This was not a classic Senior Bowl

In previous years we’ve seen the week in Mobile become a king maker at quarterback, shine a light on future first round defensive backs, entertain with high quality OL vs DL 1v1’s and provide a platform for budding star receivers to show what they can do at the next level.

I’m not sure we saw any of that this week.

Garrett Nussmeier showed he was by far the most natural quarterback and he will have given his stock a little boost after a challenging 2025 season. He threw with anticipation and timing, made some excellent completions during scrimmage drills and looked the part during the game. There’s always been a player here.

Yet he’s also 6-1 and 202lbs with 8 6/8 inch hands. That’s not the typical profile of a NFL quarterback. I’m not convinced he will be driving his stock back towards the opening frame and might still be a player with mid-round upside at best.

Several big name cornerbacks underwhelmed, such as Chris Johnson and Malik Muhammad. Julian Neal and Daylen Everette didn’t do enough to really propel their stock. Davison Igbinosun was easily beaten on numerous 1v1 reps but ended up getting a good press seemingly because Zebra had him as the fastest player in Mobile.

Notre Dame receiver Malachi Fields was all but anointed a first round pick by the NFL Network. Yet look at his routes. They were laboured and lacked any kind of suddenness. Speed has been a concern for Fields and while he made the catch of the week on a downfield bomb and clearly has good hands, body control and tracking — how is he separating at the next level? He looks like he runs in the late 4.5’s. It felt like none of this was considered amid wall-to-wall positivity.

In the trenches, Caleb Banks put on a fantastic showing but was pretty much hoisted by his own petard. He was so freakish and dominant on certain reps that when he wasn’t just demolishing the man in front of him, people started to nitpick. There simply aren’t many humans with Banks’ incredible size, length and athleticism. He is an outstanding talent.

Other players, such as Bryson Eason at Tennessee and Rayshaun Benny at Michigan, made an impression to warrant further study in the coming days. There was also far too much pre-determined hype. Texas Tech’s Lee Hunter was given top billing by many in draft media for his week in Mobile. I thought he had too many moments where he was too upright and handled. He was more inconsistent than Banks. The idea that he had a fantastic week didn’t chime with the pictures on TV. He has great quickness for his size, brilliant length and there’s a lot of potential here. We don’t have to exaggerate how he performed in Mobile, though.

The EDGE rushers showed a distinct lack of quickness. How many used speed moves to win on the outside during 1v1’s? I can’t think of many. The group focussed on power and driving through contact. There’s nothing wrong with that but it’s harder to project to the next level where the tackles are bigger and stronger. Players like TJ Parker, Derrick Moore and Gabe Jacas felt like they were getting a bit too much praise for what they showed.

On the offensive line, I don’t think anyone really made a statement. The media are focusing on Max Iheanachor and he did well — but he has to get stronger. James Brockermeyer was probably the most pleasant positive surprise. Sam Hecht played very well. Twitter seems to be bending over backwards to criticise Gennings Dunker, claiming he lacks speed and quickness. It feels like the definition of trying too hard to create talking points.

Player notes for prospects who stood out

Caleb Banks (DT, Florida)

If you asked me who clearly had the most star potential in Mobile it was Florida’s Banks. At 6-6 and 335lbs, with 35-inch arms and nearly 11-inch hands, he shouldn’t be able to move this quickly:

The idea that Banks had a mixed week because he didn’t win every rep, had inconsistent pad level sometimes and had a few reps where he didn’t dominate is indicative of the nonsense draft media and people online spout these days.

If Banks was a complete player with his physical profile he’d be the first or second overall pick. The reality is this is a player with absolutely enormous upside — and it’ll be up to his future coaches to work on his technique and deliver on his potential.

Medical checks will be important and so will interviews. I don’t know anything about his personality or work habits. But if there was one player in Mobile who you thought — this guy could be special — it’s Florida’s Banks.

James Brockermeyer (C, Miami)

I thought Brockermeyer was the most consistently impressive offensive lineman in Mobile. It’s his recovery ability that stood out to me. If opponents managed to gain position early attacking his outside shoulder, he quickly regained position to wall off the route to the quarterback.

As you can see below, he took on some of the big beasts on the American team. Arkansas’ Cameron Ball kept trying to club everyone into next week. It worked sometimes — but not against Brockermeyer. Alabama’s Tim Keenan has a 35lbs weight advantage against the center. Brockermeyer held his own. He battled with the length of Chris McClellan and won:

I’ve had a look at some of his tape and you can see why his pass-pro grades are higher than his run-blocking. Even so, there’s something to work with here. In every 1v1 and scrimmage session that I watched, Brockermeyer caught the eye. I’m intrigued to see his testing results.

Kyle Louis (LB, Pittsburgh)

A blog favourite well before the Senior Bowl, it wasn’t a surprise to see Louis’ excellent performance in Mobile. It was surprising to see so many people writing him off during the college season as a safety convert in waiting. Louis can play linebacker — it’s to his credit that he has a versatile enough skill-set to potentially line up in multiple positions.

What you see on tape flashed here. He’s an explosive blitzer flying to the QB when given a runway. Despite his lack of size, he has shown he can play at the line, absorb contact and still make plays. He competes like crazy. He works through traffic with great agility, dodges blocks and shows stop-start qualities. His transitions are loose for a linebacker, he has impressive coverage skills and his speed running to the sideline is superb. He’s an electric player who was a team captain and has a reputation for being a ‘first in, last out’ type of player.

That video says it all. Look at the different areas he succeeds — flowing through traffic to find gaps to attack the ball-carrier, sticky coverage, good hands, high-level instincts, getting away from blocks to make plays.

He was also the 10th fastest player at the Senior Bowl (20.31mph).

