Defensive line takes the cake … Over the past few days we have been tracking the various reports and commentaries from this week’s Senior Bowl practices in Mobile. And while the QB class, not surprisingly, got the majority of the buzz, the position group that got the most props were the defensive line. As our colleague, Pigskin Paul Guillemette noted in his report earlier today, UConn NT Travis Jones may have been the most impressive player in Mobile this week. Jones never got a whole lot of attention this fall playing on a lousy 1-11 UConn team, whose only win was over Yale from the Ivy League, but the 6-4.5, 333 pounder was impossible this week, as he was simply unblockable in the individual and team drills. The Huskies’ Jones, though, was not the only DL to have a really good week in Mobile. DTs Perrion Winfrey of Oklahoma and Georgia’s Devonte Wyatt also had outstanding weeks, as did DEs Jermaine Johnson of Florida State, South Carolina’s JJ Enagbare, and Houston’s Logan Hall.
The ‘Noles’ Johnson, who is arguably the highest ranked player at the Senior Bowl this week, is particularly interesting. Right now there is something of a gap between DEs Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan and Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux, the two top-rated players at the position in this year’s draft, and the next level of DEs which includes guys like George Karlaftis of Purdue and Hutchinson’s Michigan teammate David Ojabo. However, while Karlaftis is strong and technically superior, he isn’t all that fast or explosive, while Ojabo is a blur coming off the edge, but not much else. And that could give an opportunity to someone like Johnson to get some looks as early as the top 10, given the importance of the position.
The other position that drew an inordinate amount of praise during the week were the WRs. Indeed, among those who showed up on a regular basis in dispatches from Mobile this week included 6-4 Christian Watson of perennial FCS champion North Dakota State and Boise State’s Khalil Shakir (another of Pigskin’s faves). Meanwhile, other players that had notable weeks include Colorado State TE Trey McBride, OT Trevor Penning of Northern Iowa, Boston College OG Zion Johnson, Auburn CB Roger McCreary and Baylor S Jalen Pitre.
