Senior Bowl Notes

The Detroit Lions are set up for one of the most interesting drafts in a long time, with a brand new regime coming in, and longtime starter Matthew Stafford shipped off to Los Angeles. With that in mind, I decided it may be interesting for both myself as well as all of you who read this blog for me to pay extra attention to the Senior Bowl this year. As I watched some of the practices in addition to the game, I recorded a bunch of thoughts and notes which I have posted here for y'all to read. First, there are Player Profiles, which I just put together as I went. They highlighted players I was either really impressed by or were otherwise noteworthy. Then there are specific Game Moments that I felt were significant in some way. Some players involved in the Game Moments are not in the Player Profiles, so I put their respective positions and colleges for reference like I did for the Player Profiles. Fair warning: there is not a ton of organization, as I did not edit this at all after I finished watching the game, but I thought it would be cool to show a more raw approach for the notes as opposed to my usual posts that are extremely organized. Enjoy!

Player Profiles

Richie Grant – DB, UCF: Showed a lot of potential of becoming a stud. Plays both safety spots and corner extremely well. Was not thrown at very often during the game.

Baron Browning – LB, Ohio State: Blew up Ben Mason earlier in the week in practice, very aggressive player. Was quiet in the game, though.

D’Wayne Eskridge – WR, Western Michigan: Always cool to see a directional Michigan school player show out. All week at practice showed great route-running ability and nice hands as well. Did not do anything in the game, though.

Kellen Mond – QB, Texas A&M: Made some very nice throws but struggled a bit at times. Adept runner, although not particularly special running the ball. Potential Day 2 option at QB.

Grant Stuard – LB, Houston: Remember watching him in college, I like him a lot, real playmaker. Also has amazing hair.

Sam Ehlinger – QB, Texas: Day 2-3 QB. Tim Tebow-esque delivery and play style. Fierce competitor. Consistency will be key for him. Mediocre performance in the game.

Dez Fitzpatrick – WR, Louisville: Good route runner, quick out of his cuts. Had a brutal drop early on and another one on his last target of the game but showed very good hands outside of that.

Michael Carter – RB, North Carolina: Explosive, very slippery runner, one of two talented RBs at UNC.

Demetric Felton – WR, UCLA: Converted from WR to RB in college, now trying to convert back to WR for the NFL. Good burst.

Elerson Smith – EDGE, Northern Iowa: A whopping 6’6.5” and ~260 pounds but moves very well for his size. Intriguing prospect.

Feleipe Franks – QB, Arkansas: Never really impressed me in college, but has a good combination of size (6’6”) and athleticism. I would say worth a Day 3 flier.

Jamie Newman – QB, Wake Forest: A real step down from Mond and Ehlinger. Good athleticism but had quite a few bad throws throughout the game.

Deonte Brown – OL, Alabama: A behemoth of a man. Nicknamed “Cornbread”

Patrick Jones II – EDGE, Pittsburgh: Good pass rusher, quiet practice week and game, although he had one big sack on third down.

Ian Book – QB, Notre Dame: Makes more plays with his legs than with his arm, but I do not know if that will work in the NFL.

Shi Smith – WR, South Carolina: Quick feet, effective after the catch.

Amari Rodgers – WR, Clemson: Well-known from his time in college, he had a number of nice catches, including holding on through a huge hit for a touchdown.

Quincy Proche – EDGE, Miami: Has been a source of consistent pressure throughout the game.

Keith Taylor Jr. – CB, Washington: Showed incredible coverage ability throughout the entire game. So much so that I was unable to really see much of him in terms of making tackles.

Quinn Meinerz – OL, Wisconsin-Whitewater: Division III player, has good size and is crazy strong (and also can dunk a basketball), rooting for him to get a shot in the NFL.

Game Moments

Kellen Mond missed back-to-back throws on third and fourth down. Overthrew a running back in the flat and then tried to fit one to a receiver but missed to the left.

Nice 27-yard run by Michael Carter, slipped a few tackles and showed burst to the outside.

First touchdown of the game: Sam Ehlinger to Demetric Felton.

Weak roughing the passer penalty on a good hit by Elerson Smith.

Kellen Mond took a deep shot to Josh Palmer out of Tennessee, broken up by Michigan transfer Benjamin St. Juste.

Elerson Smith had an impressive first quarter, made plays both rushing the passer and stopping the run. Ended up in a one-on-one situation against Amari Rodgers on a reverse and made the tackle.

Darren Hall – DB, San Diego State: Jumped a route beautifully, but the ball bounced off his hands.

Misthrow by Sam Ehlinger missed a running back out in the flat.

