Day Two of the Senior Bowl should be better in terms of evaluation than Day One, but it still may mean a couple of reps for key players at best. Without players like Forrest Lamp, Nico Siragusa and Isaac Asiata, there weren’t many notables among the offensive line. Still, it should be a fruitful affair for Vikings fans and the front office as they determine which of these players is worth making it onto the draft board.
The trench play may excite Vikings fans the most, and that’s what we cover here.
Offensive Line
Among offensive tackles, Antonio Garcia has been one of the most anticipated players at the Senior Bowl. After one day of struggles, however, his issues continued. Garcia has had issues mirroring pass-rushers in protection, peeling off double-teams to get to the second level and using his hands to control the interaction in both aspects of blocking. He has been a dominant drive blocker but has struggled outside of those responsibilities.
Another player who struggled on day one, Conor McDermott, improved significantly into day two. McDermott didn’t have to deal with players countering to his inside as often, but that’s likely not the only reason he improved; his hands have been much improved and he’s using his inside hand to control interactions more completely.
On the other hand, Adam Bisnowaty had issues with counter-moves and his own balance. He had even bigger issues when it came to run-blocking and maintaining his assigned gap.
Small-schoolers Julien Davenport and Taylor Moton impressed again, though in different ways. Davenport has demonstrated some awful technique but is consistently winning his snaps in unorthodox ways. I’m not sure that it will translate in the NFL, but his dominant strength and balance are worth noting. Moton, on the other hand, played with solid technique and extraordinary strength but did lose some reps in part because of his footspeed. His recovery issues meant that losing at the snap often meant he just lost. That didn’t happen often, but it’s worth noting.
McDermott is one player who improved significantly from Day One to Day Two, while Zach Banner was another. Banner was leaning in Day One and lost a lot of leverage, but fixed some of his issues in Day Two. I’m not sure he’s showcased NFL-level talent yet, but he’s making better use of his frame. He still has issues moving into the second-level for his blocks, but it’s worth keeping something of an eye on him.
Justin Senior had a day to forget. I’m not sure he did anything correctly.
As much as the tackles’ general improvement may be worth optimism, the guards yesterday drew resignation. Danny Isidora and Jesseman Dunker could never keep their hands inside, bear-hugging a defensive tackle group that didn’t want to reciprocate the offers of friendship. Without interior hand-placement, the DTs controlled the interaction in both run-blocking and pass-blocking. Between those two, Isidora was clearly better, but it may not be meaningful.
Jordan Morgan has drawn praise from observers at the Senior Bowl, but I haven’t seen as much of it. His run-blocking has left quite a bit to be desired and he hasn’t really made up for it much with his pass-protection capability. While he’s been less frequent in hand-placement mistakes, they still dog his game and his base exacerbates those problems.
Late addition Kyle Kalis had a good first day but a worrisome second day. He was consistently overpowered at the point of attack and couldn’t leverage his quick feet into adequate second-level blocking, in part because he wouldn’t peel off double-teams when he needed to. Dan Feeney has played extremely well here, but has had some big missteps, too. If Feeney can add consistency to his game, he’ll likely be a quality guard in the NFL.
The biggest improvement among any offensive linemen this week had to be Dion Dawkins from Day One to Day Two. Dawkins played left tackle for four years at Temple and had issues on the first day dealing with the increased speed at which players arrive at the point of attack on the inside. Dawkins on the second day certainly had a number of issues, but he played well overall and showcased better handfighting as well as better footwork when pulling.
Among the centers, it’s Ethan Pocic and everyone else. Jon Toth looks fine at center but had a bad day because of his guard play (not that Pocic was a talented guard). Toth won’t likely be able to hold his own when one-on-one against nose tackles but should be fine in the confined spaces of the interior line with some help available. Even against Bear fronts with no help, he’ll manage. Pocic has the unusual talent of winning the second move every time. While it would be nice for him to consistently win from the snap, Pocic recovers better than any lineman here.
