Believe it or not it's time. THE SENIOR BOWL THREAD

SENIOR BOWL PLAYERS TO WATCH: OFFENSE

https://www.profootballfocus.com/draft-senior-bowl-offense-preview/

Senior Bowl week has become the perfect buffer for the NFL between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl. Much of the league travels to Mobile, Ala., to get one last glimpse of game action for the nation’s top seniors before the workout portion of the draft process commences. At Pro Football Focus, we are once again proud to be heavily involved in the Senior Bowl’s evaluation process, also adding the same layer of detail to every practice rep that we apply to every play during the FBS season.

Here’s a look at the top offensive players to watch during Senior Bowl week.

Quarterback
Senior Bowl QBs

It may be an uninspiring group of quarterbacks on paper, but all of the participants have a prime opportunity to turn heads with a strong week of practice and good showing during game action. Pittsburgh QB Nate Peterman has some fans in the scouting community, but he’ll have to answer questions about Pitt’s offense, which was more about trickery rather than allowing Peterman to pick apart opposing defenses. His high percentage of big-time throws (6.9 percent) and turnover-worthy throws (4.6 percent) make for an intriguing boom-or-bust combination. Colorado’s Sefo Liufau has the best intermediate and deep accuracy numbers of the Senior Bowl quarterbacks, though he has some questions to answer about his work in the short game. Iowa’s C.J. Beathard took good care of the ball for the most part, and flashed strong downfield touch, but he had his struggles when facing pressure. Cal’s Davis Webb’s year was essentially split into two parts after he came out strong, but a hand injury contributed to an inconsistent effort in the second half. He has the arm to make special throws, it’s just a matter of tying up some decision-making issues. Josh Dobbs’ inconsistency was maddening for Tennessee fans, but he did an exceptional job this season making big plays under pressure, tying for the national lead with 12 touchdowns and ranking fourth with a passer rating of 105.4 when pressured. For Dobbs, it’s all about improving his accuracy at the short and intermediate levels, though he made strides in both areas this season.

Running back
Senior Bowl RBs

Toledo running back Kareem Hunt had the nation’s highest grade among running backs at 94.5 overall, using his quick-cutting ability and balance to force 76 missed tackles on the ground, second-highest in the nation. San Diego State’s Donnel Pumphrey broke former Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne’s all-time rushing record with his slippery style at 5-foot-9, 180-pounds. Pumphrey is out to prove that he’s more than just a change-of-pace back at the next level after forcing 73 missed tackles and averaging 3.5 yards after contact per rush. BYU’s Jamaal Williams broke out early in 2016, showing a good combination of speed and power and averaging 3.4 yards after contact per rush before an ankle injury slowed him down in the second half of the year.

Wide receiver
Senior Bowl WRs

All eyes will be on Eastern Washington’s Cooper Kupp, who dominated FCS competition and was similarly productive when playing FBS teams. He put up 206 yards and three scores to go with a gaudy 4.1 yards per route against Washington State early in the season. It was a breakout season for Syracuse WR Amba Etta-Tawo who took advantage of his transfer from Maryland to become a big-play threat in Syracuse’s vertical passing attack. He showed impressive downfield speed and ball skills, and he’s out to prove that he’s more than a one-year wonder. East Carolina’s Zay Jones put up a video-game like 160 catches and 1,805 yards, though seeing 46 more targets than any other receiver in the country certainly helped his cause. Two receivers with a chance to show off their downfield ball skills are Amara Darboh from Michigan and Josh Reynolds from Texas A&M, while Louisiana Tech’s Trent Taylor and North Carolina’s Ryan Switzer will show off their route-running that made both receivers so productive.

Tight ends/fullbacks
Senior Bowl TE and FBs

Tight end is one of the deepest positions in the draft, with Alabama’s O.J. Howard the headliner. He earned the nation’s top run-blocking grade, and Alabama fans have been begging to see more involvement from Howard in the passing game due to his good speed and receiving skills, which will be on display all week. Evan Engram of Ole Miss and Gerald Everett of South Alabama are both good receiving threats, perhaps better suited for work in the slot or on the move in H-back roles. Michael Roberts of Toledo is a big-bodied tight end who knows how to use it in the passing game; led the nation’s tight ends with his 16 touchdowns.

