Senior Bowl weigh-in review

January 24, 2017

North team numbers         South team numbers

Small-school guys star at Senior Bowl weigh-in … Overall, the results from Tuesday morning’s measurement session at the Senior Bowl in Mobile weren’t particularly impressive. And the exclamation point on the whole business may be that the two guys who had NFL personnel people talking were players from small schools. Bucknell OT Julien Davenport, for example, was the only player in Mobile this week whose arm length exceeded 35 inches. And the 6-6-plus, 310-pound Davenport didn’t leave anything to chance as his arms actually measured in at an even 36 inches. Davenport also has huge mitts (10.5”) and by far the biggest wingspan in Mobile. Indeed, Davenport’s wingspan measured in at 87.5 inches, a full 3 inches longer than anybody else at this week’s Senior Bowl.

Villanova DE Tanoh Kpassagnon also drew oohs and aahs from the crowd at the Senior Bowl weigh-in as he measured in at almost 6-7 and 280 pounds, along with huge hands (10.8”), 34.8” arms, and a 84.5 inch wingspan, second to Davenport of all players in Mobile. In no particular order, other players who more than passed the eyeball test at the Senior Bowl measurement  included:

West Virginia CB Rasul Douglas … NFL teams are always looking for length at CB and they’ll get that in the Mountaineers Douglas, a rising prospect who measured in at 6-2 and over 200 pounds, along with decent 32” arms.

Baylor C Kyle Fuller … Centers are supposed to be short, squat guys, but Fuller looked more like an OT as he measured in at 6-4.5 with 34” arms and 10” hands.

Alabama TE O.J. Howard … Certainly looks the part of an elite TE at 6-5.5, 250 with 10” hands and 33.8” arms.

Arkansas TE Jeremy Sprinkle … A number of the top TEs in Mobile came in undersized (see below). Not so for the Hogs’ Sprinkle who measured in at 6-4.5 and 255 pounds with big hands (10.6”) and long arms (34.2”)

UConn S Obi Melifonwu … Another rising star in the 2017 draft class, Melifonwu measured in at 6-4, 220.

Texas A&M Daeshon Hall … Poor cousin A&M bookend to #1 prospect Myles Garrett, Hall got some notice of his own today as he measured in at 6-5.3 and 265 with 34.6” arms.

Mixed results along the OL … Other notes: Kind of mixed results for Temple OT Dion Dawkins, who measured in at only 6-3.7’, which is short for an NFL OT, but he weighed a solid 317 with relatively long arms of 34.6” arms. Meanwhile, Indiana’s G/T Dan Feeney may come off more than one team’s OT board as he has only 33.2” arms, although there was nothing wrong with the rest of his numbers: 6-4, 305 with big hands (10.2”). There likely will also be some questions about Pitt OT Adam Bisnowaty’s potential at tackle as he has only 32.5” arms, although like Feeney his other numbers (6-5.5, 307 with 11 inch hands) were more than adequate. There could also be a similar issue for 6-8 USC OT Zach Banner whose arm length (33.6”) doesn’t really match his height. And the same story for Western Kentucky G/T Forrest Lamp, arguably the hottest prospect coming into the Senior Bowl who everyone kind of knew was a little on the short side (6-3.6), but his very short arms (31.2”) could be a disqualifier at OT. And continuing a theme, Troy OT Antonio Garcia, another player that everyone wanted to see this week, measured in at 6-6, 293, but with arms under 33” (32.7”).

Several other guys get honorable mentions in the eyeball test including:

Kansas State DE Jordan Willis          6-3.6            255        10.0         33.3

Michigan DT Chris Wormley            6-5.3             297        10.4         33.5

Clemson DT Carlos Watkins             6-3.5             312        10.4         33.5

Louisville WR Jamari Staples            6-3.0             190         9.6          32.7

UCLA OT Conor McDermott             6-8.0             305        10.8         34.0

On the other hand, there were several players that really didn’t measure up, at least based on accepted NFL standards, although we always like to caution that nobody plays the game in shorts. However, Alabama TE Gerald Everett, one of the rising prospects at the position for the upcoming draft, looked more like a big WR as he measured in at just 6-2.6, 227 with relatively small hands at just over 8”. Tennessee CB Cam Sutton also measured in with only 29.2’ arms which could hurt his final grade. Meanwhile, North Carolina WR Ryan Switzer (5.8.5, 179, with just 28” arms); San Diego State RB Donnel Pumphrey (5-8.2, 169); Missouri CB Aarion Penton (#5-9, 177, 29.6” arms); Louisiana Tech WR Trent Taylor (5-7.5,177, 8.6” hands, 28.3 arms).