2017 Senior Bowl North Team Practice Report Day 1 and 2

Quarterbacks:

Nate Peterman- Was the top QB both days of practice so far, not just on the North team but in general. He doesn’t blow you away in any one area, but he also doesn’t have any major flaws and has been the most consistent QB in practice. Peterman has a lot of feel for the game, and that was evident today during some full team scrimmage drills where he faced pressure, stepped up and delivered a solid throw. Typically in these events when QBs get pressured they either scramble around for an unrealistic time or just ignore the rusher since they can’t actually hit them. Peterman’s response was much more akin to what he will have to do at the next level and that kind of pocket feel is important as young QBs are notorious for taking sacks.

C.J. Beathard and Sefo Liufau- Beathard and Liufau have had pretty average practices so far, with a few good throws, but mainly they’ve been below average. Their upside seems limited and they don’t seem to have separated themselves from other later round prospects. I give an edge to Beathard so far between these two, but it’s not by much.

Running backs:

Kareem Hunt– Hunt has been the best back on the North squad through two practices displaying a nice blend of burst, shiftiness and long speed. He also caught the ball well out of the backfield today. Hunt was explosive on a couple of plays in full team scrimmage and made multiple defenders miss. Hunt also looked fine in a couple blitz pick-up drills, but this is probably still an area of work for him.

Wide Receivers:

Cooper Kupp– Kupp is clearly the top receiver on this squad and might be having the best receiving week on either team. Kupp is excelling in every area, from route running, separation creation, deep speed, hands, etc. You name it and Kupp is getting the job done. That’s pretty impressive because other receivers might be good in one or two areas but they seem to need work in other areas. One thing I enjoyed seeing was that in the first practice Kupp was coached up after a rep in a come back drill where he was knocked for not being aggressive in attacking the football to ensure that a DB didn’t break on it. Today in practice Kupp learned from that rep from yesterday and was much better in this area, earning some praise from coaches. This is exactly the type of thing that teams are looking for at these scouting events.

Zay Jones– Jones has had two pretty solid days so far. He’s displayed excellent hands catching just about everything thrown his way with ease and away from his body. Even on off target throws he’s made them look pretty routine. One concern is that Jones has not shown the ability to create a lot of separation on his own vs man coverage.

Jalin Robinette- He’s only had one day as he had a school commitment at Air Force Monday and Tuesday, but he didn’t look lost out there in practice and in fact had a couple really nice catches. He’s got a nice blend of size and speed, and he’ll be interesting to watch in tomorrow’s final practice and in the game on Saturday.

Trent Taylor- Trent Taylor had a really good second day of practice improving on a pretty average showing day one. In the first practice Taylor had some issues slipping in and out of his breaks which negated his greatest strength, his quickness. He still managed some good reps on Tuesday, but overall it was a bit disappointing. Day two though Taylor looked a lot better changing direction and on more than one rep it was the defensive back who ended up on the ground. Taylor hasn’t been the cleanest catching the football, but he was okay in this area today.

Tight Ends:

Michael Roberts- Roberts is quickly becoming the top TE on the North squad which is a nice follow up from a strong East/West Shrine week performance. He’s been arguably the best TE on either team in blocking drills, showing a bit of dominance. As a receiver and pass catcher, Roberts has impressed showing good speed and route running (particularly for a TE his size), and he’s caught most balls thrown his way.

Offensive Line:

Julien Davenport- He’s a smaller school guy and at times that shows, but overall I’ve been impressed by Davenport as he’s mostly proved that he belongs here. Davenport has an excellent frame and nice quickness for a player his size. His technique needs refinement and he needs to use his big hands and arm length to his advantage more, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far.

Taylor Moton- Moton has had two really good practices overall and looks like he could be a RT starter at the next level or maybe kick inside and become a really good guard. He is really strong, and uses that power to eat up bull rushers and keep the pocket clean. He uses his hands well to redirect speed rushers and slow them down.

Adam Bisnowaty- Bisnowaty has had a rough two days of practice and has not looked good playing LT. He played better in day two, but it was still an up-an-down practice for him. He had a few nice reps where he was able to show a nice kick slide and protect the edge, but typically those came versus some of smaller EDGE rushers. When Bisnowaty faced guys with a better speed/power combo he struggled. He is likely to need to move inside at the next level as his shorter arms definitely appeared to be a factor at times as he couldn’t redirect rushers.