Feleipe Franks missed an easy throw on third down, threw it too low.

Jamie Newman had a bad snap on fourth down that hit the turf, made a heady play to pick it up and dive for the first down. Came up just short.

Ben Mason – FB, Michigan: Destroyed a linebacker on his first play of the game. Very interested to see if any NFL teams find a use for him.

Entertaining duel between Frank Darby – WR, Arizona State and Bryan Mills – CB, North Carolina Central. Both guys making plays over the other.

Janarius Robinson – EDGE, Florida State: Had a huge sack on third down in the red zone to force a field goal. Sacks have been a rarity so far. (2nd quarter)

Feleipe Franks skipped a pass to a running back.

Weak double move by Josh Palmer. Keith Taylor – CB, Washington stayed with him beautifully. Palmer got revenge on a comeback route on the next play.

Kellen Mond made a beautiful throw to the back of the end zone, Noah Gray – TE, Duke was unable to bring it in.

Next play, Mond throws a dart to Amari Rodgers for his team’s first touchdown of the game. Mond then ran it in for the two-point conversion.

Janarius Robinson once again gets home on third down, alongside Cameron Sample – DL, Tulane to force another punt.

Kellen Mond with a bullet to Shi Smith deep over the middle. Called incomplete initially but the refs rightfully overturned it.

Next play, Keith Taylor Jr. had a nice pass breakup in the end zone, despite the offensive pass interference called on Cornell Powell – WR, Clemson.

Kellen Mond with another nice throw to Josh Palmer on the slant for a touchdown. Keith Taylor Jr. was in coverage. Followed it up with another nice ball to Amari Rodgers on the two-point conversion.

Dez Fitzpatrick put a nice move on Ifeatu Melifonwu – CB, Syracuse, who has had a solid game in his own right.

Jordan Smith – LB, UAB: Jumped so far offsides on a play he was about to hit the QB when the ball was snapped.

Brutal drop by Frank Darby on a slant. Turned to run before the ball was secured.

Big third down conversion, Ian Book to Demetric Felton, Felton appeared to get his ankle twisted on the play.

Nice pass breakup by Riley Cole – LB, South Alabama, lit up the receiver over the middle. Hometown hero, as the game is being played in South Alabama's field in Mobile, Alabama.

Michael Carter with a Beast Mode type of run, pushing the pile about 5 yards for a touchdown. Did not know he had that kind of power in him.

Beautiful pass breakup by Tre Norwood – DB, Oklahoma on what would have been a big completion. Knocked the ball out perfectly.

A couple miscommunications between Kellen Mond and his receivers on the same drive. Hard to tell who is in the wrong.

Jamie Newman threw one up for grabs to Marquez Stevenson – WR, Houston down the sideline. Keith Taylor Jr. made a beautiful play on the ball to break it up, ball got tipped up in the air and Damar Hamlin – DB, Pittsburgh came up with the interception.

Dez Fitzpatrick mossed Bryan Mills on a well-placed throw by Feleipe Franks. If Mills had turned to find it though, it could have been intercepted.

Next play, Kenny Yeboah – TE, Ole Miss had a nice catch that was ruled a touchdown, but definitely was not, but there is no replay so the call stood.

Jamie Newman took sacks on back-to-back plays. First one he held on for too long, second one he pretty much stepped up into the pocket right into the defender.

Feleipe Franks missed a wide open Dez Fitzpatrick down the sideline. Terrible miss on third down.

Grant Stuard nearly blocked a punt, then Marquez Stevenson had a nice return. The only real significant special teams plays this entire game.

Christian Uphoff – DB, Illinois State shot the gap perfectly to make the big stop on fourth down.

Dez Fitzpatrick has a fourth-down pass from Feleipe Franks go right through his hands. Surprising, since he has played so well today.

Jamie Newman continues to struggle, completely missing Amari Rodgers over the middle.

Next play, Quintin Morris – TE, Bowling Green: Catch over the middle, then hurdles a defender to get into the red zone.

Next play, Jamie Newman finds Trevon Grimes – WR, Florida in the end zone for a touchdown. Keith Taylor Jr. had good positioning in coverage, just did not quite react in time.

National Team, coached by the Miami Dolphins staff, defeats the American Team, coached by the Carolina Panthers staff, 27-24.

Most Impressive Players

Richie Grant – DB, UCF

D'Wayne Eskridge – WR, Western Michigan

Dez Fitzpatrick – WR, Louisville

Elerson Smith – EDGE, Northern Iowa

Keith Taylor Jr. – CB, Washington

Michael Carter – RB, North Carolina