Firstly, kudos to the NFL Network. For the last couple of years they’ve reduced their Senior Bowl coverage to basically an hour long highlights show. This year, there was four hours of live coverage and I was able to make some notes. It should be pointed out though, I need to wait for full 1v1 reps to emerge on YouTube to get a full picture. So these are just my initial observations.
I’ll start with the players I thought stood out the most, beginning with Georgia receiver Ladd McConkey. He looked so quick getting into his routes and then had the speed to separate on the break. He showed good hands, especially when diving flat out to make one catch. He made Kam Kinchens look silly on one 1v1 (Kinchens is very overrated though). Sometimes at Georgia it was hard to get an angle on McConkey’s ceiling but on this showing, he has everything required to be a dynamic receiver who can consistently get open and comfortably find a home in the top-50. Michigan receiver Roman Wilson also looked smooth, fast and was difficult to cover.
Baylor defensive lineman Gabe Hall is a frustrating player to talk about. He has everything you want physically and today at the Senior Bowl he just looked on a different level at times. His arm-over move was deadly. He varied his attacks, showing a push-pull and a nice sidestep too. He then took his fine play into the scrimmages, winning the first rep with a great move on a run stop. He’s always been an outstanding athlete but he isn’t consistent and doesn’t play with enough fire. The upside is huge and this was a great start for him but let’s see it every day this week.
Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson looked in control, showed great footwork and handled all of his 1v1’s brilliantly. He bossed Tyler Davis on one rep, engaging and absorbing the pressure, winning the power battle and then dumping Davis to the turf. JPJ, on this evidence, looks like a clear top-50 talent. It was a fairly faultless day for him. I also really liked LSU center Charles Turner’s performance. He kept trying to push in to get more reps. This guy loves the game, he’s athletic, he’s nasty. He’s a great talent. He kept jumping in at guard or center and stole a couple of extra reps. I’ve had him in round two for months.
Toledo cornerback Quinyon Mitchell looked really sharp during scrimmages. He was consistently breaking on the ball, getting a hand in to break-up passes. He’s just quicker and more instinctive than your average DB and he played with a confident swagger to match the athleticism. He looked like a first round pick today. Another cornerback, Notre Dame’s Cam Hart, had sensational coverage on a route vs Tez Walker. He held position all the way on the rep, turned his head around at the right time and got an interception. Hart looked smooth, well-sized and athletic.
Regulars will know I’m a big fan of Texas A&M defensive tackle McKinley Jackson. He was too powerful for Christian Haynes, shoving him into the backfield on two 1v1 reps. Then he just drove the center deep into the pocket on his next rep. As I’ve said for a while, he’s an absolute beast. He gets his hands inside, attacks the blocks and drives interior linemen backwards. A top player who consistently manhandled opponents today.
Texas tackle Christian Jones had a bit of a slow start but then exploded into life. He’s big and athletic but his legs looks very lean. He struggled moving inside to guard, showing stiff footwork and he was too upright. He moved back to tackle after and looked a lot more comfortable, with four consecutive reps where he showed excellent footwork, agility and hand-placement — dominating his opponents. He really showed off his potential today at right tackle.
Other players who shone at various times included Missouri tackle Javon Foster showed show very impressive hand-usage, locking into blocks and finishing. He lost a rep to Alabama’s Justin Eboigbe though who was one of the winners of day one himself. It’s a shame Eboigbe doesn’t have ideal length because he has everything else in his frame to play a role quickly. He was athletic, had a good arm-over move and is well sized.
Oregon State tackle Taliese Fuaga looked tremendous — starting his day with an easy win against Laiatu Latu. He took away the inside-counter and just shut the rush down. He’s so powerful, so big. On a later rep he initiated initial contact and just dominated and controlled his opponent. Any time you get try to get into his body he’s just too strong and he’s agile enough to redirect and keep his feet churning. He screams top-15 pick. Washington right tackle Roger Rosengarten also enjoyed a productive first day in 1v1’s and scrimmage.
Now onto the players I thought struggled a bit. Arizona O-liner Jordan Morgan needs to shoot his hands inside better because his hand-placement was a bit wild. LaDarius Henderson the Michigan LT had a difficult first day. I think he’s more of a guard but his effort and intensity looked off. Wisconsin lineman Tanor Bortolini really struggled and Houston left tackle Patrick Paul was pushed backwards by undersized Alabama EDGE Chris Braswell, which wasn’t a good look in 1v1’s.