Dan Feeney- Feeney has been the star OL down here in Mobile this week, checking every box you look for in an interior offensive lineman. He’s so technically sound and plays with great base and leverage. Feeney had maybe two bad reps all practice, but otherwise he stonewalled defenders left and right. One thing I liked to see in some of the rushing drives in 9-0n-7 and full team, he did a nice job work off a double-team and getting to the second level taking out a LB. He looks like a day 1 starter and likely a first round pick come April.

Defensive Line:

Chris Wormley- The best praise you can give Wormley for his day 2 performance was the fact that he was the only guy who gave Feeney any sort of trouble in practice today. He beat Feeney completely on one rep, and was able to get a little push on him in a couple of other reps which would have helped collapsed the pocket in a game setting. Wormley was the most complete interior defensive lineman in day two (following up a solid day 1). Throughout the practice he performed well and got a lot of praise from the coaching staff for his technique and quickness off the ball.

Tarell Basham- Basham has had two really nice days rushing the passer and he looks like he can have success on the edge in either an even or odd man front. He shows really nice burst off the edge and was by some OT’s before they could even get a finger on him.

Dawaune Smoot- Smoot has been inconsistent so far, he’s got decent speed to go around the edge, but he seems to only win when the OT is slow to react. While you like having speed to threaten the edge it seemed like Smoot was more a beneficiary from poor OL play, then elite edge speed. Smoot was washed out of a number of running plays in full team work, and that’s an area he needs to work on.

Derek Rivers- Rivers had a really good second practice getting pressure off the edge on a number of reps. He plays with excellent quickness and some bend to his game. Offensive tackles struggled to get to the edge versus him consistently and when they did reach him he was able to shake them off on more than one rep.

Jaleel Johnson- Johnson had a pretty strong Tuesday practice, but was a bit more inconsistent on Wednesday. Early in practice during position drills Johnson was critiqued by the coaching staff for a slow get off and some wasted steps in drills. Later in 1-on-1’s Johnson redeemed himself with a number of nice rushes displaying really good hand usage to disengage from blocks. In team drills Johnson had a couple nice reps when he got off the ball quickly on the snap and was able to penetrate, but other times he was pretty easily blocked. Overall it was a mixed bag for Johnson.

Linebackers:

Haason Reddick- Reddick has been one of the stars of the North team so far as he’s excelled in every role asked of him. He’s a bit of a tweener as he could be an edge rusher or move to more of an ILB role depending on the team. In either case he excels as he displayed fantastic fluidity in coverage drills and he was basically unblockable off the edge when rushing the passer. He does a nice job of finding the ball carrier and quickly reacting, while usually showing strong pursuit angles as well.

Defensive Backs:

Desmond King- King has gotten beaten a couple times on deeper routes, but overall he’s had a solid two days of practice. He’s a willing run defender (which could help him if he moves to safety), and takes good angles to the ball carrier. In coverage King has shown good ball skills and has been aggressive defending passes. He’s been strong in coverage and has helped himself overall down here in Mobile.

Jourdan Lewis- Lewis has been the best cover corner on the North team, rarely giving up separation from opposing receivers. He’s displayed a nice ability to track the football in drills and has a couple nice passes defensed.

Obi Melifonwu- Melifonwu had a standout Day 2 of practice displaying his rare combination of size, speed, and coverage ability. Melifonwu flew all over the field today from his safety position and made a number of big plays both in coverage and run support. His play recognition on a scramble play and a couple of runs was incredibly impressive, as was the range he showed to get to the ball carrier in time. Melifonwu is answering any questions about whether or not he can perform at a high level in the NFL, and has probably been one of the biggest beneficiaries of this week.

John Johnson- While lost in the hype of Melifonwu’s impressive performance, Johnson has had two really nice days of practice. Johnson shows natural center field abilities in coverage reacting well in full team drills. In run support Johnson took nice angles to the ball carrier and would have stopped a few runs for little gain despite coming from 10+ yards off the LOS.