Offensive line
Senior Bowl Offensive Line

The 2017 offensive tackle class lacks headline names this cycle, but Western Kentucky’s Forrest Lamp has been a headliner at PFF for three years. He’s ranked among the top tackles in the nation every year since 2014, capping his career with a monster season that saw him allow only four total QB pressures while holding up better than any offensive tackle in the nation against Alabama’s defensive front. USC’s Zach Banner had his struggles early on, particularly against Alabama, but he settled down nicely to once again grade among the best right tackles in the country. Antonio Garcia of Troy is the other hot name to keep an eye on at tackle, and he backed up the hype in pass protection with only nine QB pressures allowed; however, Garcia had the worst ratio of positive to negative blocks in the run game among tackles at the Senior Bowl.

On the interior, Indiana’s Dan Feeney has produced three years of strong work in pass protection, allowing only 24 QB pressures on 1,217 attempts, which includes some time at right tackle. The center class is intriguing, as LSU’s Ethan Pocic can make the key blocks necessary in a zone-blocking scheme, while West Virginia’s Tyler Orlosky rarely loses in the run game.

2017 Senior Bowl Wide Receiver Preview

link: http://insidethepylon.com/nfl/2017-nfl-draft/2017/01/23/2017-senior-bowl-wide-receiver-preview/

Ryan Switzer, North Carolina, 5-10 185 lbs

Ryan Switzer is a true senior who played in 53 career games as both a wide receiver and punt returner for 4 years for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He had a career year playing from the slot in 2016, registering 96 receptions, 1,112 yards, and 6 touchdowns. He is small for a wide receiver, but he possesses good athletic ability, which North Carolina took advantage of with screens and flare routes.

Switzer’s mental processing is probably his biggest asset. When running routes, he has a good ability to read a zone defense and find holes between zones to get himself open. He also does a good job of reading the defensive back covering him in off coverage, using the stem of his route to attack directly at the defender and chew up the cushion the defender has before making a quick jab in one direction to get DBs to turn their hips, or lean, in the wrong direction before quickly breaking in the other direction with space to catch the ball. He employs a similar strategy after the catch, getting behind blockers and working in one direction to get the defender to commit one way before cutting back and giving his teammates a good angle to block with.

There is no bigger glaring weakness in Switzer’s game than his inconsistent use of hands when catching the football. At North Carolina, they did a good job of running plays that worked him into space as previously noted so he had many uncontested opportunities and got away with catching the ball against his body. When he did use his hands to catch, he still has issues securing the ball and would “double catch” passes where the ball would bounce off his hands before he finally secured it against his body. He ran a pretty limited route tree in college and would round off certain cuts in his routes such as on out routes. He is not the most physical player, at times electing to quickly run out of bounds instead of taking on a defender after the catch.

Trent Taylor, Louisiana Tech, 5-8 178 lbs

Trent Taylor is a true senior who played in 53 career games over 4 years for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs as both a wide receiver and a punt returner. He led the nation in receiving yards with 1,803 and was also second in the nation in receptions with 136. He is a smaller option at wide receiver, but the Bulldogs used him well in the slot and gave him plenty of opportunities to succeed with his good athletic ability and quickness.

Taylor is a smart receiver who reads a zone defense well and looks to adjust his route to exploit holes in the defense. He utilizes his quickness by getting to those spots in a hurry before the defense can adjust to him and he shows good awareness of his position on the field, and makes sure to go the extra yard if he is close to the first down. Despite his smaller stature, he does a good job of extending his arms and securing passes with his hands outside of his frame, giving the quarterback a bigger target to throw to. He is a physical football player, as well. He can use his quickness and athletic ability to create YAC, but he is also not afraid to lower his shoulder and grind for extra yards if need be.