TCU’s Brandon Coleman didn’t look that comfortable kicking inside to guard which is a surprise. He struggled vs power and movement. He had a rep against Darius Robinson at left tackle where he looked far more comfortable and won by locking on early and finishing. He also lost a rep badly to Jordan Jefferson of LSU (who had a good day, I need to watch more of him), being drive backwards into the QB.
T’Vondre Sweat was too big at Texas and he still is.
Tight end Ben Sinnott had a couple of frustrating drops. He has better hands than he showed today.
Those were my notes — I’ll have plenty more as the week goes along.
It’s just been announced Bobby Slowik has signed a new contract with the Texans
So he’s not an option for Washington
My guy Tali! Fuaga is good dude. Part of me wants to take him as Abe Lucas insurance and move him to guard if Abe is good. Awesome coverage Rob
Or maybe Abe moves inside to G if he’s healthy.
Somebody be moving.for sure
Great stuff Rob!
I don’t really get the Sweat love in hawks land. Yes he flashes but I don’t think he was his teams best tackle.
Bummed on Sinnot. Not going to worry.
I think people just see a big defensive tackle and imagine that’s the answer to a lot of run-game problems
But he’s too big. He’s more of an athlete than a traditional clogger. He’d be better off shifting weight and being more agile/dynamic. The fact that he refused to weigh-in this week is problematic. What’s he hiding?
Exactly.
Just saw his snap counts and it’s 193 on run plays. 309 pass. And he’s not really an all the time force on those.
So a big boy who is not a run defender….not ideal.
I’d be happy with Murphy as an R2 – but we had those glorious games with Leonard to look fondly upon.
Imagine Williams and Murphy….could have been nice
I love him in R3. Not before. He can be a monster, inconsistently.
But last cycle taught me, many Hawks fans would drsft the cast of ‘my-500-lbs-life’ and call it a day.
Literally brock could take a name from Key and peele and by draft time that’s the only name folks would want.
Husky fans who drank the media hype in the CFP
Coach thought…..
Perhaps ( probably) Ben Johnson has a doofus for an agent.
But I read plenty if speculation on this here board about poor old Slowik not impressing and then *tada* cha produces a tweet about that not being true.
So maybe two things can be true. Maybe team and coach are not fits. And maybe…..we are entering a new world where every coordinator with something good going doesn’t just jump to any old team with differing degrees of uncertainty.
We all rate Seattle so I’m not going to discuss the issues here.
Take WAS. New GM…who knows. New owner….who knows. Fairly funky executive team with a few non-football guys….who knows.
A lot is made about why no one would ever turn down a HC job. Take Texans. They feel more like us in 2012 than we have since 2012. A Stroud in the hand is worth more than two drake Mayes and Daniels in the bush and all that.
Did someone say they need YouTube videos?
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvliqwz_dF7beS1VJ8UjqsQ
Awesome! I’ll check these out
Where do you want me to send your hat?
Have you seriously got one??
Yes, you didn’t see my tweet.
https://x.com/AlbertB55481266/status/1752455012351869392?s=20
This makes me smile!
Sent you an email — I really appreciate this!
That’s pretty boss of you Palatypus.
Nice gesture mate.
Nice ball cap man. 🤙
Very cool thing to do.
Nice one Palatypus. Really nice 👌
Part two is finally up. It’s 36 minutes.
Ha! So you now have both a cap expert (cha) & a hat expert (Palatypus). Your empire is growing Rob!
Good work Palatypus!
😂
If Taliese Fuaga lasts to #16 might be very hard to look elsewhere.
I think he had plenty of smoke to go top 15 before the Senior Bowl. Still rising..
It’s OL/DL in rd 1 for me. I’m passing on Penix/Nix/Rattler and hoping they fall to 3rd round where one can be groomed behind Geno for a year.
If Fuaga falls to 16 I think you just send the card in. He is “a Seahawk”. If not, then I would pivot to DL. I particularly like Byron Murphy and Johnnie Newton, but would also be happy with Latu or Verse on the EDGE.
If none of them are there or they are set on drafting an interior OL, i’d rather trade down and select Barton or Fautanu in the 20’s
Has anyone else gotten to the point where they just don’t care anymore who the Hawks get as a HC?
I personally am about over this. I just want it done so we can move on.
That’s where I am. Get it done so we can move on.
I’ve had enough of it now
Just want to know who it is
Make a decision
Agreed. Surprised neither team has yet.
