The QBs sucked up most of the air at the Senior Bowl, but there were in fact a relatively large number of really good performances at other positions this week in Mobile. Indeed, a pretty good case can be made that the best player in Mobile this week was Georgia OG Isaiah Wynn. Wynn, who played LT for the Dawgs, but figures to play inside at the next level as he is only a tad over 6-2, showed outstanding strength and agility. Wynn has a quiet, efficient slide step, along with elite balance and body control. Over the three days of practice in Mobile, not only did Wynn not give up even so much as a pressure, it didn’t appear that he allowed any penetration at all. In fact, it was a very good week for the interior offensive linemen including OGs Cole Madison of Washington State, UTEP’s Will Hernandez and Taylor Hearn of Clemson and Michigan C Mason Cole.
On the other hand, it was something of a disappointing week for the OTs. Tyrell Crosby of Oregon and Pitt’s Brian O’Neill both came to the Senior Bowl looking to make a case that they deserved some late first round consideration, but neither really made the case. Crosby looked great in the one-on-one drills, but struggled with lateral agility in team drills. For his part, the angular O’Neill looked the part and ran well in space, but gave up way too many pressures as he seemed slow and mechanical in his reactions off the snap. Meanwhile, emerging small-school OTs Brandon Parker of NC A&T and Humboldt State’s Alex Cappa showed some long-term potential, but were still really rough around the edges.
Those OTs struggled at times in part because they had problems cutting off the edge against quick, undersized pass rushers such as Ogbonnia Okoronkwo of Oklahoma, Kemoko Turay of Rutgers, Utah’s Kylie Fitts and Shaq Griffin of Central Florida. In fact, UCF’s Griffin was THE best story in Mobile this year – and maybe ever – as he has only one hand as a result of a childhood illness. However, you don’t run on yours hands and Griffin has an explosive first-step and next gear closing speed. He’s also a versatile defender who took snaps at ILB, OLB, DE and even safety. It will be a fascinating story to see if any team will take a chance on Griffin at the upcoming draft.
Other players who appeared to improve their stock at this Senior Bowl (in no particular order):
RBs Kalen Ballage of Arizona State and Louisville’s Jaylen Samuels
WR James Washington of Oklahoma State
TE Mike Gesicki of Penn State
DE Marcus Davenport, Texas-San Antonio
DTs Nathan Shepherd of Fort Hays State, Harrison Phillips of Stanford
ILBs Darius Leonard of South Carolina State and Nick Deluca of North Dakota State
CBs Duke Dawson of Florida and Chandon Sullivan of Georgia State
