Senior Bowl observations: Wednesday morning practice … The National team went thru another high-energy practice session at the Senior Bowl in Mobile this morning that included more than just a little bit of feistiness. And that feistiness was most obvious at the always entertaining one-on-one drills between the offensive and defensive linemen. Recall that yesterday, the offensive line guys more than held their own against against their more heralded defensive counterparts. Not so much today, though, as there was a steady stream of pass rushers getting to the target area so much so that it was almost hard to identify just one or two that really stood out. However, we will give it a shot though. Arguably the standout among the National d-linemen today was Virginia Tech DT Aeneas Peebles who was a veritable whirling dervish. Peebles, one of the fire-hydrant types, was a handful for the offensive line, especially the taller ones, as he gets off the snap so quickly and maintains leverage by keeping his pads so low; for good measure, he looks like one of those guys with a truly relentless motor. Same story for Jamaree Caldwell of Oregon, another stout interior defensive tackle with great movement skills and strength. We also thought Toledo’s Darius Alexander had an excellent workout while Josh Farmer of Florida State and Nebraska’s Ty Robinson also both were solid. Junior Tafuna of Utah also flashed the ability to get off blocks with some decent moves. We also saw Central Arkansas LB David Walker, who was working with the DEs, also make his share of headway. And one ER we really focused on today was Mike Green of Marshall who led the country in sacks this fall. Green did have a couple of nice reps, one where he blew up Oregon OT John Conerly with a sudden bull rush, and a second where he slipped inside Minnesota’s Airetonay Ersery for a pressure, but too many other times though he got washed out when he failed to win with his initial move.
Speaking of OTs Ersery and Conerly, neither had particularly good days at all after solid stars to their weeks yesterday. Green, in fact, was not the only rusher that beat Ersery to the inside as he really struggled with change of direction moves, while Conerly consistently gave up a lot of penetration on straight bull rushes. West Virginia’s Wyatt Milum also struggled at times as did Marcus Mbow of Purdue. However, it wasn’t all bad news for the National OL as North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel proved again today that he can play with anyone. He moves his feet really well and anchors comfortably. That said, a case could be made that the National’s best OL this morning was USC C Jonah Monheim who also had another terrific practice, while other National offensive linemen to shine today included NC State G/T Andrew Belton, Caleb Rogers of Texas Tech, who seems to have found a comfort zone inside in Mobile, and somewhat unheralded Iowa State OT Jalen Travis.
There wasn’t necessarily a whole lot to see in the rest of the practice although it seems pretty clear that Tez Johnson of Oregon remains the class of the WR group, although several others including Jayden Higgins of Iowa State, Washington State’s Kyle Williams and jaylin Lane of Virginia Tech also had their moments. It was also another solid practice for CBs Quincy Riley of Louisville and Azareye’h Thomas of Florida State. Thomas, in fact, is one of the more interesting prospects in Mobile this week. He’s a late riser who now appears to be considered to be at least an early-to-mid second day candidate, but could conceivably get some late first consideration because of hi prototype length.