Now, despite this glowing write-up and the clear evidence of a great week in Mobile, the perspective has to be that he isn’t necessarily going to play a high-impact role at the next level. At least in some schemes. There also aren’t many top, top linebackers in the NFL these days. This will couch his value and I wouldn’t overreact in projecting where he might go.

Nevertheless, the team that eventually selects Louis is unlikely to be disappointed.

Rayshaun Benny (DT, Michigan)

I hadn’t really studied Benny going into Mobile but in every session I watched he caught the eye. He was extremely active at the line, combining a strong get-off with a smooth arm/over and swim to avoid contact. He was swiping the hands of linemen away to stay clean and he has enough quickness to exploit openings.

He’s ideally sized to be a quicker, penetrating defensive tackle. He’s 297lbs at 6-3 with 33.5 inch arms.

Benny demanded more attention in Mobile and he’ll no doubt be getting it in the coming days as media and scouts likely double-back on the Michigan tape for another look. He was extremely impressive and certainly looked like he can play in the NFL.

Mike Washington Jr (RB, Arkansas)

Another player we talked up a lot during the season, Washington has a very clear path to success in the NFL. Running backs need a degree of quickness these days. We are even seeing an increasing number of smaller, faster backs excelling and registering among the league’s best playmakers.

Washington is not a small back — he’s 6-0 and 228lbs. He also has, remarkably, 34 1/8 inch arms. Yet he has such a gliding quality when he accelerates. He was the second fastest player at the Senior Bowl (21.02mph) and it shows.

Combine that speed with the way he finishes runs and the fact he had a series of games in 2025 where he collected yards after contact and he has an opportunity to develop into a complete modern-day running back.

I’ve seen people talking about Washington as a really good day-three pick. I don’t see any way he gets out of day two. And he might go earlier than people think.

Thaddeus Dixon (CB, North Carolina)

I’m really surprised by how little coverage there’s been of Dixon’s Senior Bowl. To me he was the clear winner during WR/CB 1v1 reps and clearly improved from practise to practise. Perhaps it’s the well deserved off-the-field concerns for the former Husky — reportedly he had eight driving citations in 2025 alone. It’ll be a real shame if being a bonehead stops him making the most of his talent.

Dixon is ideally sized (6-0, 194lbs) with a shade under 32-inch arms. In practise he mirrored receivers with ease, staying glued to their hip-pocket. He’d consistently keep his eyes on the quarterback in motion, meaning he was typically in a position to play the ball. In the red zone in tight spots he’d use his length to break up passes. He had multiple interceptions during the week. He was physical and disrupted routes, then had the ball-skills to make a play.

The character issues will likely put teams off and that’ll damage his stock. It’s a shame because there’s a player here. The Seahawks might have some decent intel on the person due to his two years at Washington. I’m asking around to find out what I can.

Bud Clark (S, TCU)

A lot of attention is going to go Clark’s way for his turnover production (15 interceptions during a six-year spell at TCU). We saw reasons for that in Mobile. He made the interception of the week, improbably bringing in this pass. However, park the picks for a minute.

There are few things more enjoyable in the sport of football than highly competitive, sparky, aggressive defensive backs. Players who play beyond their size, compete, and provide a heart for the roster. That’s Clark. You can see the way he reacted to every play in coverage all week. Look at the video below and see how tight he is in coverage, scrapping to break up passes:

This isn’t just a player content to sit in space and fly to the ball, collecting lofted passes (as he did with Sawyer Robertson’s interception early in the clip above). He is someone who will compete. He’s a captain. He’s the kind of player whose stock may be capped by size and testing but often finds a way to impact a team at the next level.

Jacob Rodriguez (LB, Texas Tech)

I was really surprised by Rodriguez in Mobile. I’m sure many will argue I shouldn’t have been because he has impactful tape. I just didn’t realise he was the athlete he hinted at here.

Plenty wasn’t unexpected. He consistently put his head down in scrimmage to level tight ends and pulling guards, flashing the kind of take-on willingness and power you need in the NFL. His subtle side-steps don’t flash Fred Warner stalking range but he’s good enough to move around the line and flow to the ball.

Then during coverage opportunities he was dropping with a smoothness I didn’t expect to see. He basically shut-down running backs during 1v1 routes and gave the impression he might have far more starting upside than I initially thought.

There were a couple of other moments on tape where he dropped with more suddenness than Kyle Louis. Let’s not get too carried away — there are some reps where his somewhat modest speed is evident. He is not particularly fast — but there’s a sharpness to his play. Overall this was a highly impressive week for the Texas Tech linebacker. His combine testing will be interesting.

Sam Hecht (C, Kansas State)

Another really impressive center performance. Hecht consistently did a good job keeping his opponents square-on. If James Brockermeyer’s best trait was recovery, Hecht took away the need to recover by shooting his hands inside quickly and controlling his reps.

Once engaged and in position he showed off a strong, straight back and combined it with tip-tapping feet to stay in front. Opponents found it very difficult to get away from Hecht and everything felt controlled.

I’ll definitely be watching more tape this week. He has a decent zone-blocking grade (79.8). There’s a potential future NFL starter here for a zone system.

Other players who created a positive impression based on what I saw

Josh Cuevas (TE, Alabama)
Will Kacmarek (TE, Ohio State)
Quintayvious Hutchins (Boston College)
Gennings Dunker (T/G, Iowa)
Gracen Halton (DT, Oklahoma)
Bryson Eason (DT, Tennessee)
Reggie Virgil (WR, Texas Tech
Zion Young (DE, Missouri)

Players who received a bit too much hype

Sam Roush (TE, Stanford)
Malachi Fields (WR, Notre Dame)
T.J. Parker (DE, Clemson)
Lee Hunter (DT, Texas Tech)
Derrick Moore (DE, Michigan)