Playing from the slot a majority of the time, he had the luxury of getting to play in space plenty and was able to release cleanly off the line of scrimmage. Though he is aggressive and willing to be a physical player, when facing a defensive back playing press coverage with a jam at the line of scrimmage, he struggled to get a clean release, often taking too long to be a factor in the play. His route running was not as precise at times and instead he would have to revert to using strength at the top of his stem, which he struggled use effectively.

Taywan Taylor, Western Kentucky, 6-0 195 lbs

Taywan Taylor is a true senior who played in in 52 career games over 4 seasons for the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Playing as an X, Z, and even slot receiver at times, he set the school mark in 2016 for receptions (98) and receiving yards (1,730) while also tying the record (also set by him in his junior season) for touchdown receptions (17). He has good size for a wide receiver and is a good athlete overall, displaying good quickness and very good ability to change direction.

Taylor’s athleticism is a big strength in his game, as he uses it to create separation to get himself open often. He likes to set up the DB on his slant and post routes by making a quick jab in one direction to get the DB to begin to turn his hips, or at the very least hesitate and lean that way, before quickly cutting in the other direction. His ability to change directions so quickly makes him dangerous when running a double breaking route as he does get the DB to fully commit to his first move before breaking in another direction. He does a good job tracking the ball on deeper routes, as well. Though he benefited being open due to blown coverage, he does a good job of tracking the ball and adjusting to it in the air.

Although he is listed at 195 pounds, Taylor’s play strength and just overall physical toughness is a weakness. He struggled to fight through jams at the line of scrimmage quickly enough to be a real threat in a play. On contested catches, he allowed himself to be boxed out too easily by DBs and would have to try to out jump them to go over them to make the catch, which he did not do successfully very often. After the catch, he could use his speed well to create YAC, but if he wasn’t able to work in space, he was quick to take the ball out of bounds instead of trying to fight through tackles to gain extra yards. Though he is quick and explosive through certain cuts like on his slant route, a majority of the time he lacked that attention to detail and rounded off cuts for other routes. He played against off coverage a lot so he was still open plenty, but in a league where coverage is much tighter, he will need to be more precise with his routes.

Amara Darboh, Michigan, 6-2 215 lbs

Amara Darboh is a redshirt senior who has played in 48 games, starting 28 of them for the Michigan Wolverines. This last season he played in all 12 games, starting 11 and amassed 57 catches, for 862 yards and 7 touchdowns. Born in Sierra Leone, Darboh’s parents were killed in the Sierra Leone Civil War and he moved to Iowa when he was 7 years old.

Darboh has the ideal size for an NFL wide receiver and can be effective as both an outside receiver or in the slot. During his time at Michigan, Darboh ran a lot of slant routes, crossing routes and curl routes and can find holes in zone coverage, particularly when the play breaks down into a scramble drill and the quarterback is forced on the move. He is very strong when it comes to contested catches, not only due to his size but also his great athleticism for someone his size, as well as his sure hands. He also has the ability to track the ball well in the air even when a defensive back is draped all over him, showing good concentration.

While he ran a decent amount of routes throughout his college career, a lot of the time he doesn’t look fluid in his route running, and at times doesn’t sell a route well, particularly curl routes. He played against a lot of off coverage so was able to get open, especially on screen passes, but may struggle a little against the tighter coverage in the NFL and will need to make better use of his body to shield off defenders on those curl routes. He’s also an inconsistent run blocker and was easily knocked off his feet at times.

Zay Jones, East Carolina, 6-1 197 lbs

Zay Jones is a senior who spent 4 years amassing huge numbers for the Pirates, hauling in 399 catches for 4,279 yards and 23 touchdowns in 50 games played. Jones is the son of former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Robert Jones, who won 3 Super Bowls and was NFC rookie of the year in 1992.

