Another week of Senior Bowl practices ended on Thursday. The three days of work from the American and National rosters helped elevate some players and spotlight who might not be as ready as hoped or hyped for the 2024 NFL draft.
The focus here is on some of the top performers and also a few lesser-knwon prospects who helped themselves during the sessions in Mobile.
Jackson Powers-Johnson, IOL, Oregon
The big man showed off his big game. “JPJ”, as he’s known in scouting parlance, brought a very impressive combination of short-area strength and outstanding range in run blocking.
Pass protection wasn’t quite as clean of a slate, but Powers-Johnson proved he can anchor well inside. Some quality reps at guard showed off the versatility to start as a rookie at either spot.
Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
Hands down the best player in Mobile. Might be the best cornerback I’ve seen in Senior Bowl practices in the 15 trips I’ve made to the event. Mitchell showed everything a team can want in an outside corner–including a short memory to recover from a rare lost rep.
Mitchell elevated himself into the conversation to be the first CB drafted, perhaps as high as the top 10. He was that exemplary.
Christian Jones, OT, Texas
Jones was at his best in 1-on-1 pass protection drills. He used his massive wingspan and quick feet to absolutely eliminate the outside rush. Jones also devoured some bull-rush efforts.
Aside from his on-field play, Jones proved to be one of the best interviews. The sincerely jovial big man would have been Mr. Congeniality if such an award existed; even his college rivals from Oklahoma and Texas A&M showed Jones a lot of love throughout the week.
Carter Bradley, QB, South Alabama
Bradley was something of an afterthought coming into the week. Playing on his home turf, the Jaguars quarterback proved he deserved to be here. In fact, Bradley was the most consistent passer on the American roster all week.
Bradley played his way into consideration of being something more than a priority free agent. At the very least, teams and scouts will be more curious about the strong-armed Bradley, who also did a solid job of handling the near-constant pressure up the middle from the pass rush.
Dylan Laube, RB, New Hampshire
All-star games like the Senior Bowl can be a great crucible for small-school players like Laube. Coming up from the FCS level, Laube needed to show that what worked at New Hampshire could work against higher-level competition.
The speedy Laube checked every box.
He was far and away the most polished receiver of the running back crop on either team. Laube’s open-field speed and ability to stay in top gear while making a move was very impressive. It feels like that Laube, at worst, can be a third-down weapon and return specialist as a rookie.
Ray Edwards, RB, Kentucky
Evaluating running backs in these events can be tricky because there isn’t the opportunity to break tackles (the same is true for LBs and making them). It is still an effective medium to look at things like footwork, vision, acceleration and work in the receiving game.
Edwards checked every one of those boxes. He might not have been the best in Mobile at any one of those, but I’d confidently say the Wildcats RB was in the top three in all of them.
Darius Robinson, EDGE, Missouri
Robinson was the most consistently effective pass rusher in Mobile. He was certainly the most consistent at translating wins in the 1-on-1 reps into wins in the full team drills.
He uses his length very well to give himself options as a rusher. Robinson flashed a nice up-and-over move and also a quick inside spin. He did get caught playing too high a few times, but Robinson fought hard to the end of the whistle even if he didn’t win the rep–and that was not true of some of his competitors at EDGE.
Jarvis Brownlee, CB, Louisville
Brownlee was very impressive overall, but he really thrived in the red zone drills on Wednesday and Thursday. His length and anticipation of the ball placement was very sharp.
I was also impressed at how well he controlled the release of the receiver in press coverage. Doing it without tipping his hand prior to the snap–which would allow the QB and WR to maybe make a sight adjustment–is a nice way to buy an extra half-count off the line. Brownlee did that very well in 1-on-1s all week.
Gabe Hall, DL, Baylor
Didn’t know a lot about Hall coming into Mobile, but he seized attention right away. His burst off the line showcased both strength and leverage. Moreover, he was one of the few interior rushers who seemed to have a real plan as a pass rusher but also could react and improvise if the initial plan didn’t work.
During Tuesday’s team session, he was largely unblockable and very disruptive. Hall made himself some bigger draft fans in the week.
J.D. Bertrand, LB, Notre Dame
As noted above, live tackling isn’t a thing during practices. That shifts the focus for LBs to pursuit angles, reactions, and also coverage and pass rush ability.
Bertrand covers a lot of ground swiftly, and he also showed a nose for trail coverage and robber duties in drills. He was effective at keeping himself clean and in line to make plays all week.
