MOBILE, Ala. — The Senior Bowl is now over, and after a week that included three practices and the game, some players helped their draft stock immensely. Who is going to make the All-Senior Bowl team? Here is who the best of each position were throughout the week.
QB: South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler
Going into this week, I expected to put Bo Nix, Michael Penix, or even Michael Pratt in this slot. But instead, it’s Spencer Rattler who remained calm and had a consistent week of practice. There were rough portions where he struggled mightily on day one of even near the end, throwing an interception with another dropped on an ill-advised decision. But he followed it up with two consistent days of practice, and an impressive game puts him at the top of the list.
Throughout the rest of the week, Rattler flashed his arm talent outside the numbers, hitting guys into tight windows and on back-shoulder fades. His poise was impressive. Rattler likely elevated his stock and put himself right into the early day three conversation after largely being an afterthought heading into the event. That alone is worthy of praise.
RB: Kentucky RB Ray Davis
The best running back of the week was hard to gauge, but by the end of it, I felt like Ray Davis had positively separated himself. Nothing was ever too much for Davis, and he might not be the flashiest running back, but he does everything right. His pass protection looks polished, and he always understands where the most dangerous pass rusher is. Meanwhile, Davis’ hands out of the backfield are soft, and he runs a complete running back route tree.
Throughout the week, Davis displayed his physicality and anticipatory vision to press the gap and cut it to the outside. All of that gives Davis this award, and he appears to be on his way up.
WR: Michigan WR Roman Wilson
Wilson was only here for two days, but those two days were the most complete days of any receiver in Mobile.
Wilson has fantastic footwork, allowing him to explode in and out of his breaks to create separation. But there were questions about how he could handle guys who would get their hands on him and try to be physical with a lean frame. And in general, the routes needed to show some urgency, tempo, and nuance to leap the next step.
I can comfortably say he checked all of those boxes in Mobile. Wilson showed off his ability to defeat a longer, physical cornerback in Quinyon Mitchell on Wednesday. He switched up route tempos, but it was not the type of releases that would throw the play off the intended timing of the quarterback into his drop. His bag is way bottomless than he was given credit for, and it seemed like he won at all three field levels.
TE: Penn State TE Theo Johnson
Johnson is as smooth as butter. There are not many tight ends moving in space like Johnson was this week in Mobile, but it’s hard not to see him ending up as a contributor on the NFL field. What stood out in this setting? His elite hands. The Senior Bowl tight ends and receivers dropped many passes over the week, but Johnson made great snags, even outside of his frame. His stock is on the way up, and he seems poised to have a positive process.
OT: Oregon State OT Taliese Fuaga
While Tyler Guyton may have put together the week that will help him rise the most, no one was more consistent or aggressive than Fuaga. It’s no surprise the potential third offensive tackle in the class would be a steady force, but even against top competition like Laiatu Latu, Fuaga held his own. He mixed up his pass sets, showed off his sweet feet, and has some serious grip strength to work with when he gets them inside.
Sometimes, he oversets, but he has the athleticism and aggressiveness to recover. Given his ability to move bodies in the run game, I understand some of the guard talk, but his length is not so much of a negative to move him off tackle. Good player.
OG: UConn Christian Haynes
Haynes may have played some center in the game proper, but he was the steadiest guard in Mobile all week. If someone brought power to Haynes, it was tough for them to shake him once he got his hands inside, even if they popped under his pads. It is a great testament to Haynes’ core strength and ability to anchor that he was able to stun pass rushers that much. But it came down to how he utilizes his hands in the first place. Haynes is patient, but not slow when firing his hands, and rarely does his hand carriage get low or leave him to susceptible to swipes.
In the run game, he is an adequate athlete to get out in space and make some plays. Haynes could have his stock go through the roof if he proves he could even hang at center.
OC: Oregon C Jackson Powers-Jackson
Powers-Johnson has played himself into legitimate first-round hype. His movement skills for someone of his size, over 330 pounds, is so rare. And yet, he has only started for one legitimate season. For someone that inexperienced at center to play the way he did speaks to coaching, but also the rare player he is coming out of college.
Throughout his reps, Powers-Johnson showcased elite core strength, and even reset his hands twice after getting beat initially underneath his pads. But he is a former wrestler and understands how to maximize leverage and win at the point of attack. It should be no surprise that he has already made a name for himself.
IDL: Baylor IDL Gabe Hall
If you have found someone who can block Gabe Hall in Mobile, send them to me. Hall had an absurdly dominant week in Mobile, and no one could handle his entire set of moves. And he has a versatile set of moves, hitting linemen with a cross chop, club-swim, and then coming back and getting right into their chest with speed-to-power. All of that comes back to Hall raising his stock significantly. He had a week that was reminiscent of the week Keeanu Benton had last year in Mobile.
Hall had a great frame for the position, and the explosiveness of his stance came out right away. He plays with excellent pad level, giving him a great base to work with right off the jump. His flexibility to bend that corner in the line’s interior is impressive. Then, team period came, and Hall just continued to wreck the run game and pressured the quarterbacks in the passing game. Stock way up for Hall, who looks like a stud.
EDGE: UCLA EDGE Laitau Latu
Perhaps the first player that will go off the board in the NFL Draft, Latu put up an impressive week. The most remarkable thing about was not his burst or bend, those are the traits that just jump out on the tape. He could string moves together. Latu started with a traditional cross chop on one rep this week but turned it into a spin move after the tackle overset and beat him to the spot. That is the type of special stuff with Latu and what he can do. Again, that is rare and not typical for someone just coming out of college.
But Latu is a top-20 prospect and going early in the NFL Draft for a reason. He has all the tools to do so. So, no surprise that Latu ends up on this list.
ILB: UNC LB Cedric Gray
I came into the week intrigued by Gray just because his tape at North Carolina is so solid. He is not the flashiest player in the world, but Gray has evident sideline-to-sideline speed and rarely gets beat to the flat with his anticipation skills and ability to recognize route concepts. He looks like a prototypical athletic, green dot linebacker that the modern NFL would love to have.
Coming into the week, one of the biggest knocks on him was his experience in zone coverage, and it was a feeling-out process. But you could tell that the more he did it, the more comfortable he became. Playing in Tampa 2 coverage on Saturday, Gray drifted back perfectly into the dig behind him and knocked the ball down. He kept his aggressive, downhill play style to complement that, too. Stock up for Gray.
CB: Toledo CB Quinyon Mitchell
Before this week, Mitchell was thought of as a guy who was a fringe first-rounder. But now? He is likely a top-25 draft pick who earned himself a chance to go this high. Like any cornerback in these one-on-one drills, there are reps that are a little ugly, but Mitchell kept those to a minimum and looked like a legitimate first-round cornerback even against the elevated competition from the MAC.
Mitchell is impressive. In his first day at the Senior Bowl, the only way to describe his level of play was impressive. Wow, did this kid put on a show. He walked up in press coverage and played in off-man. He has both the speed to keep up with receivers down the field and the length at the line of scrimmage to snuff them out. And he’s fluid in his transitions and turns to keep up with receivers. This was a statement day for him. And throughout the rest of the week, he continued that.
S: Miami S Kam Kinchens
The safety position was loaded, but Miami safety Kam Kinchens did a lot for himself to increase his NFL Draft stock. Kitchens has the range at free safety on film, but it is hard to display that in a Senior Bowl practice setting. Instead, the team walked him up and played him as the overhang or in the slot, and Kinchens looked awesome in man coverage. He was patient with his click and close and reacted with poise. The ball skills are all there. Kinchens did well for himself and will see his NFL Draft stock increase. He is an impressive player.