Although Jones is listed as 6’1’’ he looks taller on film. His biggest strength is his hands, which he uses extremely well. He has long arms so is able to extend his hands towards the ball and catch cleanly rather than letting it come into his chest. Jones shows good footwork and his route running is solid. The WR can ‘’stop and go’’ very well on vertical routes and ran a diverse route tree at East Carolina including slants, posts, curl and corner routes. He is also versatile having played his first 3 years in the slot and his senior year as an outside receiver. Solid run blocker and wasn’t afraid to get physical and open up running lanes on the outside.

Jones does have a slight frame and could do with bulking up just a little, otherwise he could struggle against tight, physical man coverage in the NFL especially if he’s lined up outside. Although he can find space, he sometimes doesn’t make good use of it with the ball in his hands, and so needs to improve his decision making as to where he takes the ball when he has it in his hands. Was a little inconsistent in following his blockers out in front of him particularly on screen passes.

Amba Etta-Tawo, Syracuse, 6-2 202 lbs

Amba Etta-Tawo was born in Oman but grew up in Georgia. He is a senior who transferred from Maryland to Syracuse for his senior season. Statistically he had a strong season with 94 catches for 1,482 yards and 14 touchdowns in 12 games. He certainly benefited from the Syracuse passing game which has now put him well within reach of the NFL.

Etta-Tawo has very good size and measurables as well as the ability to fight for contested catches. He also breaks tackles extremely well and fights through arms tackles with ease. The WR is effective in open space with the ball in his hands and works the sideline well on deep vertical routes, which he ran a lot of last season. He played against man coverage and won some of these matchups to come up with big plays. Etta-Tawo follows blockers well on screen passes and when he gets free down the sideline or across the middle of the field he showcases very good speed to get away from would-be tacklers.

He didn’t run much of a route tree in his college career and is inconsistent with his hands and at times dropped easy deep balls. The WR needs to improve his route running which at times appeared to be poor. For a guy his size he isn’t as consistent at the contested catch as he should be and this seemed to be down to lack of concentration at times, while having a propensity to wait for the ball to come to him rather than work towards the quarterback on short to intermediate routes. His timing on routes where he has to turn towards the quarterback also needs improving.

Travin Dural, LSU, 6-2 203 lbs

Travin Dural is a senior who spent 4 seasons at LSU but only played in 3 due to a season-ending knee injury in his freshman year. Statistically he doesn’t jump out after compiling 72 catches for 1,436 yards and 12 touchdowns in 3 years, but it’s key to remember he played in a run first offense and opportunities to see a lot of targets were at a minimum. But there is more to his game than you might think.

First, Dural has great speed for someone his size. Has the look of an NFL receiver and in particular his straight line is speed allows him to get down the field and behind defenders quickly. Has good athleticism for his size and he shows good acceleration out of his stance and will use speed and agility to get away from jams at the line of scrimmage to good effect at times. Dural is a good run blocker on the outside, showing good strength and technique.

Although Dural has good hands, he doesn’t show this when thrown to across the middle of the field and can easily lose concentration if he sees a big hit coming. Didn’t run a variety of routes during his college career, running mostly deep routes to make use of his speed. Bigger, more physical DB’s will give him trouble when playing press coverage as he has poor hand usage when jammed at the line of scrimmage. Some scouts may find it hard to get past his lack of production so will need a strong senior bowl showing.

Josh Reynolds Texas A&M, 6-3 193 lbs

Reynolds played in 38 games during his career at Texas A&M. He performed well for the Aggies in 2016 while playing on the outside having career highs in receptions and yards with 62 and 1,039 respectively. Reynolds also caught 12 touchdown passes making him a serious scoring threat for whoever lined up against him.