Yep. Count me in for being over it and ready to move on.
Yes. 100%. I won’t pretend it wasn’t time to move on from Pete Carroll, but another transition year where it was clear he was stepping away feels like a notch above what’s happening now. Console myself that at worst it can be Mora type year, or at best they get forced to pick somebody that ends up being a unicorn.
Is anyone else getting… “trade back twice and end up with LJ Collier” vibes, in regards to this HC search?
A little bit
The only hire I liked has been Callahan, so not really.
Yes for me.
I think it’s odd that “we” act like there’s limited pool to draw from and we hope we get the chance.
By my math there is I don’t know….maybe 15 OC, 15 DC, and who knows let’s say another 15 positional coaches with moxy, associate head coach duties, whatever. That would all love a shot to jump up.
Feels like a wonky way to find your coach. Guy you know, check, two top coordinators late with not much Intel on them, check, some others, check.
Maybe I just thought John would bring with his famous stack of notes and his years, months, weeks of ruminating.
Well, even JS himself implied that he had been preparing for this opportunity for a long time.
Obviously, he can’t control who is available at any given time… but it kinda feels like this “opportunity” is slipping through his fingers.
I’m not even saying it’s his fault… just that things might not be unfolding as he anticipated.
That’s it for me. All these smart posts here about multitude connections and what not.
I’m prepared to be amazed but steeling myself that it’s gonna be John’s friend from back when.
Thank you for the Senior bowl updates while we’re waiting on the coach selection. Tried PFN’s draft sim. for the 1st time and used some of your info and elsewhere about the Senior and Shrine bowl practices.
Late picks Leveston of KSU is playing well inside at guard at the Shrine Bowl, and edge Kamara is getting to the QB and disrupting the OL. He was DPOY in his conference at CSU and had 13 sacks this year. Definitely most if not all of these are way late according to common sense, but were still there in this simulator.
30.
SEA
Tyler Guyton
OT Oklahoma
trade icon
62.
SEA
Bralen Trice
EDGE Washington
trade icon
76.
SEA
Payton Wilson
LB NC State
78.
SEA
Spencer Rattler
QB South Carolina
100.
SEA
Roman Wilson
WR Michigan
trade icon
118.
SEA
Brevyn Spann-Ford
TE Minnesota
137.
SEA
Tyler Davis
DT Clemson
trade icon
166.
SEA
Charles Turner
OC LSU
trade icon
200.
SEA
KT Leveston
OT Kansas State
trade icon
204.
SEA
Mohamed Kamara
EDGE Colorado State
Tyler Guyton is not lasting that long. Up close, he looks lean and nimble like Charles Cross from the waist down and yolked like Abe Lucas from the waist up.
Up on the jumbo tron they were tracking the fastest players today. I took a video of the results.
QB
Sam Hartman Notre Dame 18.9 mph
Michael Penix Jr. 16.03 mph
Bo Nix 13.5 mph
TE
Theo Johnson Penn State 17.85 mph
Brevvyn Spann-Ford Minnesota 16.31 mph (also looked really big)
A.J. Barner Michigan 16.17 mph (and looked good blocking)
Offensive Leaders
Devontez Walker wr North Carolina 21.18 mph
Dylan Laube RB New Hampshire 20.44 mph
Luke McCaffrey WR Rice 20.17 mph
Defensive Backs
Max Melton 20.98 mph
Kalen King Penn State 20.57 mph
Sione Vaki Utah 20.32
Defensive Line
Marshawn Kneeland Western Michigan 19.8 mph
Marist Liufau Notre Dame 18.93 mph
Javon Solomon Troy 15.86 mph
Linebackers
J.D. Bertrand Notre Dame 20.02 mph
Payton Wilson North Carolina State 19.09 mph
Jonfrey Hunter Georgia State 18.44 mph
And then the scroll started back again with quarterbacks for some strange reason.
Overall
Devontez Walker wr North Carolina 21.18 mph
Max Melton DB 20.98 mph
Kalen King DB Penn State 20.57 mph
Dylan Laube RB New Hampshire 20.44 mph
Sione Vaki DB 20.32 mph (go get this guy!)
Sione Vaki DB 20.32 mph (go get this guy!)
Yes!
It’s great that SDB has a man on the ground in Mobile.