Kyle Fuller does alright in vanilla pass-blocking drills, but it’s clear that his offense at Baylor didn’t ask him to do a variety of things. Fuller does a poor job getting to the second level when working off of double-teams and has aiming issues when he’s got space. His play strength isn’t ideal and his hand placement exacerbates those problems.
From a technical perspective, Kyle Orlosky is a lot more sound. That doesn’t mean he was better, however, as he lost a good number of his reps in one-on-ones and had issues in team drills as well. His issues with leverage and overall athleticism/strength problems have created matchup issues with a lot of players in Mobile.
Defensive Line
Along the interior, there has been no better player than Iowa’s Jaleel Johnson. His explosiveness and pass-rush ability has showed up on nearly every pass-rushing snap, while he’s also been an able and disciplined run defender, impacting run plays from the get-go. The interior offensive linemen here are not talented enough to handle him.
Aside from him, the premier talents seem to be Carlos Watkins and Dalvin Tomlinson. Both demonstrate phenomenal power, while Watkins has excellent hand placement and movement skills. Tomlinson is difficult to handle from a strength perspective, but Watkins adds technical precision and fluidity to the mix.
Eddie Vanderdoes might be one of the more frustrating players to watch as he clearly has the strength and initial athletic ability to wreak havoc, but doesn’t have any of the balance needed to be a consistent or even frequent threat. He’s been pushed over, fallen over and lost leverage because of this very specific, but enormous problem.
Players who have not stood out for good or bad reasons include Larry Ogunjobi and Stevie Tui’Kolovatu. Both had some splash plays, along with plays where they were moved off their aiming point. Perhaps the least impactful player was Montravious Adams, who might be the stiffest linemen of the bunch, while also playing with poor technique.
Ryan Glasgow ended the second day of practices with the highest defensive Pro Football Focus grade of the bunch, but he didn’t strike me as a particularly powerful or disruptive player. He held the point of attack on runs every so often, and did generate penetration, but overall didn’t seem to harass the backfield often enough to earn that accolade and didn’t demonstrate traits that would imply his next-level production would balloon.
Isaac Rochell of Notre Dame is showcasing incredible motor and great production as a pass-rusher, but hasn’t been demonstrating solid anchor or diagnosis in the run game. He hasn’t been able to win his half-man and gets leveraged out of gaps. Still, he’s been an exciting player. Dawuane Smoot has drawn plaudits from a few people here in practices, but I haven’t seen much to build on, with his less heralded teammate (Carroll Phillips) providing more impactful plays, despite the fact that he hasn’t been disciplined or mindful of his assignment and can get blown off the ball in the running game.
Jordan Willis has been generating some buzz, especially with the biometric data showing his speed on the first day, but his second day overall has been a struggle, and he can’t win in multiple ways against offensive linemen. Daeshon Hall dropped off in play and didn’t have nearly the success he had on the first day, but still showcased good hands and instincts in the pass rush.
The best edge-rushers by far have been Haason Reddick and Derek Rivers. The Villanova invite, Tanoh Kpassagnon has flashed and clearly has incredible physical tools, but will sometimes be late off the snap and has poor instincts as a pass-rusher. Rivers and Reddick not only have athleticism, but excellent instincts, diagnosis and hand-fighting ability. Vince Biegel might be the most assignment-sound edge player here, and has been among the only players not to be corrected for assignment-related reasons. His ability to hold the edge, collapse run lanes and generate occasional pressure has been impressive—especially to someone like me, who didn’t think much of him going in.
Ohio’s Tarell Basham has been up-and-down with some flashes of good play, but generally speaking hasn’t been as impactful as his contemporaries. He’s perhaps showcased enough to be worth a late-round pick in most classes, but in this stacked class may get lost in the weeds with an average-to-above-average Senior Bowl performance.
There hasn’t been enough praise of Chris Wormley from people around here, but it’s worth noting how much of a force he can be as an edge player despite his massive size. He plays soundly and with precision while still showcasing enough speed and fantastic power to create problems for tackles and running backs.
Overall the Senior Bowl has been an exciting lesson in developmental line play, and I should be able to get more information on running backs, linebackers and the skill players by tomorrow.