Reynolds displays good athletic ability using his speed and quickness to eat up cushion given by DBs playing off coverage on him. Against press coverage, Reynolds beats the jam using his hands to swat away defenders at the line of scrimmage to get into his route. It will be interesting to see how he develops this skill as he transitions to the NFL. Like most players entering the NFL he may want to add more weight to develop his strength. Reynolds has good mental processing abilities by settling in voids that zone defenses give him. He does a good job of getting inside positioning on the slant route to create separation between himself and the defensive back. Also has good hands to catch the ball within the strike zone and has a good catch radius to extend beyond his frame to catch some poorly placed passes. Reynolds has the ability to be a deep threat as he displays good ball tracking skills. With his height and competitive toughness, Reynolds should also be a red zone threat as quarterbacks will like throwing the fade to this target. Showing solid play strength with his knack for working back to the ball and extending his arms to pluck the ball on contested catches against corners, Reynolds has solid YAC ability as he can break waist tackles to gain yards after the catch.

Reynolds will have a focus drop here and there due to him wanting to make a play before he secures the ball in his hands. Like most wide receivers coming out of college he’ll need to work on his blocking abilities and deepen his route tree.

Fred Ross, Mississippi State, 6-2 207 lbs

Ross played in 42 games for the Mississippi State Bulldogs amassing 200 career catches and 2,545 yards, mainly during his Junior and Senior seasons. Ross’s catches and yards took a dip in 2016 compared to his 2015 season, but that could be attributed to Mississippi State losing Dak Prescott to the NFL. Although, sophomore Nick Fitzgerald did find Ross in the end zone for a career high of 12 touchdowns in 2016.

Ross is a reliable receiver who is used on the outside and in the slot. The WR eats the press by being physical using his hands to push cornerbacks off him to get into his route. Has good mental processing as he can diagnose a defense and sit in voids of the zone. Ross creates separation with his quickness at the top of his route as well as using the cornerbacks cushion against him. He does a good job of getting inside positioning on defenders and displays good hands with the ability to go over the middle and make tough catches with multiple defenders surrounding him try to free the ball loose. Ross has a good catch radius and can adjust to the passes thrown outside his frame while being quarterback friendly by working back to the football. He has very good competitive toughness displayed by his ability to hustle down field to throw the additional block on a run play. Once the ball is in his hands Ross will use his elusiveness to gain YAC, but can also break low tackles.

Something Ross could work on would be that he did run an array of routes while at Mississippi State. While he’s a willing blocker it’s something that has to be refined while transitioning to the NFL. I believe Ross could be a good number two receiver in the NFL if a coaching staff is able to develop and help refine his overall game.

Jamari Staples, Louisville, 6-3 195 lbs

Staples played two seasons at Alabama Birmingham before transferring to Louisville in 2015. He didn’t put up much production in his four year career catching only 113 passes for 1901 yards and 10 touchdowns in 38 games. He played both on the outside and in the slot for Louisville.

Staples has the ability to extend beyond his frame to reel in errant passes due to his long arms. He also displayed toughness while at Louisville by holding onto the ball while being hit from behind from defenders. Louisville used Staples as a blocker in the screen game where he was to create a path for his blocker to run.

Without much production and film on Staples publicly it is difficult to come up with a true evaluation of his game. I’m hoping scouts are able to get a clearer picture of the receiver down in Mobile, Alabama this up and coming week.

Cooper Kupp, Eastern Washington, 6-2 215 lbs

Kupp has played in 52 career games for the Eastern Washington Eagles. The Senior has NFL bloodlines with his father, Craig Kupp, and grandfather, Jake Kupp, both playing in the NFL. Kupp certainly impressed with his production despite coming from a FCS school as the Eastern Washington product holds the Division 1 record in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He put up more impressive statistics in 2016 with 117 receptions, 1,700 yards, and 17 touchdowns in 13 games.

Kupp is a big slot receiver who has good athletic ability. He made a lot of catches where he had to adjust to a ball thrown behind him. Kupp has good mental processing ability as a lot of his catches come on settling in voids of the zone. He has good hands and is a reliable receiver who will come down with contested catches at the point of attack. The WR has very good competitive toughness as he’s not afraid to make a catch over the middle. He also suffered a left shoulder injury during the FCS playoffs, but played through it anyway. Kupp has good speed and quickness to outrun defensive backs to get YAC. Kupp also has good play strength and plays with a physicalness to his game, displaying the ability to break tackles for yards after the catch.

