for a touchdown. Bates took a seam route against cover three as the single-high safety covered the doubles to the opposite side of the field. Bates was wide open and it was an easy play.
The quarterbacks really liked Bates and hit him on a mesh play to the middle, and on a short out route. He also hauled in a nice corner route for a decent gain. Bates’ day didn’t end here, as he also performed well in one-on-ones.
ST. JUSTE prevented Louisville’s DEZ FITZPATRICK from hauling in a jump ball in the end zone. Fitzpatrick has been a bit quieter than expected in the Senior Bowl, winning some one-on-ones but not being a consistent standout player.
Michigan’s AMBRY THOMAS, who has otherwise had a rough week, had a nice play on a red zone throw where he played the sideline well and kept his wide receiver out of position from the pass.
In the one-on-ones, every few reps were run by a tight end. Boston College’s HUNTER LONG didn’t participate, so this turned into the John Bates and Kenny Yeboah show. Linebackers and safeties were brought in to defend these tight ends on one side of the red zone while safeties and cornerbacks covered the wide receivers on the other side of the red zone. With less room to work for the receivers, this portion of practice favored larger receivers and stronger press defenders.
Michigan’s NICO COLLINS did well in these red zone reps with his size. Collins is by far the largest receiver on the National Team having measured in with an impressive 6042 (6’4” ¼ inches) height, a strong frame weighing in at 215 lbs., and with long arms at 3248 (32 ½ inches). With his height and dense frame, it made sense that he would be a strong red zone threat.
Collins hauled in a beautiful jump ball and toe-touch in the back of the end zone against Oregon’s THOMAS GRAHAM, and later on, worked through Pittsburgh safety DAMAR HAMLIN for a tough catch through contact.
AMBRY THOMAS made another good play in the red zone, as he was able to press Arizona State receiver FRANK DARBY long enough that a quarterback wouldn’t have been able to target him in a game. Darby was able to work around the back of the end zone and haul in a touchdown but Thomas won the initial portion of the rep, which is what scouts wanted to see in this drill.
The tight ends had many reps in the one-on-ones, some against off-ball linebacker Baron Browning (Ohio State), some against edge-rushing linebackers like Daelin Hayes (Notre Dame) and Hamilcar Rashed (Oregon State), and some against safeties DIVINE DEABLO (Virginia Tech), CHRISTIAN UPHOFF (Illinois State), and DAMAR HAMLIN (Pittsburgh). The results were inconsistent and didn’t show any particular dominance by either tight end.
In tracking these two tight ends, one can see the inconsistencies and lack of dominance. Even against a typical edge rusher in Daelin Hayes, the two struggled. This was a high-volume day for the tight ends, but these reps were disappointing.
KEITH TAYLOR of Washington lost a rep to DEZ FITZPATRICK when Fitzpatrick used a jab to gain separation. Taylor has been susceptible to jabs so far this week.
Senior Bowl risers DEMETRIC FELTON and BENJAMIN ST. JUSTE faced off against each other a couple more times in one-on-ones.
In their first rep, Felton’s quick feet—a staple of his game this week—brought him separation for an easy out route catch that left St. Juste in the dust. In their second rep, St. Juste responded by not allowing Felton past the line of scrimmage for long enough that the pass was completely off the mark.
St. Juste has been a steady riser all week, and to match up well against another riser in Felton was good to see. St. Juste’s ability to match and negate Felton’s agility will bode well for his stock. Felton, meanwhile, has gone from an undrafted free agent talent to a mid-to-early day three player because of this week. Both players made money this week.
*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!
