2017 Senior Bowl Day 3- North Team breakdown

Quarterbacks:

Nate Peterman- Peterman continued to be the top QB at the Senior Bowl and had a really strong day in all phases of practice. Peterman continued to show solid zip on his passes and good accuracy, fitting some passes in tight windows. Peterman continued to have the best pocket presence in team drills and stepped up on multiple occasions. Early in practice Peterman showed nice touch on some 20+ yard throws in 1-on-1 drills. Overall it was another strong practice for Peterman and cemented him as the top QB of the practice week.

Wide Receivers:

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Zay Jones– Jones really shined today, and was arguably the toughest receiver for the defense to cover. Early on in position drills he displayed good hands and footwork in sideline drills. He later found a lot of success in both 1-on-1 and team drills. This was Jones best practice of the week and he seemed to improve each day, which is exactly what you want to do this week. Jones had probably the best hands of the North squad, and was able to get easy separation in a number of drills.

Cooper Kupp– Kupp continued to have a stand out week, and finished a close 2nd to Jones in practice today. He had a couple drops early in practice, but after that he caught just about everything thrown his way. What was most impressive is how he created separation with his route running on a number of reps. Kupp has good speed, but it’s his route running that really got him open today, and that is something that translates to the next level.

Amara Darboh- This was Darboh’s best practice of the week in my opinion as he really showcased his ability to catch the ball in traffic and win contested battles. He’s a bigger physical receiver who uses his body position and strong hands to win a lot of battles. Darboh’s not going to win vertically, but he can be a very effective short and intermediate level receiver. He had a number of nice catches in 1-on-1 battles in this area.

Tight Ends:

Michael Roberts- Roberts shined again today as a complete 2-way TE. He’s an excellent blocker both versus the run and the pass. At the same time he’s a big physical pass catcher that out muscles linebackers and safeties for balls. For a guy his size he moves really well and can create some big plays after the catch.

Jonnu Smith– Smith needs to work on his blocking, but he’s a nice athletic pass catcher who showed himself to be a coverage nightmare today. He caught the ball well, and had a good practice in any receiving situations. His blocking remains underwhelming, but early in his career he can be used as more of a pass catcher.

Offensive Line:

Taylor Moton- Moton worked primarily as a tackle the first two days of practice, but got a lot of reps inside today at guard. He continued to play well, though he got overpowered a couple times inside today. Overall it was another good practice for Moton as he plays with good power and size and he probably can start at either RT or guard at the next level pretty early in his career. He seemed a bit more unsure at guard today, but that is more likely due to being thrust in the position during a short week.

Dan Feeney- Feeney continued his dominance both at guard and a little at center. He plays with a really good base and has excellent feet. I didn’t really see him lose or struggle in many reps either in 1 on 1’s or team drills, and typically he was clearly winning his battles. Overall this was a really good week for Feeney as he could have helped himself be the top interior offensive lineman taken in April.

Dion Dawkins- Dawkins had one of his better practices I thought today. He had success at both tackle and guard today, and has improved throughout the week. He loses to power at times and he needs to anchor better and reset when he starts to give ground, but he had a lot of good reps. He’s got good technique and has the athleticism to protect the left edge. I thought today might have been his best day run blocking as well.

Defensive Line:

Chris Wormley- Wormley had a really good practice today and shows nice balance between the run and the pass. In running drills he blew up a couple of plays in the backfield that would have been tackles for a loss if it was full hitting. In team drills versus the pass he did a nice job pushing the pocket and getting a couple of hurries.

Jaleel Johnson- Johnson had a fantastic practice today making plays in team drills, 1-on-1, and earning a lot of praise in position drills. Earlier in the week he seemed slow getting off the line, and he was even critiqued for it by coaches on a couple of occasions. Today though was a different story as I only noticed one or two reps where he seemed slightly slow to react to the snap. The rest of the time he used his quickness combined with his excellent hand usage to dominate the OL.

Derek Rivers- Rivers continued to have a really good week excelling off the edge both in team drills and 1-on-1’s. He’s looks to be a natural pass rusher and he won with speed and with counter moves. One concern with Rivers is he did have a couple poor rushing down reps where he was easily blocked out of the play.

Dawaune Smoot- Smoot plays with excellent speed off the edge and when he gets by the tackle he hunts the QB as well as anyone. The one concern is his counter when the tackle actually gets to the edge. In those instances I didn’t see him able to disengage and continue to pressure the QB.

Linebackers:

Haason Reddick- Reddick has had maybe the best week of practice on the North squad, and that didn’t change today as he simply looked dominant out there. He has flashed in all areas, but he continues to make his biggest plays as a pass rusher. In 1-on-1’s versus RBs and TEs, Reddick had a couple great reps where he was barely touched on his way to the QB. He later replicated that in full team work when he blew by RT Zach Banner on his way to the sack on Peterman. Reddick also showed well in both coverage and run defense throughout practice, and really showed that he can do it all.

Defensive backs:

Obi Melifonwu- Melifonwu had another fantastic day of practice, where he showcased his range, coverage ability and reaction time. In 1-on-1 coverage, Melifonwu looked incredibly smooth and didn’t give up much separation. He also breaks on the ball well to knock away passes. His coverage ability looked better than a number of corners here, and he looks like he can match-up with just about anyone. In addition to his natural coverage ability, Melifonwu continues to showcase his range and pursuit angles when coming up in run support.

John Johnson- Johnson doesn’t make the splash plays of Melifonwu, but he showed excellent range and coverage ability throughout the day.

Rasul Douglas- Douglas has excellent size and he knows how to use his length and it really translated today as he stood out in coverage throughout practice. He had a few rough reps, but I liked how he talked to his coaches about what he saw and tried to correct it in the next rep.

Desmond King- King had a rough day today as he had a lot of match-ups versus Zay Jones, who got the best of him a number of times. It wasn’t all bad for King as he did better in 7-on-7 and team drills, showing really nice recognition and ball skills.