• Tennessee OT Darnell Wright: His strength and mentality stood out Tuesday, and he feels more like a first-rounder than not.
• Stanford WR Michael Wilson: The 6-foot-2, 210-pound receiver played in just 14 games over the past three seasons due to injury but flashed his top-class understanding and execution of route running on Day 1.
• Ohio State OT Dawand Jones: As you would expect for a player of his size, footwork can sometimes be an issue, but that size and length (almost a 90-inch wingspan) was too much for every defender he faced Tuesday.
Estimated Reading Time: 4 mins
The Reese’s Senior Bowl is here, and if you’re all in on their slogan, you’ve heard the draft begins in Mobile. Senior Bowl is a great time to evaluate some of the best upperclassmen from around the country in the current draft class. It’s a unique way of seeing how players perform outside of their systems and coaching staffs they’ve gotten so familiar with over the years.
Being able to stand out early is a good indicator of natural ability, and a good sign of a draft prospect's stock improving.
Here are PFF’s standout performers from Tuesday.
OT DARNELL WRIGHT, TENNESSEE
Wright came into Senior Bowl week as one of the notable names. As a top-50 player on PFF’s big board, Wright had a fringe chance to be a consistent first-round player in our projections. After a fantastic first practice, it feels the first round for him is much more likely than not.
.@Vol_Football OT Darnell Wright likes taking the fight to his pass rushers. Made first contact here and dominated the rep after doing so. Love the mentality pic.twitter.com/YMiNraxaUJ
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) January 31, 2023
Wright was one of the top right tackles in college football last season, and what stood out Tuesday was his strength and mentality. He loves contact and dictating reps. If you need an offensive tackle in the back of the first round, he can be your guy.
DT KEEANU BENTON, WISCONSIN
Benton seems to be a riser in this draft class as draft media compares his reps to those of the other interior defensive linemen. At Wisconsin, he was lined up at nose tackle quite a bit, which naturally brings an assumption that he’s just a run stuffer. He can certainly do that, but as you see in the clip below, he boasts quick hands and some pass-rush potential that looked unblockable for most of the first practice.
.@BadgerFootball DT Keanu Benton with the clean win in 1-on-1s. Benton’s hands and ability to block shed has been very impressive in pass rush drills so far pic.twitter.com/WAGgANWNt2
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) January 31, 2023
OT DAWAND JONES, OHIO STATE
All bad puns aside, the 6-foot-8, 370-pound right tackle from Ohio State stood out among his peers Tuesday. In the clip below, you can see one of his wins in the run-blocking drill, but there were plenty of other wins for him in pass protection, too.
.@OhioStateFB OT Dawand Jones vs Andre Carter in run defense/run block drill. Easy win for the massive 6-8, 350 lbs OT#Steelers HC Mike Tomlin was front and center for it with some praise for Jones after the rep pic.twitter.com/AogvuQzVf6
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) January 31, 2023
As you would expect for a player of his size, footwork can sometimes be an issue, but that size and length (almost a 90-inch wingspan) was too much for every defender he faced. He impressed a lot of people on Day 1 (including Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin).
WR MICHAEL WILSON, STANFORD
Wilson was likely not high on many media and fan radars going into the week, but on Tuesday he showed that’s not due to a lack of talent and ability.
Little friendly fire here from @StanfordFball WR Michael Wilson. Nasty release at the line to win the rep vs his teammate Kyu Blu Kelly.
Wilson stood out among the WR group from the National Team in the early parts of practice. Controlled and explosive in his movements. pic.twitter.com/fS3g4zwINl
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) January 31, 2023
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound receiver played in just 14 games over the past three seasons due to injury. At Senior Bowl practice, he flashed his top-class understanding and execution of route running. He absolutely turned some heads, especially with the route shown above. Look for him to be one of the biggest risers all week.
OTHER NOTES
• It was a warmup day for the quarterbacks throwing to new receivers with new plays to execute, but TCU’s Max Duggan did seem to be the best of the bunch, making some nice throws deeper down the field during the latter portions of practice.
• It wasn’t the best day for Florida guard O’Cyrus Torrence on the practice field (it certainly wasn’t bad, just ups and down), but he looks to be in great shape. He carried a lot of weight at Florida to play on the interior and seems to have shaped up his body with potentially better mobility and even more strength.
• Kansas State cornerback Julius Brents was another big winner from Day 1 of practice. He measured in at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and looked like one of the top cover cornerbacks out there. It’s a deep cornerback class, but he could be another riser.
• Tyrique Stevenson from Miami was a big winner on the day. His aggressive style of play (in a good way) had him blanketing receivers for most of the session. He is another cornerback who strengthens this class with physical play and press coverage ability.
• North Dakota State offensive lineman Cody Mauch had a good first day of practice. The former tight end who gained almost 70 pounds to play tackle at NDSU was playing inside at guard on Day 1. Despite being lighter in size than most interior offensive linemen, Mauch held up well with good feet and a good ability to work his hands in order to anchor. It was a great sign that he could be a starting-caliber player in the NFL when he puts on more weight and strength.
• Houston wide receiver Tank Dell’s athleticism seemed unmatched from either wide receiver group. He measured in at 5-foot-8 and 163 pounds, so size will always be a talking point of his scouting report. But his stop-and-start ability looked uncoverable at times. He is so quick to get into his top speed, and maybe even more impressive was his ability to swiftly stop on a dime during his routes. He created constant separation all day, a theme that should continue throughout the week.
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