There are a few questions with Kupp, however. He did not face press coverage much as he mainly lined up in the slot. Also, many will question whether Kupp can play at the NFL level because he comes from a small school. I think the Senior Bowl will help answer a lot of questions surrounding Kupp’s ability to play against higher levels of competition.

Artavis Scott, Clemson, 5-10 190 lbs

Scott is a Junior, but is Senior Bowl eligible because he graduated early. He’s played in 42 games and has made an impact in every season he’s played thus far. He’s caught at least 76 passes in each of his first three seasons and accumulated 2,480 receiving yards and 19 touchdowns.

Clemson used Scott in a plethora of ways. He returned punts and kicks for the team at various points in his career and was also used as an outside and a slot receiver. Although, I think at his size he’s best used as a slot receiver going forward. He is good at working the underneath areas of the field using his good quickness and settling in voids of the zone. Clemson used him in the screen game as he has the ability to read his blockers allowing him to burst through the right path. A high effort player who is a willing blocker in the run game, Scott is also an unselfish player as he’s been able to learn the subtle art of (link to Ted’s Pick Play piece) being the man who sets the “pick” on pick / rub plays. Clemson has also motioned Scott into the backfield as a running back on outside plays made for him to get to the edge.

Scott’s size limits his ability to go against larger cornerbacks on the outside as he doesn’t possess the play strength to win 1 on 1 battles for contested catches.

Senior Bowl: Mike Mayock’s Day 1 practice stars

Mike Mayock

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000778827/article/senior-bowl-mike-mayocks-day-1-practice-stars

MOBILE, Ala. — Senior Bowl week is always my favorite week of the year. I love watching the nation’s top seniors compete in live practices. Tuesday was the start of three straight practice days, and there were plenty of players who made quick impressions. Here are five that stood out to me on Day 1:

Cooper Kupp, WR, Eastern Washington
I like this kid. He had 22 catches, including six touchdowns, against two Pac-12 teams in his college career at EWU. He can play at any level; don’t let the small school fool you. What I saw on tape is what I saw Tuesday. He’s fast. He won deep, he won shallow, he beat press coverage. He can win at all three levels. And he gets it. I think he’s going to play and play well very early in his NFL career.

Forrest Lamp, LT, Western Kentucky
The best single tape in the last five years that I’ve seen against Alabama’s defensive front was Lamp’s. When they measured him here in the morning, his arm length was just over 30 inches. That’s short, and a reason why there’s so much talk about moving him inside to guard, perhaps even center. He reminds me of Zack Martin or Joel Bitonio — guys who were dominating left tackles in college but got kicked inside in the NFL, and still remained really good players. He had a very solid day.

Dan Feeney, OL, Indiana
Feeney and Lamp will both be in the conversation of who’s going to be the No. 1 interior offensive linemen in this draft. I’m going to have fun watching them compete all week. They certainly competed in their first practice here. Going into the season, many had Feeney as the No. 1 interior offensive lineman, but when he got back from an early season concussion, he was moved to tackle and played out of position, so there’s mixed opinions on him among scouts. But he had a solid start to this week, especially when he shot his hands inside.

Tanoh Kpassagnon, DE, Villanova
He’s really fascinating to me. There was a buzz around him in the scouting community before this week and I think it will pick up even more steam coming out. He was impressive in the morning weigh-in with a ready-made NFL body. And he competed at a high level when he hit the field. When you come from a small school like Villanova you have something to prove, and he did on Day 1, with his effort and toughness. He’s raw but had a lot of upside.

Montravius Adams, DT, Auburn
When he keeps his pad level down he can be a monster inside. You don’t see many people with that size with those type of movement skills. He’s got superior short-area quickness and comes off the ball both in the run and the pass game. In the one-on-one drills nobody could block him on Day 1. He was dominant.