Senior Bowl Day 1 Practice Report
The first day of Senior Bowl practice has come and gone now, and as always, some players make an immediate impact on day one, whereas some need more time to find a rhythm.
Florida Gators WR Ricky Pearsall
As someone who covers the Florida Gators with Locked On Gators, Ricky Pearsall was always going to be a focal point of the week, especially given his route-running ability in a 1-on-1 environment. Even though I expected him to perform well, I didn’t think he would immediately make defensive backs look silly in coverage.
By the end of the day, the expectation whenever Pearsall stepped up to the line was that he was going to create separation. Where Pearsall looked most improved from his game film was beating press at the line of scrimmage, only being jammed successfully a couple of times.
Toledo Rockets CB Quinyon Mitchell
One of the defensive backs that did find success against Pearsall was Toledo’s Quinyon Mitchell. Mitchell and Pearsall stepped up for their first rep of the day and lined up across from one another, and after a successful jam, the two got tangled up while running, and it resulted in a pass never even being thrown.
Mitchell entered the day as a fringe first-round pick who allowed just 290 yards and no touchdowns this season but, of course, had the question of performing against NFL talent. It was just the first day, but Mitchell lined up and answered about every question he could in a day. Mitchell could enter the top 10-15 conversations with a continued dominant week and a strong interview process.
Oklahoma OT Tyler Guyton
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more physically imposing offensive tackle than Tyler Guyton on the planet, not just at the Senior Bowl. Guyton started his career at TCU before transferring to Oklahoma and finding his stride as a blocker in 2023.
Guyton turned heads on Monday at official weigh-ins when he was listed as 6’7 ⅛” and 328 pounds - that’s a 90th-percentile height and 84th-percentile weight for offensive tackles. Pair those measurables with his intensity as a blocker, and he’s an offensive line coach's dream. Every year, one offensive lineman changes the tone of practice, and so far, that’s been Guyton.
The Quarterbacks
It’s not easy to impress as a quarterback during Day 1 of Senior Bowl practices, and to be fair, most didn’t. But that’s not to say there weren’t bright spots throughout.
South Alabama QB Carter Bradley was considered the dark horse going into the week, being the least established in the room, but he is making some nice plays as a passer. Given that he’s the son of Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, it’s safe to assume he’s going to be able to crush the interview process and improve his stock.
Tennessee’s Joe Milton continued to struggle with accuracy, something that plagued him his whole college career. Still, he also continued to show off his live arm and, from my point of view, looked a bit more technically sound with his motion. Every year, there’s a big-armed quarterback that is going into the week, I say, “Man, I can’t wait to watch this guy just uncork a few,” and they rarely do it, but Milton showed up on Day 1, and was letting it fly downfield.
Penn State TE Theo Johnson
Theo Johnson is another player who raised eyebrows just going through measurements on Monday, and he followed that up with a strong performance on the field, too. Johnson was the top tight end of the day for me and continues to impress as an athlete.
Usually, as the week goes on, we see more 11-on-11 work where Johnson will be able to prove himself once more instead of just facing defenders one-on-one.
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