Cheers Palatypus
Cheers
I have wanted an Offensive mind from the start and I appreciate Rob’s balanced piece on Macdonald. However, this is where I am at. It has been a few years since I have been intrigued by the Seahawks. I want that again. From my perspective, the only candidate left who has that mystique/aura to get my anticipation up for next year is Macdonald. It may not work and we may be sat here in a few years still wishing to get the most out of our offense. But in the meantime, at least I’ll be energized by the possibility that he brings an edge to this team. That he gives us the ability to smack the 9ers and Rams around. Give them a bloody nose. It’s not logical but that is the reason I am hoping he is the choice for that reason alone.
I could also get there with Kafka in time
I hate admitting that I wouldn’t mind taking a test drive with the Harbaugh-way, sprinkled with potential genius. It’s still a massive gamble and no guaranty of getting anyone decent as an OC. That’s where I’m at with it.
If they could get Kafka to run the offense somehow I’d sleep a little better at night.
Earlier post today when I highlighted Texas tackle Christian Jones effort, I thought is legs looked awfully thin also. Maybe he thinks the Forest Gump style leg braces he is rocking helps make them look bigger.
This was pretty cool. Don’t think I’ve seen a split screen tweet like this before. JPJ at RG and then at C.
https://twitter.com/BrandonThornNFL/status/1752481542528516162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1752481542528516162%7Ctwgr%5E1f395be3f98ffda8ddd59a361ec588a4e98ea0b6%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2Flive-blogs%2Fsenior-bowl-2024-live-updates-news-practice-notes%2F4FedlLbKPT9t%2F
Yeah, I saw that live. He wrecked him!
Haven’t seen this posted yet on here so here’s the latest from Bob Condotta on the HC search
https://x.com/bcondotta/status/1752507181692502518?s=20
Interesting that JS is missing the senior bowl.
Seeming more and more like this coaching search is lasting longer than they anticipated/hoped.
I know , finally he can be the man on the ground there without Pete looming over his shoulder.
I wonder if there is a silver lining to the two hot OCs deciding to stay with their teams this year.
As in, the Seahawks might be able to point to them in 2025 and tell…(Kafka?)…’hey look, we’ll give you a fat raise, you’ll get to work with this dynamic offense. Look how well it worked for those two guys.’
Of course it would take acquiring a brash young QB (like Slowik) or having buckets of success with an old QB hand (like Johnson) to get that jumpstarted.
But I wonder if a desire for stability and continuity is present in more than just those two OCs.
I prefer the Pete method where no team would ever dream of poaching your coaches.
Ryan Dinwiddie, HC of the Toronto Argonauts, former Boise St QB, coached Bo Levi Mitchell to the CFL’s MVP award. Toronto went 16-2 this year after winning the Grey Cup last season.
Dinwiddie ’24.
Wow.
That’s right – also, current holder of the Annis Stukus Trophy. The Dinwiddie Express is currently boarding…
But they only scored four rouges last year.
I’m afraid that is beyond even Pete’s powers of alchemy to turn maple syrup into liquid gold.
Only four rouges? That’s laughable. Back in 1910 Hamilton got 11 in a single game.
Anyone but Dinwiddie
Well, we’ve had a Waldron. How about a Doolittle?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z3GJiZqDCI
That game has an asterisk and you know it.
Saskatoon’s kicker accidentally left his cleats at a Tim Horton’s and had to kick in his ice fishing boots. They couldn’t get any rouges and Hamilton took advantage.
I know that Pete would, right now, be jacked about getting out there and getting this whole rogue thing figured out.
Give Dinwiddie Dickson and those four rogues become 6, easy.
Brilliant, I’m all in … Dinwiddie! F**K Yeah!
Downside there is Kafka looks good, and gets a job somewhere as a HC, while Vrabel or whomever the figurehead happens to be manages to get us a Pete-like wildcard defeat that makes it awkward to fire him.
Then we are back to square one. Unless of course it’s Macdonald as the HC or someone with some theoretical upside.
If they can manage to get Kafka and Graham or Evero, they would get two 3rd round comp picks if either move on for HC roles. Kafka and Graham with Macdonald would feel like a best case scenario to me at this point.
Graham did leave a DC job for NYG to take the same role for LV & Kafka can’t be loving the dynamics of NY right now.
Evero does not qualify, they need to be there for 2 years or longer to get the comp picks.
I was referring to – if we lost them to HC gigs later, but yes either would need to be here for 2 seasons.
Ah, my bad. I’m still not sure Graham is leaving his DC spot under Pierce. Don’t see why they would break that relationship.
It appears that JS overplayed his hand on the coaching search. Now, we do not have a coach, OC, or DC and Senior Bowl practices have started.
Will Quinn be the next to announce he’s staying with his current team? There is a difference between due diligence and indecisiveness. I’m starting to lean towards indecision.
I wanted an offensive minded coach, but looks like MacDonald is the last/best man standing.
Completely agree with you. I expressed concern from the very beginning that Seattle may not be as desirable of a destination as many fans think it is. Looks like this is turning out to be the case. JS probably thought the top candidates would chomp at the bit to come here, and when that didn’t play out that way, we get the all too familiar scenario of being left with leftovers similar to how FA usually plays out
Hoosiers won tonight, so all is good in my world
Ladd McConkey and Roman Wilson were two receivers I really liked that I thought my be available in a later round. Mainly watching them now in hopes our competition doesn’t draft them.
The center from Oregon is one I will have to watch.
It looks like Wilson is also popping.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Ladd McConkey is going to run the best-combined 3-cone and SS at the combine. Because if EXOS here in Gulf Breeze didn’t think he would, they wouldn’t be posting this –
https://www.instagram.com/p/C2QMwQkPnxN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
By the way, they have Senior Bowl videos up.
The Brendan Rice touchdown.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2vO7AnSqW5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Ladd McConkey is simply a great football name, right out of the Key & Peele sketch.
Apparently, he is not related to Phil McConkey.
How does it work for assistant coaches who are under contract, if they want to leave?
Let’s say that we offer Kafka a $1.5M bump over what he’s getting in NY. Can he just walk away from his contract for a straight lateral move? I know HC’s have been traded in the past, but never a coordinator.
Let’s say that Macdonald gets $5M/year as the new HC. Then we offer Kafka and Graham/Evero $4M or a comparable raise, plus another role (assistant HC or assistant to the regional manager). All in is still less than Ben reportedly wanted and significantly less than Ben plus what’s allocated for OC/DC.
You’d need to get Macdonald to be okay with those hires, but considering his limited ‘tree’ maybe he would be more open to it than some salty vet that wants to bring in ‘his guys’.
No, you have to promote him with assistant HC position. Or do what Fangio did, and mutually part ways. I’m wondering if Kafka would want to go that route as it seem Daboll and him had a toxic relationship.
A lot of chatter that the Seahawks have hired Mike MacDonald and that he’ll be in Seattle tomorrow.
Wondering if he’s getting any of the Ravens free agents to join him, maybe Patrick Queen.
Hope not. Spotrac has him listed at 18 mil market value.
However…..clowney for 8 million….that’ll work.
If he wants to return, and I’d prefer someone younger.
I was thinking Queen because he’s decent in coverage, but you’re right, he is too expensive.
Btw. I have much respect for queen.
But…Macdonald background is dline/lb and I’d trust him to find great ones.
I’d love queen here seriously but a lot of hard cuts would have to happen to make it so.
On clowney. Yep. I’d prefer youth but he apparently liked it here.
Those units have looked much improved from when Martindale was DC. Oddly I have been very impressed with the secondary. Some odd fits and position changes he really made work. Maybe he brings the secondary coach as DC
I like it. The young man must have no fear of failure and a ton of confidence in his ability given he is agreeing to take over a defensive unit that got absolutely steamrolled by his former team a few months back.
Twitter was abuzz, hopefully it’s accurate. We shall see!
Where’s this chatter from?
If McDonald slips away, Quinn would probably be better than Ron Rivera.
Anyone seen the news that Jamal Adams might consider retirement? If so, what does that mean for us cap wise? (Cut with a failed physical?)
I’m not sure it’s news so much as he posted something on social media and a few people are speculating it means something
My wife and I attended the first day of practice and will take a day off before going back for day 3 practice and the game on Saturday. It was definitely a lively event with many of the usual suspects being in attendance (PFF staff, NFL Network and I think I may have even spotted Mike Renner formerly of PFF). I think he has his own show on Youtube as well, Renner Ranks. In any case, I was able to get some video. Really trying to get used to the video settings on my GoPro and Phone for more detailed video. I noticed as you may all see from various videos currently appearing on Youtube: Penix looked great as did Jerry Rice’s son. The NC WR, Wilder and center from Oregon also looked good. Plays are taking place on both end-zones, so I kept refocusing my attention. I’ll post my videos on YouTube as well, but the quality will be suspect.